Design Intent

Design intent refers to the intent of the user in generating, editing and analysing a digital artefact such as a geometric model. This is not a unique property of the model, but depends on the current context in which the model is processed by the user. We are interested in devising algorithms to detect and exploit design intent to simplify creation, editing and analysis tasks by enabling computers to understand the shape (static structure) and function (dynamic evolution) of the model.


  • Beautification. Reverse engineering a physical object is the extraction of information from a particular object which is sufficient to reproduce it. In most cases only an approximation of some aspect of the original part is required. For this research project we are interested in reverse engineering the shape of mechanical parts which can be described by planar, s...
  • Design Intent Detection. Reverse engineering creates a CAD model of an object from 3D measurements obtained, e.g., by a 3D laser scanner. Such models do not contain any information about their design intent: intended regularities, such a symmetries, congruencies between sub-parts or a construction sequence for the model, etc. are not explicitly recorded. Furthermore, such...
  • Features. This project investigates a declarative language to describe CAD features and detect these efficiently employing database technologies. We are also working on estimating the simplification error made by defeaturing the model for engineering analysis.
  • Geometric Constraints. Geometric constraints, specifying the relations between elements of a geometric model symbolically, are a powerful tool to express and reason about the design intent of geometric models. State of the art methods are limited to 2D constraints and simple 3D cases. This project aims to develop a clean theory for general geometric constraint systems to...
  • HCSketch. Sketch input user interfaces for 3D geometric modelling software aim to convert 2D sketches into 3D models to provide simple, efficient shape input methods. However, in general 2D sketches portraying objects naturally provide insufficient information to create unique 3D models. Hence, various additional assumptions have to be made, which neverthele...

  • Design Intent Detection

    Our approach is based on two ideas: (1) decomposing a model into suitable sub-parts simplifies finding regularities, which are less ambiguous compared to analysing the model as one part; and (2) detecting approximate symmetries and related regularities reveals a likely design intent description, but requires careful handling of tolerances to reduce the inconsistency between the ...

    [More]
  • Reverse Engineering and Beautification of Geometric Models

    To obtain the initial data for a part we use a commercial 3D laser scanner. From the generated point clouds a valid CAD model can be created by using existing technologies. This can be done by segmentation of the point sets into subsets and by finding surfaces that best approximate those subsets. From these surfaces ...

    [More]

Workshops and Conferences

  • ITN INSIST Cardiff Conference, September 15th-17th 2015. Organiser: FC Langbein.

    [Details]

Publications

  • N. Rahimi, P. Kerfriden, F. C. Langbein, R.R. Martin. CAD Model simplification error estimation for electrostatics problems. SIAM J. Sci. Comput. 40(1):B196–B227, 2018.

    [Details]
  • Z. Niu, R. R. Martin, M. A. Sabin, F. C. Langbein, J. H. Bucklow. Applying Database Optimization Technologies to Feature Recognition in CAD. Computer-Aided Design and Applications 12(3):373-382, 2015.

    [Details]
  • Z.-B. Niu, R. R. Martin, F. C. Langbein, M. A. Sabin. Rapidly Finding CAD Features Using Database Optimisation. Computer Aided Design, 69:35-50, 2015.

    [Details]
  • Z. Niu, R. R. Martin, M. A. Sabin, F. C. Langbein, J. H. Bucklow. Applying Database Optimization Technologies to Feature Recognition in CAD. Extended Abstract. International CAD Conference and Exhibition (CAD’14), Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, June 23-26, 2014.

    [Details]
  • M. Li, F. C. Langbein, R. R. Martin. Detecting Design Intent in Approximate CAD Models Using Symmetry. Computer-Aided Design, 42(3):183-201, 2010.

    [Details]
  • F. C. Langbein, M. Li, R. R. Martin. A Comment on ‘Constructing Regularity Feature Trees for Solid Models’. In: Advances in Geometric Modeling and Processing, Proc. Geometric Modelling and Processing, Springer LNCS, 4975:603, 2008.

    [Details]
  • M. Li, F. C. Langbein, R. R. Martin. Detecting Approximate Symmetries of Discrete Point Subsets. Computer-Aided Design, 40(1):76-93, 2008.

    [Details]
  • M. Li, F. C. Langbein, R. R. Martin. Detecting Approximate Incomplete Symmetries in Discrete Point Sets. In: Proc. ACM Symp. Solid and Physical Modeling, pp. 335-340, ACM Siggraph 2007.

    [Details]
  • M. Li, X.-S. Gao, S.-C. Chou. Quadratic Approximation to Plane Parametric Curves and its Application in Approximate Implicitization. The Visual Computer, 22(9-11):906-917, 2006.

    [Details]
  • M. Li, F. C. Langbein, R. R. Martin. Constructing Regularity Feature Trees for Solid Models. In: M.-S. Kim, K. Shimada (eds), Proc. Geometric Modeling and Processing, Springer LNCS, 4077:267-286, 2006.

    [Details]
  • C. H. Gao, F. C. Langbein, A. D. Marshall, R. R. Martin. Local Topological Beautification of Reverse Engineered Models. Computer-Aided Design, 36(13):1337-1355, 2004.

    [Details]
  • C. H. Gao, F. C. Langbein, A. D. Marhall, R. R. Martin, Y. Li, Z. Yang. Partial Approximate Symmetry Detection of Geometric Model. Materials Science Forum, 471-472:702-706, 2004.

    [Details]
  • F. C Langbein, C. H. Gao, B. I. Mills, A. D. Marshall, R. R. Martin. Topological and Geometric Beautification of Reverse Engineered Geometric Models. In: G. Elber, P. Brunet (eds), Proc. ACM Symp. Solid Modelling and Applications, pp. 255-260, 2004.

    [Details]
  • F. C. Langbein, A. D. Marshall, R. R. Martin. Choosing Consistent Constraints for Beautification of Reverse Engineered Geometric Models, Computer-Aided Design, 36(3):261-278, 2004.

    [Details]
  • F. C. Langbein. Beautification of Reverse Engineered Geometric Models. PhD Thesis, Department of Computer Science, Cardiff University, June 2003.

    [Details]
  • C. H. Gao, F. C. Langbein, A. D. Marshall, R. R. Martin. Approximate Congruence Detection of Model Features for Reverse Engineering. In: M.-S. Kim (ed), Proc. Int. Conf. Shape Modelling and Applications, IEEE Computer Society, pp. 69-77, 2003.

    [Details]
  • F. C. Langbein, A. D. Marshall, R. R. Martin. Numerical Methods for Beautification of Reverse Engineered Geometric Models. In: H. Suzuki, R. R. Martin (eds), Proc. Geometric Modeling and Processing, IEEE Computer Society, pp. 159-168, 2002.

    [Details]
  • F.C. Langbein, B.I. Mills, A.D. Marshall, R.R. Martin. Approximate Geometric Regularities. Int. J. Shape Modeling, 7(2):129-162, 2001.

    [Details]
  • F. C. Langbein, B. I. Mills, A. D. Marshall, R. R. Martin. Finding Approximate Shape Regularities for Reverse Engineering. J. Computing and Information Science in Engineering, 1(4): 282-290, 2001.

    [Details]
  • F. C. Langbein, B. I. Mills, A. D. Marshall, R. R. Martin. Recognizing Geometric Patterns for Beautification of Reconstructed Solid Models. In: Proc. Int. Conf. Shape Modelling and Applications, IEEE Computer Society, pp. 10-19, 2001.

    [Details]
  • B. I. Mills, F. C. Langbein, A. D. Marshall, R. R. Martin. Approximate Symmetry Detection for Reverse Engineering. In: D. C. Anderson, K. Lee (eds), Proc. ACM Symp. Solid Modelling and Applications, pp. 241-248, 2001.

    [Details]
  • F. C. Langbein, B. I. Mills, A. D. Marshall, R. R. Martin. Finding Approximate Shape Regularities in Reverse Engineered Solid Models Bounded by Simple Surfaces. In: D. C. Anderson, K. Lee (eds), Proc. ACM Symp. Solid Modelling and Applications, pp. 206-216, 2001.

    [Details]
  • B. I. Mills, F. C. Langbein, A. D. Marshall, R. R. Martin. Estimate of Frequencies of Geometric Regularities for Use in Reverse Engineering of Simple Mechanical Components. Technical Report GVG 2001-1, Computational Geometry and Computer Vision Group, Dept. Computer Science, Cardiff University, 2001.

    [Details]

Presentations

  • F. C. Langbein. Reverse Engineering: From Artifacts to Concepts. Public engagement and outreach talk given at various occasions.

    [Details]
  • F.C. Langbein. Design Intent of Geometric Models. Invited seminar talk, Institute of Information and Mathematical Sciences, Massey University at Albany, 22nd September 2004.

    [Details]
  • F. C. Langbein. Design Intent of Geometric Models. Invited seminar talk, Dept. Computer Science, Auckland University, 15th September 2004.

    [Details]
  • F. C. Langbein, C. H. Gao, B. I. Mills, A. D. Marshall, R. R. Martin. Topological and Geometric Beautification of Reverse Engineered Geometric Models. Poster, ACM Symp. Solid Modelling and Applications, Genova, Italy, 9-11 June, 2004.

    [Details]
  • F. C. Langbein. Topological Structures for Geometric Constraints. Vision Lunch Seminar, School of Computer Science, Cardiff University, 10th February, 2004.

    [Details]
  • F. C. Langbein. Algebraic Topology and Geometric Constraints. Geometric Modelling Society Meeting, Bath University, 7th January, 2004.

    [Details]
  • C. H. Gao, F. C. Langbein, A. D. Marshall, R. R. Martin. Approximate Congruence Detection of Model Features for Reverse Engineering. Int. Conf. Shape Modelling and Applications, 2003.

    [Details]
  • F. C. Langbein. Notes on Geometric Constraint Systems. Vision Lunch Seminar, Dept. Computer Science, Cardiff University, June 2003.

    [Details]
  • F. C. Langbein. Strategies for Beautification of Complex Geometric Models. Geometric Modelling Society Meeting, Bath University, 27th November, 2002.

    [Details]
  • FC Langbein. Design Intent of Reverse Engineered Geometric Models. Dept. Computer Science, Cardiff University, 17th July, 2002.

    [Details]
  • F. C. Langbein, A. D. Marshall, R. R. Martin. Numerical Methods for Beautification of Reverse Engineered Geometric Models. Geometric Modeling and Processing, Wako, Japan, 10-12 July, 2002.

    [Details]
  • F. C. Langbein, A. D. Marshall, R. R. Martin. Towards Choosing Consistent Geometric Constraints. Geometric Modelling Society Meeting, Cardiff University, 27th March, 2002.

    [Details]
  • F. C. Langbein, B. I. Mills, A. D. Marshall, R. R. Martin. Recognizing Geometric Regularities for Beautification of Reconstructed Solid Models. Invited departmental talk, Department of Maths and Statistics, Murray State University, Kentucky, USA, June 2001.

    [Details]
  • F. C. Langbein, B. I. Mills, A. D. Marshall, R. R. Martin. Finding Approximate Shape Regularities in Solid Models Bounded by Simple Surfaces. ACM Symp. Solid Modeling and Applications, Ann Arbor, Michigan, USA, 6-8 June, 2001.

    [Details]
  • B. I. Mills, F. C. Langbein, A. D. Marshall, R. R. Martin. Approximate Symmetry Detection for Reverse Engineering. ACM Symp. Solid Modeling and Applications, Ann Arbor, Michigan, USA, 6-8 June, 2001.

    [Details]
  • F. C. Langbein, B. I. Mills, A. D. Marshall, R. R. Martin. Recognizing Geometric Patterns for Beautification of Reconstructed Solid Models. Int. Conf. Shape Modelling and Applications, Genova, Italy, 7-11 May, 2001.

    [Details]
  • F. C. Langbein. Constraint Satisfaction Problems. Vision Lunch Seminar, Dept. Computer Science, Cardiff University, February 2001.

    [Details]
  • F. C. Langbein, A. D. Marshall, R. R. Martin, B. I. Mills. Beautification and Healing. Geometric Modelling Society Meeting, Brunel University, 6th January, 2000.

    [Details]

Codes

    Engagement

    • F. C. Langbein. Reverse Engineering: From Artifacts to Concepts. Public engagement and outreach talk given at various occasions.

      [Details]

    Partners

    • Zhibin Niu
      School of Computer Science and Informatics, Cardiff University, UK.

    • Navid (Amir) Rahimi
      School of Computer Science and Informatics, Cardiff University, UK.

    • J. H. Bucklow
      ITI TranscenData, UK

    • S. Bordas
      University of Luxembourg, Luxembourg

    • P. Kerfriden
      Cardiff University, UK

    • Numerical Geometry Ltd
      UK

    • David Bowen
      School of Computer Science and Informatics, Cardiff University, UK.

    • Ming Li
      State Key Laboratory of CAD&CG, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, China.

    • C. H. Gao
      School of Computer Science and Informatics, Cardiff University, UK.

    • M. A. Sabin
      Numerical Geometry, UK

    • Bruce I Mills
      School of Computer Science, Cardiff University, UK.

    • A Dave Marshall
      School of Computer Science and Informatics, Cardiff University, UK.

    • Ralph R Martin
      School of Computer Science and Informatics, Cardiff University, Cardiff, UK.

    • Frank C Langbein
      School of Computer Science, Cardiff University, Cardiff, UK.

    Funding

    • January 2012 – December 2015. ITN INSIST: Integrating Numerical Simulation and Geometric Design Technology. Coordinator: Bauhaus University, Germany (T. Rabczuk, M. Tur) with Cardiff University, UK (S. Bordas, P. Kerfriden, F. C. Langbein, R. R. Martin), Johannes Kepler University Linz, Austria (B. Jüttler), Universitat Politecnica de Valencia, Spain (J. J. R. García), Carnegie Melon, USA (Y. Zhang), UCSD, USA (Yuri Bazilevs), Cenaero (O. Pierard, N. Poletz), Simpleware (P. Young), inuTech GmbH, Germany (F. Vogel), Transcendata (G. Butlin), Numerical Geometry (M. Sabin). FP7-PEOPLE-2011-ITN, Marie-Curie Action: Initial Training Networks, ref 289361. EUR 3,839,831.

      [Details]
    • 2009: Human Computation for Interpreting 2D Sketches of 3D Objects. The Nuffield Foundation, Undergraduate Research Bursary 36899. F. C. Langbein, D. Bowen. £1,440.

      [Details]
    • July 2004 – July 2007: Detection of Design Intent in Complex Approximate Geometric Models. EPSRC GR/S69085/01. PI: F. C. Langbein. £123,639.

      [Details]
    • 2003: Theory and algorithms for geometric constraint systems. The Nuffield Foundation, NUF-NAL 00638/G. Investigator: F. C. Langbein. £6,000.

      [Details]
    • September 1999 – June 2003: Beautification of Reverse Engineered Geometric Models, EPSRC GR/M78267/01. PI: R. R. Martin, CoI: A. D. Marshall, P. M. Hall. £310,527.

      [Details]

    Miscellaneous