Motion-based design of mechanical objects

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9589097-B2
Application number	US-201313972604-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Aug 21, 2013
Priority date	Apr 23, 2013
Publication date	Mar 7, 2017
Grant date	Mar 7, 2017

Abstract

There is provided a motion-based design system and a method for use in producing a motion-based design of a mechanical object. In one implementation, such a method includes identifying a motion curve associated with a movement by an articulated structure corresponding to the mechanical object, and mapping the motion curve to a mechanical sub-assembly. The mapping is performed based on a previously characterized trajectory of the mechanical sub-assembly and the similarity of that trajectory to the motion curve. The method also includes utilizing the first mechanical sub-assembly to substantially replicate the motion curve.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A method for use by a design system to produce a motion-based design of a mechanical object, the design system including a system processor and a system memory, the system memory having stored therein a motion-based design engine and a mechanical sub-assembly database including a plurality of mechanical sub-assemblies, the method comprising:
identifying, by the motion-based design engine being executed by the system processor, a first motion curve associated with a first movement by an articulated structure corresponding to the mechanical object;
selecting, by the motion-based design engine being executed by the system processor, a first mechanical sub-assembly from the plurality of mechanical sub-assemblies in the mechanical sub-assembly database, wherein each of the plurality of mechanical sub-assemblies stored in the mechanical sub-assembly database has a corresponding previously characterized trajectory stored in the mechanical sub-assembly database, and wherein the selecting of the first mechanical sub-assembly is based on matching the first motion curve with the previously characterized trajectory corresponding to the first mechanical sub-assembly; and
utilizing the first mechanical sub-assembly to substantially replicate the first motion curve.

2. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
selecting, by the motion-based design engine being executed by the system processor, a second mechanical sub-assembly from the plurality of mechanical sub-assemblies in the mechanical sub-assembly database based on matching the first motion curve with the previously characterized trajectory corresponding to the second mechanical sub-assembly; and
utilizing the first mechanical sub-assembly and the second mechanical sub-assembly to substantially replicate the first motion curve.

3. The method of claim 1 , further comprising creating the mechanical sub-assembly database.

4. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
identifying at least one actuation point of the articulated structure, the at least one actuation point being associated with the first movement.

5. The method of claim 1 , further comprising simulating execution of the first movement by the mechanical object.

6. The method of claim 1 , further comprising sending the motion-based design of the mechanical object to a fabrication system.

7. The method of claim 1 , further comprising fabricating the mechanical object using the motion-based design.

8. The method of claim 1 , wherein selecting the first mechanical sub-assembly comprises utilizing a curve metric formulated as a bilinear form on differences in feature vectors characterizing the first mechanical sub-assembly.

9. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
identifying, by the motion-based design engine being executed by the system processor, a second motion curve associated with a second movement by the articulated structure;
selecting, by the motion-based design engine being executed by the system processor, a second mechanical sub-assembly from the plurality of mechanical sub-assemblies in the mechanical sub-assembly database based on matching the second motion curve with the previously characterized trajectory corresponding to the second mechanical sub-assembly;
utilizing the second mechanical sub-assembly to substantially replicate the second motion curve; and
virtually assembling the first and second mechanical sub-assemblies to verify operational compatibility of the first and second mechanical sub-assemblies.

10. The method of claim 1 , wherein the first mechanical sub-assembly has at least one adjustable parameter, the method further comprising utilizing a continuous optimization process to tune the at least one adjustable parameter of the first mechanical sub-assembly to substantially replicate the first motion curve.

11. The method of claim 10 , further comprising:
identifying, by the motion-based design engine being executed by the system processor, a second motion curve associated with a second movement by the articulated structure;
selecting, by the motion-based design engine being executed by the system processor, a second mechanical sub-assembly from the plurality of mechanical sub-assemblies in the mechanical sub-assembly database based on matching the second motion curve with the previously characterized trajectory corresponding to the second mechanical sub-assembly;
utilizing the continuous optimization process to tune at least one adjustable parameter of the second mechanical sub-assembly to substantially replicate the second motion curve; and
virtually assembling the first and second mechanical sub-assemblies to verify operational compatibility of the first and second mechanical sub-assemblies.

12. A design system configured to produce a motion-based design of a mechanical object, the design system comprising:
a system processor and a system memory having stored therein a motion-based design engine and a mechanical sub-assembly database including a plurality of mechanical sub-assemblies each having a corresponding previously characterized trajectory;
the motion-based design engine, under control of the system processor, configured to:
identify a first motion curve associated with a first movement by an articulated structure corresponding to the mechanical object;
select a first mechanical sub-assembly from the plurality of mechanical sub-assemblies in the mechanical sub-assembly database based on matching the first motion curve with the previously characterized trajectory corresponding to the first mechanical sub-assembly; and
utilize the first mechanical sub-assembly to substantially replicate the first motion curve.

13. The design system of claim 12 , wherein the motion-based design engine is further configured to:
select a second mechanical sub-assembly from the plurality of mechanical sub-assemblies in the mechanical sub-assembly database based on matching the first motion curve with the previously characterized trajectory corresponding to the second mechanical sub-assembly; and
utilize the first mechanical sub-assembly and the second mechanical sub-assembly to substantially replicate the first motion curve.

14. The design system of claim 12 , wherein the motion-based design engine is further configured to identify at least one actuation point of the articulated structure, the at least one actuation point being associated with the first movement.

15. The design system of claim 12 , wherein the motion-based design engine is further configured to simulate execution of the first movement by the mechanical object.

16. The design system of claim 12 , wherein the motion-based design engine is further configured to:
identify a second motion curve associated with a second movement by the articulated structure;
select a second mechanical sub-assembly from the plurality of mechanical sub-assemblies in the mechanical sub-assembly database based on matching the second motion curve with the previously characterized trajectory corresponding to the second mechanical sub-assembly;
utilize the second mechanical sub-assembly to substantially replicate the second motion curve; and
virtually assemble the first and second mechanical sub-assemblies to verify operational compatibility of the first and second mechanical sub-assemblies.

17. The design system of claim 12 , further comprising a fabrication system for fabricating the mechanical object using the motion-based design.

18. The design system of claim 12 , further comprising a three-dimensional (3D) printer for fabricating the mechanica

Assignees

• Disney Entpr Inc

Inventors

• Coros Stelian
• Thomaszewski Bernhard
• Matusik Wojciech
• Bickel Bernd
• Sueda Shinjiro

Classifications

• G06F30/17 Primary

  Mechanical parametric or variational design · CPC title

• G06F17/5086 Primary

  Physics · mapped topic