An apparatus and method are described that allow a surface of interest to be defined by the selection of a seed point that lies on the surface of interest. When a single seed point is defined, additional points that are in the vicinity of the seed point are grouped with the seed point to form a first set of points. When multiple seed points are defined, additional points that are in the vicinities of the seed points are grouped with the seed points to form the first set of points. The first set of points, along with a surface type, are then used to define a candidate surface. Following this, a second set of points is defined using the seed points and additional points that fall within a predefined distance of the candidate surface. The second set of points are partitioned into groups, and the groups that include the seed points along with the surface type are then used to redefine the candidate surface.
Large data sets can be stored and processed in real time by combining and registering the large data sets into a single data set. The data can be stored in a data tree structure formed of layers of spatially organized blocks of data. Such storage allows portions of the data to be viewed efficiently, displaying actual point data at an acceptable resolution for the viewing mechanism. Density limited queries can be executed that allow sub-sampling to be done directly and evenly without geometric constraint, to provide a subset of points that is limited in size and includes a spatially-even decomposition of that set of points. This allows the system as a whole to support arbitrarily large point sets while allowing full partitioning functionality, which is efficient to use in both time and space.
A non-contact surface measurement system, method and apparatus provides data to computers so that the topography of the surface of an object can be digitally recreated. 3-D images that define tool paths can be created from the data. Thus, cavities may be formed in selected materials by a tool. The appropriately selected materials safely encapsulate the object, which may be an artifact, art object, or other fragile or valuable item for moving or storage.
