CS 285: SOLID MODELING

Lecture #1 -- Tue, Aug. 28, 2007.

Warm-up Thinking Exercise: 

Look at various artifacts and parts encountered in daily life and answer the question:

How Was This Designed ?

Preview of the Design/Modeling/Prototyping Process

1. The Creative Spark  (--> a personal mental image)
   Where do you get your best ideas?
   What can you do to enhance the creative flow?
   Shockley's model of the "creativity pump" in the brain.
2. Initial Sketch or Mock-up  (--> something that others can see)
   How do you visualize, realize your ideas?
   What materials may be useful to make conceptual models?
3. Transformation into a CAD model  (--> something a computer can read)
   How do you get those ideas into the computer?
   ==> Discussion of homework assignment.
4. Implementation Concerns  (--> something a computer can "understand")
   What do you need to do to turn that data into a solid model?
5. Design Refinement  (--> something that can be physically realized)
   Enter the concerns about fabrication. Design for manufacturing.
   
6. Rapid Prototyping  ( something that can be built on a RP machine)
   What are the possibilities? Overview over various RP methods and processes.
   

What is Procedural, Parameterized Modeling ?

Example: Church-Builder

Example: Sculpture Generator I

What Is CS 285 All About ?  (Intro Foils)

• CS 285 in the curriculum
• What you will learn  (you have some say in this by selecting the papers we read!)
• Teaching style, grading policy
• Course organization

Modeling Taxonomy  (next time ...)

• CAD, CAGD, Solid Modeling, Procedural Modeling ...
• What is a solid ?
• What do we mean by "modeling" ?
• What types of modeling are we interested in ?
• What should be modeled procedurally ?
• What might we model in this course ?
• How would you model a plastic spoon, etc ... ?

First Homework Assignment:

A#1: Planning the Construction of a Solid Model