Finlay N. McPherson, Jonathan A. Quinn, Jonathan Corney, Frank C. Langbein, Ralph R. Martin. Uniform Surface Point Sampling for Direct Write Applications.
Various industrial applications require point sets that cover arbitrarily shaped surfaces of 3D objects. The nature of the sampling required depends on the application; while common machining or inspection processes need regularly arranged points for smooth path generation, the application described in this paper requires a more subtle distribution to provide a high-quality result. We contrast two sampling algorithms developed to support a novel, contactless robotic painting system which creates images on surfaces by selectively exposing a photographic coating using a robot-mounted laser. We assume the object to be painted is represented as a triangular mesh. A straightforward layered approach to sample point generation is compared to framework that produces a density-controlled low-discrepancy distribution. We show that the distortions associated with laminar slicing are avoided if the more sophisticated distribution is used.
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