Generating vectors for pop-up cards from three-dimensional models

Abstract

Pop-up cards are greeting cards that have a three-dimensional representation of an object that, when the card is opened, stands up on its own. Grid-based pop-up cards are the most difficult to design manually due to their complexity and number of pieces that must fit together accurately. In order to simplify the pop-up design and fabrication process, this paper presents a computational system to slice STL models and create an SVG file that can be used to laser cut the pieces required to make a grid-based pop-up model. The computational system inputs a 3D model, slices it, and layers slits on top of these slices to ensure that the result will fit together, creating an easily assembled pop-up card. Initial testing shows that the computational model will successfully slice and layer slits on models made up of fewer triangles but tends to have issues with larger, more complex models. The main area of improvement for the computational model is with slicing time, which can be improved through the utilization of existing slicing algorithms mainly used for 3D printing.