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Cross sections from STL file

Cross sections from STL file

Cross sections from STL file

(OP)
Hi everyone

This may not even be a Pro/E question, but I'm bringing my final result into WF2, so hopefully someone here can help.

I have 2 STL files of an object, which I am trying to replicate in Pro/E.

The STL files are huge (~1.7 million triangles each) and the object which was scanned is a highly irregular shape.

I intend to do this by developing cross section curves of the shape, and then using ISDX or Pro/Surface to develop surfaces from the cross sections. In the end, I want a closed volume that would just envelop the scanned shape.

Now, working with these STL files is really tough. The sheer amount of data involved makes work really slow. And I'm doing this work Pro-Bono, so I want to be able to shrink the data down somehow so that the project can get done in a reasonable amount of time.

Now for my question:

Does anyone know of a way I can extract points from the STL which are on or within a certain distance from a particlar plane in space? If I can get relative x-y coordinates of these points at some regular interval, I'd be able to work with this data much more efficiently.

The research I've done on the web tells me that most (all?) of the commercially available STL editors require manifold (closed) surfaces, which I do not have. I tried using the Restyle tool on another computer with a license for it, but its the same deal. There are holes-a-plenty in this scanned data.

Thanks in advance

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"By all means, do not use a hammer." (1925 IBM Maintenance Manual)

RE: Cross sections from STL file

Imageware has lots of tools to do that
Raindrop Geomagic could do it.
Neither one cares if there are holes, they can fix them if you want. They can also sample down the data to fewer points.
REX is based on raindrop so it should be able to work with an open cloud.
Try projecting a curve onto the cloud. Will Pro/e do that?

RE: Cross sections from STL file

(OP)
I tried to project a curve on to the facet surface but Pro/E crashes every time. It really doesn't like the scan data, I'm guessing.

I tried REX again and the same result, it tells me that the surfaces are non-manifold. I think that really means that bits of the scan data are hanging out in space, which they are.

The thing I am trying to enclose spends the majority of it's time sitting in a jar of formaldehyde in a teaching hospital, so I'm guessing it's wet, slimy surface didn't lend itself to being scanned in with a laser so well.

I am looking into the software that you mentioned, HDS. Thanks for the tip

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"By all means, do not use a hammer." (1925 IBM Maintenance Manual)

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