Interactive fabrication of CSG models with assisted carving

Abstract

We propose a method that helps an unskilled user to carve a physical replica of a 3D CAD model while only using manual cutting tools. The method starts by analyzing the input CAD model and generates a set of carving instructions. Then using a projector, we project the instructions sequentially one at a time to a block of material to guide the user in performing each of them. After each cutting step, we use the projector-camera setup to 3D scan the object after cutting. And automatically align the scanned point cloud to the CAD model, to prepare the position for the next instruction. We demonstrate a complete system to support this operation and show several examples manually carved while using the system.