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Staybridge Suites Lake Buena Vista
Orlando's All-Suite Hotel near Downtown Disney® Theme Parks.
Centrally located near the Walt Disney World® Theme Parks, Downtown Disney® Area and the ESPN Wide World of Sports® Complex, the Staybridge Suites® Orlando / Lake Buena Vista hotel places guests right in the middle of all the excitement.
Especially convenient to the Walt Disney World® Theme Parks, this extended-stay hotel in Orlando, FL is near the Magic Kingdom® Park, Epcot®, Disney's Hollywood Studios® and Disney's Animal Kingdom® Theme Park. We offer free shuttle service to all four parks while other Orlando attractions are just a short drive away!
Come and enjoy the Social evening reception available for our guests each Tuesday through Thursday. Meet and mingle over complimentary drinks and appetizers. Business travelers also appreciate our free Wi-Fi and 24-hour Business Center to help keep them productive while staying at this all-suite hotel in Lake Buena Vista, FL.
Wake up to a complimentary, hot breakfast buffet offered daily, or take a relaxing evening stroll through the tropical, landscaped gazebo area on your way to your comfortable suite. Spacious one- and two-bedroom suites with a fully-equipped kitchen help you feel at home during your stay. Other guest amenities include a Fitness Room and The Pantry 24-hour sundry store. Allow our friendly staff in Orlando to help you plan your next vacation!
Quick Info
- Check In: 4:00 PM
- Check Out: 11:00 AM
- Minimum Check-In Age: 21
- Parking: Free
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Important Update[{"start": "1415768400000","end":"1451538000000", "desc": "Please Note: Credit Card used for Advance Purchase must be presented at check in."}]
Hotel Highlights
- On-site Guest Self-Laundry Facilities
- Complimentary Breakfast Buffet
- Standard Wireless Internet service is free for all members
- On-Site Fitness Center Available
Guest Reviews
Overall Experience
lots of room in the suite
June 30, 2015
good for families - the room inside was more than adequate.
Wow! What a great place!
June 30, 2015
Seriously, this place is amazing. The location is perfect with restaurants and grocery stores just a walk away. Downton Disney is just down the road and the Convention Centre just 10 minutes away. The suites have a really homey feel to them so you can settle in if you want. The Social is great with free food and drinks (yes beer and wine too) for everyone - how good is that! The grounds are lovely and very well kept and the ability to park your car right outside your own front door is great. We loved our week here and would definitely come back again should the opportunity arise.
Perfect Stay
June 30, 2015
The staff is incredible, they really care. Everything in great condition. Nice breakfast. Made for a perfect weeklong stay while visiting Disney.
Well appointed suite, very helpful staff
ByItalian mother
June 30, 2015
My daughter and I stayed at this property to visit the parks in Orlando. it was very well appointed and comfortable (we ate in 4 nights), across the road form a supermarket and a large drugstore and very convenient for all the parks. The staff is particularly helpful and efficient, laundry facilities a plus if you like to travel light.


text:
A free form source model is divided into surface sections by identifying external boundary edges and internal boundary edges. The boundaries are connected or further divided as necessary to achieve a perimeter about each surface section which is a single closed curve. Doubly curved surfaces may also be subdivided. A developable output surface which approximates each source model surface section is then determined by calculating the minimum cost triangulation of each source model perimeter. Costs to be minimized may include the deviation of the triangle surface normal from the edge normal, the degree of bending between adjacent triangles, or the departure of the approximated surface from the original surface. The two-dimensional boundary of the flattened surface guides fabrication of output segments from sheet material, which may be assembled into an output object comprised entirely of developable surfaces.
1. A method for producing an output surface composed of developable surface elements corresponding to a three-dimensional source model surface, comprising the steps of:
identifying boundaries on the source model surface which divide the source model surface into at least one surface section such that each surface section is bounded by a single closed curve which defines a surface section perimeter;
representing each surface section perimeter by a plurality of vertices positioned along the surface section perimeter to define a perimeter polygon;
for each of the at least one surface section, examining a plurality of possible divisions of the surface section into triangles which connect the vertices of the perimeter polygon, and assigning costs to each of the plurality of possible divisions based on a function which relates individual triangles to each other, or to some characteristic of the source surface, or both, and comparing the costs of each of said plurality of possible divisions to determine the optimal triangulation of each perimeter polygon, each triangulation corresponding to a developable surface which has the perimeter polygon as a perimeter;
using each optimal triangulation to define a perimeter of a flattened output surface element; and
outputting instructions for fabricating from a sheet material each output surface element to have the defined perimeter of the output surface element.
2. The process of
3. The process of
4. The process of
cutting the plurality of segments from sheet material; and
assembling the plurality of segments to form an output object.
5. The process of
6. The process of
7. The process of
determining the surface normal of each triangle within a possible division; and
comparing the differences in the surface normals between each pair of adjacent triangles, and assigning costs to a possible division according to the degree of difference between surface normals.
8. The process of
9. The process of
determining surface normals of the source model surface section at each vertex along the perimeter polygon;
dividing the sum of the edge normals at vertices on each end of an edge under consideration, by the sum of the edge normal magnitudes to determine an average edge normal; and
assigning a cost by multiplying the length of the edge under consideration times the average difference between the average edge normal and the surface normal of the triangle.
10. The method of
11. A method for producing an output surface composed of at least one developable surface element corresponding to a three-dimensional source model surface, comprising the steps of:
identifying boundaries on the source model surface which divide the source model surface into at least one surface section such that each surface section is bounded by a single closed curve which defines a surface section perimeter;
representing each surface section perimeter by a plurality of vertices positioned along the surface section perimeter to define a perimeter polygon;
examining a plurality of alternative divisions of at least one surface section into triangles which connect the vertices of the perimeter polygon, and assigning costs to each of the plurality of alternative divisions such that a better approximation to the source model surface section has a lower cost, and selecting a lowest cost division of the surface section into a plurality of triangles in which at least one suspended triangle extends between vertices on the perimeter polygon such that said suspended triangle has only chords extending between vertices but no edges lying on the perimeter polygon;
flattening each output perimeter polygon optimal triangulation to define a planar output surface element perimeter; and
outputting instructions for a cutting tool for fabricating from a planar material each output surface element by cutting along its output surface element perimeter.
12. The process of
13. The process of
14. The process of
cutting the plurality of segments from planar material; and
assembling the plurality of segments to form an output object.
15. A process for forming an output object assembled from sheet elements, the output object having a surface which approximates the surface of a source model, comprising the steps of:
dividing the source model surface into a plurality of surface sections;
identifying the perimeter of each surface section;
approximating each surface section perimeter with a perimeter polygon comprised of a plurality of vertices which lie on said surface section perimeter and which are connected by line segments;
determining a low cost triangulation of each perimeter polygon by comparing a first triangulation to at least one second different triangulation, wherein a cost is determined for each triangulation by applying a function which compares an attribute of each triangle of a possible triangulation with a like attribute of an adjacent triangle of said possible triangulation, or with an attribute of one or more vertices of said triangle on the source model surface section;
flattening the determined low cost triangulations of all the perimeter polygons;
outputting the flattened triangulations as sheet elements; and
assembling the output sheet elements to form the output object.
16. The process of
17. The process of
the maximum or minimum angle defined within a triangle;
the combined length of the edges of a triangle;
the surface area of a triangle;
the difference in surface normal between the triangle and an adjacent triangle;
the difference in surface normal between the triangle and some function of the surface normals of the vertices on the source model surface section; and
the difference in position between the surface of the triangle and the source model surface section defined between the vertices of the triangle.
18. A method for producing an output surface composed of developable surface elements corresponding to an arbitrary three-dimensional source model surface, comprising the steps of:
identifying boundaries on the source model surface which divide the source model surface into surface sections such that each surface section is bounded by a single closed curve which defines a surface section perimeter;
for each surface section perimeter, selecting a plurality of vertices spaced along the surface section perimeter, the plurality of vertices defining a perimeter polygon, and each vertex lying on the source model surface section;
searching for an optimal triangulation comprised of a set of triangles which do not overlap, and which are connected along triangular sides, wherein each triangle has three vertices which are vertices of the perimeter polygon, the triangulation defining a surface which fills the perimeter polygon, wherein the step of searching for an optimal triangulation comprises: performing an analysis of at least two different triangulations by using a first function applied to each triangle of the analyzed triangulation to determine a value of the first function for said analyzed triangulation, the optimal triangulation being that one of the at least two different triangulations which has the lowest value, wherein the first function is a function which relates an attribute of each triangle of an analyzed triangulation to an attribute of the source model surface, or to an attribute of an adjacent triangle;
flattening each optimal triangulation by bringing each triangle of the set of triangles into the same plane by rotation about edges shared by triangles to define a planar output surface element perimeter; and
outputting instructions for a cutting tool for fabricating from a planar material each output surface element by cutting along its output surface element perimeter.
19. The method of
20. The method of
21. The process of
determining surface normals of the source model surface section at each vertex along the perimeter polygon;
dividing the sum of the edge normals at vertices on each end of an edge under consideration, by the sum of the edge normal magnitudes to determine an average edge normal; and
assigning a cost by multiplying the length of the edge under consideration times the average difference between the average edge normal and the surface normal of the triangle.
22. The method of
23. The method of
the maximum or minimum angle defined within a triangle;
the combined length of the edges of a triangle;
the surface area of a triangle;
the difference in surface normal between the triangle and an adjacent triangle;
the difference in surface normal between the triangle and some function of the surface normals of the vertices on the source model surface section; and
the difference in position between the surface of the triangle and the source model surface section defined between the vertices of the triangle.
24. A method for creating a set of at least one developable surface patch corresponding to a three-dimensional source model surface, comprising the steps of:
identifying boundaries on the source model surface to identify a surface section bounded by a single closed curve which defines a surface section perimeter;
representing the surface section perimeter by a plurality of vertices positioned along the surface section perimeter to define a perimeter polygon;
examining a plurality of possible divisions of the surface section into triangles which connect the vertices of the perimeter polygon, and assigning costs to each of the plurality of possible divisions based on a function which relates individual triangles to each other, or to some characteristic of the source surface or both, and comparing the costs of each of said plurality of possible divisions, this comparison serving to determine an optimal triangulation of the perimeter polygon, the optimal triangulation corresponding to a developable surface which has the perimeter polygon as a perimeter; and
deriving the set of at least one developable surface patch corresponding to the optimal triangulation.
25. The method of
26. The method of
27. The method of
Not applicable.
Not applicable.
The present invention relates to methods for producing free form structures in general, and more particularly to methods for assembling free form three dimensional objects from sheet material.
Computer Aided Design (CAD) software enables a designer to create mathematical models of objects or structures which can be readily viewed on a display, modified, and analyzed. Modem CAD software gives a designer the ability to create any shape imaginable. These models, which are not limited to elemental shapes such as cubes and spheres, are known as free form models, and give free rein to the imagination of the designer and the specific requirements of the project. The appearance of the free form model is clearly and accurately displayed at any desired magnification on a video display.
Generation of actual three-dimensional output objects from the free form CAD source models presents a challenge. If the object is ready for production, the CAD source model can be used to create cutting paths for a multi-axis milling machine which can produce the free form object as a machined part, or a mold can be produced for generating the part in a polymer material.
If the output object is relatively small (usually smaller than a cube two feet on a side), it may be produced by stereolithography, selective laser sintering, or other similar technique which builds up an object or a mold for the object from a series of layers. Various approaches are set out in Automated Fabrication, Marshall Burns, (PTR Prentice Hall, 1993). These techniques, however, are limited in the size of object which can be produced, in the materials used, and generally require costly equipment to implement. These options are costly, and may not be economically employed for custom or large scale objects.
Some source models are especially suited to being constructed from sheets of material. For example, if the model is comprised entirely of planar shapes, it might be assembled from sheets of cardboard or plywood cut to shape and fastened together. More complex shapes can be produced in this manner if the sheet material is capable of being bent. For example, a cylinder is readily constructed from a bent thin sheet. Surfaces which can be produced by bending or folding a sheet, but without stretching, are known as developable surfaces. If the designer employs a CAD program which is constrained to produce models using only developable surfaces, such as disclosed in my U.S. Pat. No. 6,493,603, the disclosure of which is incorporated by reference herein, the developable surfaces of the three-dimensional source model may be flattened, cut out from sheet material, and assembled into a corresponding output object. However, this approach requires modified CAD software, and undesirably places limits on the designer from the beginning of the design creation.
Gershon Elber, of the Department of Computer Science, Technion, Israel Institute of Technology, has described a software approach which decomposes a free form three-dimensional model into piecewise developable surfaces. In this system, a sphere, for example, can be rendered as a series of narrow strips which can be cut from sheets and assembled into an approximation of the sphere. What is needed however, is a system for producing free form three-dimensional structures out of sheet materials formed into developable surface elements, and yet which would provide optimal design latitude to the designer, would minimize the number of elements required, and would offer a range of readily selected creative options to the designer in controlling the conversion of the free form model into the developable surface output object.
The process of this invention produces instructions for forming a three-dimensional object which can be assembled from planar elements of sheet material. The elements are determined such that, when they are assembled, the element surfaces are exclusively developable surfaces. The process begins with a free form source model which may have sharp edges and doubly curved surfaces, as well as developable surfaces. The free form source model is divided into surface sections by identifying external boundary edges and internal boundary edges. Boundary edges may be determined, for example, where surface normals between two adjacent surfaces differ by some selected tolerance, or where a surface is abruptly terminated. The boundaries are connected or further divided as necessary to achieve a perimeter about each surface section which is a single closed curve. Doubly curved surfaces may also be subdivided. Each surface section perimeter is sampled and represented as a series of vertices in three-space connected by edge segments to create a perimeter polygon. A developable output surface which approximates each source model surface section is then determined by calculating the minimum cost triangulation of the perimeter polygon of each surface section. The cost of each triangulation is determined by using functions which either relate the triangles of the triangulation to each other, or to some attribute of the source model surface section, or relate to an innate attribute of the triangles. The function or functions used to assign costs to the triangulations are selected to determine a triangulation which is most satisfactory in terms of the end result desired. A number of factors may be considered as costs to be minimized, including the deviation of the triangle normal from the surface normal at the perimeter, the degree of bending between adjacent triangles, and the departure of the triangulated surface from the original source model surface section. The minimum cost triangulation is carried out as a process which may be assisted by dynamic programming methods. Once the minimum cost triangulation has been determined for each output surface, the triangulated surface is flattened and the two-dimensional boundary is determined. This output surface boundary may be provided as instructions to a cutting tool, or as printed outlines on planar sheet material which thereby permits the output segments to be cut from the sheet material and assembled into an output object comprised entirely of developable surfaces.
It is a feature of this invention to provide a method for producing three-dimensional objects formed entirely of developable surfaces which approximate a source model surface.
It is another feature of this invention to provide a method for approximating a doubly curved surface with two or more developable surfaces.
It is a further feature of this invention to provide a method of forming planar structural material into shapes which approximate free form surfaces.
It is also a feature of this invention to provide a method of dividing doubly curved surfaces into developable surfaces along arbitrary subdividing lines entered by a user.
Further objects, features and advantages of the invention will be apparent from the following detailed description when taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.
FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a free form source model roughly in the shape of an igloo.
FIG. 2 Is an exploded perspective view of identified surface sections of the source model of FIG. 1.
FIG. 3 is an exploded perspective view of the identified surface sections of the igloo with divisions added to the surfaces which have more than a single closed curve or which are doubly curved.
FIG. 4 is an exploded perspective view of approximate surface sections comprised entirely of developable surfaces corresponding to the surface sections of FIG. 3, with the triangulation of the surfaces shown on the surfaces.
FIG. 5 is a top plan view of a sheet of planar material having cutting paths marked thereon for each element corresponding to one of the developable surfaces of FIG. 4.
FIG. 6 is a perspective view of an output model assembled from the planar material elements of FIG. 5.
FIGS. 7-13 are schematic views of a representative perimeter polygon, illustrating the identification of all the possible triangles formed with a single edge segment.
FIG. 14 is a schematic view illustrating the triangulation of a remainder polygon corresponding to the selected triangle of FIG. 8.
FIGS. 15-16 are schematic views illustrating the triangulation of a remainder polygon corresponding to the selected triangle of FIG. 9.
FIGS. 17-19 are schematic views illustrating the triangulation of a remainder polygon corresponding to the selected triangle of FIG. 10.
FIGS. 20-23 are schematic views illustrating the triangulation of a remainder polygon corresponding to the selected triangle of FIG. 11.
FIG. 24 is a top plan view of a triangulated surface having at least one triangle which is suspended and entirely lacking in edge segments, being comprised entirely of chords.
FIG. 25 is top plan view of an alternative triangulated surface, in which each triangle has at least one edge segment.
FIG. 26 is a schematic view of a representative triangle illustrating the calculation of a triangle surface normal.
FIG. 27 is a schematic view of two adjacent triangles illustrating the calculation of bend cost.
FIG. 28 is a schematic view showing the subtraction of the surface normals of two adjacent triangles to determine the BendDelta value.
FIG. 29 is a schematic view of a perimeter with a test triangle connecting three vertexes, illustrating the calculation of edge cost.
FIG. 30 is a schematic view of a freeform source model surface represented as a NURBS patch.
FIG. 31 is a schematic view of the surface of FIG. 30 represented as a developable surface triangulation according to this invention.
FIG. 32 is a schematic view of the triangulation of FIG. 31 used to divide the source model surface of FIG. 30 into a plurality of NURBS patches, each of which is a developable surface.
Referring more particularly to FIGS. 1-32, wherein like numbers refer to similar parts, a representative free form source model 30 is shown in FIG. 1. The source model 30 is a free form surface, which is to say it may have sections which are planar, developable surfaces, or doubly curved surfaces, and the surfaces may be continuous or discontinuous, or may adjoin at sharp or smooth edges. The source model 30 of FIG. 1 is illustrated as being generally in the shape of an igloo with a chimney, and is provided as an example only, having a variety of surface features. The process of this invention determines an approximation of the source model 30 surface 32 which is comprised entirely of output surface elements which are developable surfaces and which can thus be fabricated from planar sheet material.
The source model 30 may be considered as a physical model, or as a 3-D geometric model described by surface patches, general polygons, triangles, or other geometric description. The source model surface 32 is divided into surface sections 33, as shown in FIG. 2. For this process, the source model surface may be converted to a surface of many small triangles, the number of triangles determined by the degree of resolution required. This source model representation is comprised of many surface approximation vertices identified in 3-space, which each may be identified in a three-dimensional coordinate system, generally in x, y, z coordinates in a Cartesian coordinate system. Each perimeter of a surface section, when approximated by the connected vertices is a perimeter polygon composed of line segments which connect the vertices. The perimeter polygon is a closed shape in 3-space comprised of vertices which each correspond to a point on the source model surface section, and which are connected by line segments.
Although the process will be discussed in a fashion which would permit of manual calculation, it is expected that the process will be implemented entirely in a computer, as the number of calculations is very great for any but a perimeter polygon with only a few sides. Advantageously, the process can be implemented in connection with a graphical user interface. The interface may display the source model and its surface, and provide various options for breaking the source model down into developable surfaces; and provide options for creation of the final output surface of the model composed of developable surfaces.
Any triangle defines a plane, and the surface normal to that plane is a vector which extends perpendicular to this plane. This vector is readily determined by taking the cross product of vectors corresponding to any two of the legs of the triangle. For comparison of triangle surface normals without regard to the relative sizes of the triangles, the surface normals are all made to be the same unit length in whatever direction they extend.
Surface sections of the source model which are suited to being fabricated from a single developable surface may be identified. Thus the source model surface may be split where there are discontinuities in the surface. An external boundary is defined where there is no adjacent surface to a surface section edge. An internal boundary can be defined as desired, for example where there is a change in orientation between surfaces which is greater than some desirable level. The change in orientation between surfaces indicates an edge or discontinuity between surface sections.
Together, the internal boundary edges and the external boundary edges of the source model define between them the surface sections 33 of the source model surface 32. Each surface section 33 is bounded in three-space by a perimeter forming a closed curve in three-space. As shown in FIG. 2, the igloo free form surface 32 is separated into three surface sections 33, a semispherical section 36 corresponding to the body of the igloo, a cylindrical section 38 corresponding to the chimney, and a semicylindrical section 40 corresponding to the igloo entryway.
In order to obtain a satisfactory approximation of a doubly curved surface, such as the semispherical surface 36, the surface should be divided. For division of the surface into at least two surface sections, a line may be extended from a first point on the perimeter to a second point on the perimeter which is spaced from the first vertex. As shown in FIG. 3, this subdividing line 42 may be an arbitrary curve and may be generated automatically by a software routine, or may be entered by a user through a computer interface which, for example, permits the user to draw with a mouse or a stylus on the three-dimensional surface section. The subdividing line 42 divides the doubly curved surface section 36 into two doubly curved surface sections 44, 46. The greater the length and the number of lobes of the subdividing line, the better the opportunities for the creation of a developable surface which is a good approximation of the original doubly curved surface. It should be noted, however, that a doubly curved surface may be cut or divided internally without forming multiple surface sections. To achieve a division without increasing the number of surface sections, a line may be extended from a first point on the perimeter polygon into the interior of the surface section and return along the identical path to the same first point. A single surface section may have multiple lines of this type in which the starting point and ending point are the same. It should be noted that a line beginning and ending at the same point could also be used to divide the surface section into two parts by not having the path double back on itself.
It should be noted that the subdividing of the doubly curved surfaces by the user provides ample opportunity for creative expression, in that the subdivision may be detectable in the output object. The subdivision lines may be meandering lines of no graphical meaning, such as those shown in the figures, or iconic, such as an outline of some creature, or even script characters or logos. Closed looped surfaces, such as the cylindrical chimney section 38 must also be split by a boundary edge to permit the closed surface to be opened and laid flat. These splits may be generated automatically, or with the intervention of the user.
Each surface section 33 should be bounded by a single perimeter which is a closed curve. If a surface section is defined by multiple curves, such as the semispherical section 44 which has a circular opening 48, an internal boundary is arbitrarily created which joins the curves into a single continuous closed perimeter. In the surface section 44, the circular opening 48 is connected to the external boundary edge of the surface section. Although the vertices are not shown in FIG. 3, the order of the vertices on the perimeter polygon may be assigned by employing the right hand rule to determine what is the interior of a surface section, and what is the exterior. Based on the surface normals of the vertices along the surface section perimeter polygon, the right hand rule is used to determine the direction of vertices in the perimeter polygon, as illustrated by the arrow heads in FIG. 3. The result is, as you travel around the perimeter polygon, the enclosed surface section is on the left, and the exterior is on the right, when viewed from the outside of the surface section.
In some special cases, it may be necessary to add additional subdivisions to surface sections, for example in those cases where the surface sections are too large to be formed from the available unit sizes of sheet material, or where the flattened surface sections will generate self-intersecting cut paths. The software implementation of the process may either call the user's attention to these potential difficulties and allow the user to select appropriate subdivisions, or may suggest a proposed subdivision.
Any polygon can be represented by connected triangles, in which chords of the triangles extend between the vertices of the polygon. So long as the chords do not intersect, such an arrangement of triangles can be flattened, and folded along the chords to define the original shape in three-space. The process of connecting the vertices of a polygon to define non-intersecting triangles is known as triangulation. Because a triangulated surface in three-space can be flattened without any stretching or compression, it is a developable surface. Hence, to find a developable surface which approximates the source model surface section, a triangulation is performed on the perimeter polygon. The triangulation will be a set of triangles which are connected to each other along a side, which do not overlap, and in which each triangle vertex is also a vertex of the polygon which is being triangulated. The triangulation will thus define a surface which fills the polygon being triangulated.
Whatever the source model's original form, for the following process the perimeter must be approximated by a series of straight-line segments connecting vertices. The number of vertices accorded a particular curved section may be chosen as desired, with a greater number of vertices being employed where greater fidelity to the perimeter source shape is required, or where the perimeter has a more complicated shape. The result is a perimeter polygon consisting of vertices connected by edges.
Any closed perimeter in three space can be fit with a developable surface. If triangles are defined which extend between vertices of the perimeter polygon, that triangulated surface will be a developable surface and so readily flattened. Therefore, in order to produce a developable surface corresponding to an arbitrary free form surface section, a triangulation of the surface involving triangles which extend between vertices on the perimeter polygon must be found. However, for most satisfactory results it is not enough to find just any developable surface—as there are many developable surfaces which will share a single perimeter polygon—rather, the chosen developable surface should be selected to be a good approximation of the original source model surface section.
The goal of the triangulation is to determine the optimal approximation of the surface section by triangles which define an output surface element which can be "unfolded" into a planar polygon. As noted, it is an attribute of any developable surface which has a closed perimeter, that it can be divided by fold lines which extend between two vertices on the perimeter. Once these fold lines are identified, the regions of the surface between the fold lines can be treated as planes, and the entire surface can be flattened by rotating each plane about its adjacent fold line until all the portions of the surface lie in a common plane.
However, although any triangulation surface section can be unfolded, there are many triangulations which are very poor approximations of the source model surface section. This process determines an optimal triangulation which gives the most satisfactory representation of the original source model as an assembly of developable surfaces. The optimal triangulation is ascertained by determining a lowest-cost breakdown of the source model surface section into an output surface. It should be noted that there is generally no single solution to the triangulation problem, as there are many triangulations which may be of equal cost. Moreover, because the output object surface will generally only be an approximation of the original source surface, there may be some user involvement in determining which of the possible optimizations are more desirable from an aesthetic, fabrication, or economic standpoint.
The optimization may give weight to one or more attributes of each possible triangulation. In general there are three types of functions which may be considered: functions which relate one triangle to one or more of the other triangles, functions which relate only to one triangle, and functions which relate some aspect of the triangle to some aspect of the source model surface section 33.
An example of a function of the first type may involve comparing the degree of bending between two adjacent triangles, and assigning an energy cost of surface bending. Examples of the second type of function would be one relating to the angles between the edges of a single triangle or the area of a single triangle or the total length of the sides of a single triangle. Examples of the third type of function would be functions relating to comparing the triangle surface normal to the surface normals of the source model surface section; or a function relating to comparing the deviation of the triangle from the source model surface section. Generally, the functions best employed are those that can be related to some desirable outcome in the output structure surface, for example minimizing the energy cost of surface bending involves minimizing the angular displacement between the surfaces of adjacent triangles in the triangulation, to result in less bending of the output structure elements. Minimizing the cost of edge matching involves minimizing the difference between the surface normal of a triangle in the output surface and the edge normals of the source surface section 33 along the same edge, more closely matching the shape of the source model surface section.
Just one of these functions, or two or more may be employed to determine an optimum triangulation. However, it has been found that good results are achieved when only the costs of edge matching and energy cost of surface bending are considered, and the process as discussed below will only consider those two attributes, with an understanding that a greater or lesser number of attributes could be considered.
To calculate a triangle surface normal, the cross product of two vectors corresponding to two sides of the triangle is determined, as illustrated in FIG. 26. The surface normal is this vector reduced to a unit vector by dividing it by its own magnitude:
The bend cost between two triangles sharing a common edge may be calculated by finding the surface normals for the two triangles, as shown in FIG. 27, then finding the magnitude of one surface normal subtracted from the other to determine the BendDelta, the BendCost is this value taken to a power greater than one, preferably a high power, for example the fifth power, then multiplied by the length of the edge between the triangles:
It should be noted that, in general the BendCost may be determined as some function of the length e and the BendDelta.
The edge cost may be calculated as illustrated in FIG. 29. When a test triangle p0-p1-p8 is considered, normals of the source model surface section at each end of the edge e are determined. The average surface normal along the edge is determined by dividing the sum of the these normals by their magnitude. An EdgeDelta is found by subtracting this average edge normal from the surface normal of the test triangle and finding the magnitude of this vector. The edge cost may be calculated as the length of the edge e times the EdgeDelta taken to the fifth power:
It should be noted that, in general the EdgeCost may be determined as some function of the length e and the EdgeDelta.
It should be noted that other costs than those discussed above may be taken into account in arriving at a lowest cost triangulation. For example, it may be desirable to consider costs such as the area of the triangles, and the edge length of the triangles, in addition to or in place of some of the cost factors discussed above. For example, if it were desired to construct an object as a space frame, or as a flexible material supported on a space frame, for ease of construction it would be desirable to limit obtuse angles in the connecting struts of any such space frame, a cost may be assessed based on the maximum or minimum angle defined within each triangle of a triangulation. Alternatively, it might be desirable to take into account the area of the approximation triangles, for example if it is desired to find the triangulation which requires the smallest quantity of flexible material to be used.
In order to determine the optimized or low cost triangulation, in effect, every possible triangulation is considered, and the costs of that triangulation are weighed. This evaluation of multiple triangulations may be carried out in a variety of fashions. Conceptually, one can contemplate all the possible triangulations laid out for analysis, with the desired cost functions applied to each triangulation one after the other. The triangulations are considered and compared one to the other. Each time a lower cost triangulation is found, the higher cost possibility is discarded, until there is left only triangulations of the lowest cost. However, with polygons having more vertices, more advanced optimization techniques may be desired to reduce processing time. The following example employs dynamic programming methods to perform the analysis. The example employs the simple case of a perimeter polygon which has nine vertices, and is illustrated in FIGS. 7-23. The perimeter polygon is defined by a number of vertices which are spaced along the polygon, the vertices being connected by edge segments. In the figures, the vertices are numbered 0-8. Line segments which connect two adjacent vertices, and which hence lie on the perimeter polygon, are edge segments. Line segments which extend between non-adjacent vertices, and which hence cut across the surface section are referred to as chords. A triangle will be bounded by three line segments.
As shown in FIG. 7, an arbitrary edge segment 8-0 is selected, and then all the possible trial triangles which can be formed with that edge segment are considered. The first trial triangle 8-0-1 has two edge segments 8-0, and 0-1, and a chord 1-8. For each trial triangle thus formed, the polygon will be divided into three regions: the trial triangle itself, a polygon to the left of the triangle, and a polygon to the right of the trial triangle. In FIGS. 7-23, trial triangle edge segments are shown in dashed lines while chords are shown as dark lines.
In the case of the trial triangle 8-0-1, shown in FIG. 7, there is no polygon to the right, so only the costs of the trial triangle 8-0-1 and the left remainder polygon 8-1-2-3-4-5-6-7 need to be considered. The cost of the trial triangle 8-0-1 is calculated by first determining the edge cost of the edge segment 8-0. The edge cost considers the difference between the surface normal of the trial triangle and an average of the edge normals of the vertices on the source model surface section at that edge. This cost may be assessed without regard to direction of the variance by taking the length of the vector which extends between the compared normals. In a similar manner, the edge cost of the edge segment 0-1 is calculated.
Next the bending cost at each chord is determined. The bending cost is a function of the difference between the surface normal of the trial triangle and the surface normal of the adjacent triangle. The value of this difference may be calculated, as discussed above with respect to the calculation of the edge normal cost, by considering the surface normals of the trial triangle and the adjacent triangle positioned as if they were at a common origin, and taking the length of the vector extending between the two surface normals. It will be observed however, that it is not possible to calculate the surface normal of the adjacent triangle until it is known how the remainder polygon itself will be triangulated.
Thus it will be necessary to determine a low cost triangulation of the left remainder polygon before determining the bending cost of the trial triangle. And of course, the determination of a low cost triangulation of the left remainder polygon requires a consideration of all the possible subpolygons of that shape. This determination is more readily illustrated beginning with the simpler case of a remainder polygon of only three sides, such as shown in FIG. 8. The trial triangle 8-0-2 divides the perimeter polygon such that there is a left remainder polygon of seven sides and a right remainder polygon of three sides. As illustrated schematically in FIG. 14, the right remainder polygon is a triangle 0-1-2. Because there is no alternative triangulation of the right remainder polygon, the edge cost and bending cost of the right remainder polygon is calculated as discussed above, and, with the right remainder polygon determined it is possible to calculate the bending cost at the chord 0-2 for the trial triangle 8-0-2.
A more complicated situation, in which the right remainder polygon may be triangulated in more than one fashion is illustrated in FIGS. 9, and 15-16. As shown in FIG. 9, The trial triangle 8-0-3 divides the perimeter polygon to produce a left remainder polygon 8-3-4-5-6-7 and a right remainder polygon 0-1-2-3. In order to determine the bending cost along the chord 0-3 of the trial triangle it is necessary to determine how the right remainder polygon is itself triangulated. As shown in FIG. 15, the right remainder polygon is first divided into the triangle 0-1-3 with the remaining triangle 1-2-3. The edge costs and bending costs are determined for this triangulation—then the edge costs and bending costs are determined for the alternative triangulation comprised of the triangles 0-2-3 and 0-1-2, as shown in FIG. 16. The lowest cost alternative is selected, thereby permitting the bending cost of the trial triangle 8-0-3 to be calculated with respect to the adjacent triangle within the right remainder polygon.
When the trial triangle 8-0-4 is selected, as shown in FIG. 10, both the right remainder polygon and the left remainder polygon are five-sided figures. As shown in FIGS. 17-19, the lowest cost triangulation is calculated for the right remainder polygon in a fashion similar to the process discussed with respect to the trial triangle 8-0-3 shown in FIG. 9. Similarly, when the cost of the trial triangle 8-0-5 is assessed, as shown in FIG. 11, a low-cost triangulation of the right remainder polygon 0-1-2-3-4-5 is carried out as illustrated in FIGS. 20-23. In each case, all possible subdivisions are created, and the least cost subdivision is determined.
The actual calculation of the costs associated with each triangle may be carried out according to a wide variety of functions. For example, if it is desired to minimize the maximum departure of the output object from the source model, rather than the average deviation, the cost calculations may be taken to a higher power before being considered. For example, in computing the bending cost, the magnitude of the difference vector between the two adjacent triangles may be first taken to the fifth power, and then multiplied by the length of the chord. In a similar fashion the edge cost may be taken to the fifth power, and then multiplied by the length of the edge segment. Any higher order function will tend to have the same result, thus giving a greater cost to the solution which has the largest difference.
The triangulation of a polygon is a recursive problem which is well suited to being solved by dynamic programming methods, for example as set out by Prof. Daniel Jimenez in "Lecture 12, Dynamic Programming continued, Triangulation of a Convex Polygon," located at www.cs.rutgers.edu/˜djimenez/ut/utsa/cs3343/lecture12.html, the disclosure of which lecture is incorporated by reference herein.
In a Dynamic Programming method, the cost values and the position of the subdivision and remainder polygons are stored in a two-dimensional array, such that those values can be immediately accessed when required at a later stage of the analysis. For example, the polygon 0-1-2-3 is considered both in analyzing the right remainder polygon of FIG. 9, and when analyzing the right remainder polygon of FIG. 19. After the polygon 0-1-2-3 has been analyzed, and a low cost triangulation of that polygon determined, it is not necessary to repeat the calculations when that polygon appears as a portion of a later calculated polygon.
Another approach may be considered to obtaining a low cost triangulation which is effectively the same as the approach discussed above, but provides an alternative way of addressing the problem. In the alternative approach, the cost of a triangulation begins by considering a subset of the vertices of the perimeter polygon, for example, the vertices 0-1-2 as shown in FIG. 14. A single triangle has only one possible cost, which is noted, and then an additional vertex is added, vertex 3, such as in FIG. 15, to define a four-sided polygon 0-1-2-3. The possible triangulations of the four-sided polygon are then weighed, and the costs determined. An additional vertex is then added, to define a five-sided polygon 0-1-2-3-4, as shown in FIG. 17, and then another vertex to define a six-sided polygon as in FIG. 20, and so on until the polygon being considered includes all the vertices of the perimeter polygon and is in fact the full perimeter polygon, and all possible triangulations of the entire perimeter polygon are considered and weighed. In the process of reaching the full polygon, the lower cost alternatives will have been noted, and may be employed in making the final calculations.
The perimeter polygon illustrated in the FIGS. 7-23 is a simple example, having few vertices and a surface lying in a single plane. It will be appreciated that perimeter polygons which extend throughout 3-space and which have many more vertices will be accommodated by the process.
It should be noted that although in the illustrated method, all possibilities are examined, it would also be possible to examine only a fraction of the possibilities, or use some stochastic method, instead of doing exhaustive calculations, although a lesser degree of matching the source model surface section might be experienced. In any event, an effective proportion of the total number of triangulation possibilities should be considered to achieve the level of approximation desired.
Once a low-cost triangulation 59, as shown in FIG. 4, has been determined, the output surface within the perimeter polygon is flattened, using conventional techniques, to produce an output surface element which extends in a single plane. Each output surface element may then be fabricated from a sheet 60 of material. The output object 62, shown in FIG. 6, is composed of four output surface elements: a first element 64 corresponding to the chimney section 38, a second element 66 corresponding to the igloo dome first subsection 44, a third element 68 corresponding to the igloo dome second subsection 46, and a fourth element 70 corresponding to the igloo entryway 40.
The planar output surface elements may be created as images or templates to be applied to sheet material, or as vector or bitmapped graphic files to be reproduced through a printing process, or as instruction sets for driving a laser, a router or numerically controlled cutting machine for fabricating the parts from standard sheet material. The output surface elements may be assembled by a variety of conventional techniques depending upon the sheet material used and the intended purpose of the output object. For example, each output surface element may be provided with a series of tabs 72 having holes therein to permit the output object 62 to be assembled by "stitching" the adjacent tabs of two output surface elements together with wire. In addition, surface element identifying numbers 74 may be fabricated to project from each surface element, as shown in FIG. 5. The numbers 74 will be particularly employed where the elements are not printed upon a sheet but are produced as a cutting path. The numbers 74 help to identify the output surface elements and facilitate assembly of the output surface element, particularly in conjunction with an instruction sheet, which may also be automatically generated. At the time of assembly, the numbers 74 may be cut off from the parts. Software may be used to generate an assembly manual, as well, which provides instructions showing how each numbered part is to be connected to the others.
The output objects 62, although comprised entirely of developable surfaces, can display striking similarity to the original free form model. Because of the simplicity of the parts required, output objects of any desired size can be readily and economically produced. At a very basic and unautomated level, the outlines of the output surface elements may be printed on paper or card stock, cut out by hand, and assembled with glue or adhesive tape. Larger and stiffer structures can be fabricated from sheet plastic, cardboard, or corrugated plastic board. Even larger structures may be assembled from conventional building materials such as drywall, strandboard, plywood, particleboard, wood laminates, or even steel, copper, tin, or titanium sheet. If the perimeters of the output surface elements are connected to one another, and the exterior edges are constrained to their desired perimeter, the output object will be conformed to the desired shape. Because all output surface elements are developable surfaces they need not undergo any stretching or compressing.
The output elements may be connected in various ways, depending on the material used and the strength or stiffness required of the output object. For example, the output surface elements may have projecting tabs for gluing to adjacent elements, or the adjacent elements may be marked with spots indicating where the tabs are to be attached. Another approach is to form narrow protruding tabs on the output surface elements which can be bent with respect to the surface. Tabs of adjacent output surface elements may be brought together and connected with wire. The output surface elements themselves can then be connected along their exterior edges, such as by the application of epoxy or other adhesive, fiberglass, or by welding. The joint may be filled with a fillet of epoxy and filler and the inside and outsides of the joints covered with fiberglass tape which is bonded with epoxy or polyester. Once the surface elements have been permanently joined, the wire-connected tabs can be twisted and broken off, or they may be cut off.
Although a perimeter polygon 84 might be triangulated such that all the triangles formed have an edge segment, such as shown in FIG. 25, a distinctive feature of the triangulations of this invention is shown in FIG. 24, wherein a surface section 80 has a triangulation which includes at least one suspended triangle 82 which has each of its vertices on the perimeter polygon, but which has no edge sections, being comprised instead of three chords. Such a suspended triangle will often be the most effective way to divide a surface having three legs or projections. Such suspended triangles will also be observed in the triangulation of FIG. 4.
It should be noted that images originally present on the source model can be mapped to the output surface elements, to produce an effective approximation of that image on the output object. In this way the images could be printed on the sheet materials which are to be cut to form the output surface elements. Likewise, the visual boundaries of images on the source model surface may be employed as dividing lines of boundaries of the source model surface sections; i.e.: the outlines of continents on a terrestrial globe could be used as the perimeters of surface sections, and the images of the continents could then be printed on the sheets from which the output elements are formed. Conventional processes for determining correspondence between an original image in a particular shaped region to another differently shaped region may be employed, and conventional techniques for painting and texturing 3D shapes may be employed, such as those disclosed in "Direct WYSIWYG Painting and Texturing on 3D Shapes," Pat Hanrahan and Paul Haeberli, Computer Graphics, Vol. 24, No. 4, August 1990, pp. 215-223, the disclosure of which is incorporated by reference herein. Such a method might be used, for example, to fabricate three dimensional models of cartoon characters, complete with coloring to match the appearance of the character in a 3D modeling program.
It should be noted, that, depending on the stiffness of the sheets employed, the output structure will not necessarily be self-supporting, or naturally disposed to maintain the desired output surface. Therefore internal support may be required. This support may take the form of stiff internal braces, air or other fluid pressure, foam, or other structural filler. The internal braces could also be fabricated as sheet elements in the process, as the model in three-space contains the location of the surfaces which require support.
The process may be carried out at least in part by a conventional computer, such as a PC. The software implementation preferably will employ a graphical user interface which will display the source model surface, and will also display a representation of an output object's surface. This display may show a comparison between the original surface and the output object surface, to allow the operator to make an assessment of whether the proposed approximation is adequate. The differences may be shown numerically or graphically, for example by different colors, shades, or intensities. If the proposed approximation is unsatisfactory, the operator can change the parameters guiding the approximation, for example by subdividing the doubly curved surface sections in a different way, or into more subsections, or by choosing different weighting criteria in determining a lowest cost triangulation.
Applications of the method of this invention will be found in a variety of areas where it is desired to fabricate objects of free form design. For example, in interior design, free form walls or other parts of any interior space can be fabricated by cutting wire mesh which is then assembled and covered with plaster, concrete, or stucco. Similarly lathing material, such as used in plaster work, may be cut and bent into wall forms. Large-scale architectural structures may be built out of plastic, plywood, or rebar mesh which is sprayed with concrete. Aircraft parts may be fabricated from aluminum or other aircraft metal. Boat hulls and other boat components can be fabricated from wood or fiberglass. Household objects such as lampshades may be assembled from translucent plastic shells. Articles of clothing and personal adornment such as jackets, hats, pants, and shoes, which are typically fabricated of stitched sheets of leather, suede, fabric, plastic material, etc., can be fabricated to any desired free form shape, even to the extent of being custom designed to the particular body shape of an individual wearer.
Toys, for example stuffed animals and inflatable toys, may be fabricated and readily assembled from sheet materials to match computer models of cinematic, video game, and cartoon characters.
Small scale output objects, such as rings, medallions, earrings, bracelets, and other jewelry, may be fabricated according to the above described method by cutting and folding sheets of gold, silver, or other metal.
Inflatable structures such as driving ranges, tennis shelters, airports, may be assembled from sheet materials, as well as inflatable lighting products.
Forms for casting concrete in free form shapes may be fabricated from sheet materials. Sculptures, signage, for example signs comprised of extruded letters with free form deformations; furniture; dog houses and penthouses; sails, point-of-purchase displays, may all benefit from the process of this invention. Moreover, large storage tanks for liquid or gas, be they mobile or stationary, may be assembled from large sheets of metal cut according to the process of this invention. Other products such as portable lightweight or emergency structures may be produced.
The process is particularly useful where a free form shell is required to be constructed to fit a very particular use and may only be needed in quantities of one or several units, for example: heating and ventilating ducts, shipping containers, and casting molds. Often an item of irregular shape must be shipped in a corrugated cardboard carton which is a regular rectangular box. The process of this invention can be used to cut from cardboard an enveloping output object which has an interior surface which mates with the item to be shipped and an exterior surface that fits readily within the rectangular shipping box.
The ability of this process to generate complicated structures rendered from sheet material makes it particularly adaptable to objects which must be shipped at very low-cost, for example emergency structures, and housing for refugees, displaced persons, and disaster victims. It is often the case that structures of greatly improved stiffness can be fabricated from sheet material when the sheet material is folded or bent. Hence, free form structures which are more economical of materials can be constructed.
In addition, where solid free form objects are called for, the output object comprised of the bent sheet elements may be filled with some structural material such as plastic foam, concrete, resin, etc.
It will be noted that the process of this invention is well adapted to fabrication of objects which are commonly designed using 3-D modeling software, or to fabrication of those objects which require rapid prototyping.
An alternative embodiment of the invention is illustrated in FIGS. 30-32. A free form source model surface 88 is shown in FIG. 30 which is represented in a modeling application as one or more surface patches, for example as one or more NURBS patches. NURBS (non-uniform rational B-spline) geometry is a standard approach for representing three dimensional objects or surfaces with very high accuracy. A NURBS patch may represent the curvilinear perimeter 91 of a surface with very high accuracy in a data-efficient manner, as shown in FIG. 30. In the technique of this invention, the surface section perimeter is approximated by a plurality of vertices positioned along the surface section perimeter to define a perimeter polygon 89. Where some edges of of the surface section perimeter 91 are curved, there will be a loss of information in this transition to the perimeter polygon 89. In some applications requiring high levels of accuracy, for example free form computer modeling of tools or production parts, it is desirable to retain all the original perimeter information until such time as the free form model is output in its final form. NURBS patches are one approach to doing this. Advantages may be obtained by representing a single NURBS patch as one or more NURBS patches which are each a developable surface.
The optimal triangulation of the NURBS patch 88 is found in just the same fashion as discussed above generally with respect to a source model surface, to produce a triangulated surface 90 as shown in FIG. 31 which is a single developable surface, and which has a surface section perimeter which is a polygonal approximation of the original source model surface. In the surface 90, two suspended triangles 92, 94 have been identified.
As shown in FIG. 32, remaining within the realm of the 3D modeling application, the single developable surface 90 of FIG. 31 may be represented as a modified model surface 96 comprised of one or more NURBS patches which are derived from the optimal triangulation of the perimeter polygon 89. If the triangulated surface includes any suspended triangles, then it may be represented by multiple NURBS patches, with each suspended triangle defining its own NURBS patch. Each NURBS patch is a developable surface, and each suspended triangle has corresponding NURBS patch. The surface 96 thus has a first NURBS patch 98 which adjoins a second NURBS patch 100 corresponding to the suspended triangle 94, a third NURBS patch 102 adjacent the second patch 100, a fourth NURBS patch 104 which extends between the suspended triangle second NURBS patch 100 and a fifth NURBS patch 106 which corresponds to the suspended triangle 92. A sixth NURBS patch 108, and a seventh NURBS patch 10 extend from either side of the fifth NURBS patch 106. The surfaces of the NURBS patches of the surface 96 are trimmed according to the original curvilinear perimeter 91 of the source model surface 88, such that the surface 96 has a perimeter 112 which is the same as the perimeter 91. The result is a modified model surface which is comprised entirely of developable surfaces, but which retains the original perimeter of the source model surface. The modified model surface, which is not yet output as a physical object, may then be further processed or manipulated within a 3D modeling application.
It should be noted that, although the triangulation method has been discussed as involving dividing the perimeter polygon with a trial triangle to produce a left remainder polygon and a right remainder polygon, any approach which divides the perimeter polygon into two or three sections, and which then evaluates the costs of those divided sections would be effective. For example, instead of dividing the perimeter polygon with a triangle, it might be divided into two sections with a line extending between two vertices, then calculate the costs associated with each of the polygons so formed and add the bend cost between the two polygons as cost element to that triangulation.
Furthermore, although each possibility can be assessed in performing the triangulation, it would also be possible to evaluate less than all possibilities, in the interest of reducing computational effort. For example, an edge could be randomly picked, and then rather than examining all triangulations involving that edge, a random sample of possible triangulations could be sampled.
It is understood that the invention is not limited to the particular construction and arrangement of parts herein illustrated and described, but embraces all such modified forms thereof as come within the scope of the following claims.
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text:
i am a final year student, and my final year project based on implementing a longitudinal and a lateral controller of a small UAV using FPGA. for this reason i need to have a xilinx system generator toolbox in the matlab software inorder to generate the HDL code. so, i hope to get any help in order to get the toolbox to be installed in the Matlab/simulink????
Xilinx has many versions of their software; not all of them support all devices. (Older software versions may not support newer chips.) See the Xilinx documentation and website for more information.
Xilinx System Generator is a 3rd party tool produced by (not surprisingly) Xilinx. More information can be found at http://www.xilinx.com/tools/sysgen.htm .
Opportunities for recent engineering grads.


text:
Directory profile: Cynthia Kath
Cynthia Kath has been showing her work in both one woman and group juried exhibitions, in Minnesota, Wisconsin, Hawaii and France. She has a BA in Fine Arts, and is currently working on a Master of Liberal Studies at the U of M in Fine Art, Architecture and Horticulture. Cynthia has studied at Parson in Paris, France, and privatly with many professioal artists. She is currently teaching pastel painting at the Minnetonka Center for the Arts and will begin teaching at the White Bear Center for the Arts in 2014.
Cynthia has been painting on Maui for the past 25 years, and her work has been on display for 20 years at the Village Gallery in Lahaina.


text:
World Challenge
Track Days
ROUSH Performance and Capaldi Racing Place 5th at Circuit of the Americas
The weekend of March 7th and 8th at Circuit of the Americas (COTA) not only kicked-off the 2015 season of the Pirelli World Challenge, but also marked many new beginnings for Capaldi Racing. This was the first event that Capaldi Racing's three new drivers (Dan Martinson, Nick Esayian, and Jack Roush Jr.) competed in under the Capaldi banner. It was also the first time that Nick and Dan have competed in Ford Mustangs.
The weather leading up to the event was cold, and freezing rain covered the track with ice on Wednesday night prior to the first day of testing, which meant that the track jet dryers had to be sent out in the morning to melt the ice.
"The weather was somewhat of a challenge leading up to the race weekend, as we weren't able to get a completely accurate feel for where the balance of the cars would be," says Leo Capaldi. "This was made more challenging given the lack of available track days for testing due to weather this past winter. However, the team did a great job in reacting with the information they had to make our cars fast."
The race weekend consisted of two races, one each on Saturday and Sunday. Qualifying took place early Saturday morning with team results as follows: Jack Roush Jr. in 11th, Dan Martinson in 13th, and Nick Esayian in 18th. Each of the team drivers had moved up by the end of the first race, with Jack finishing 9th, Dan 11th, and Nick 14th. Both Nick and Jack improved their positions once again for the Sunday race, with Nick finishing 12th and Jack in 5th, and Jack set the fastest lap in a Mustang for the race with a lap time of 2:32.67 and the third fastest lap overall that race. Unfortunately, Dan was called in to do a drive-through penalty during the race, which hurt his chances of moving up the field.
"I was excited to fire up the season at COTA with my new teammates," says Nick Esayian, driver of the No. 34 TravelClean Mustang. "Unfortunately we didn't have cooperative weather in the run up to test some of the new goodies Leo and company had prepared for us, so the learning curve was steep for me. That said, the car is fantastic, and I think using what we learned this weekend, we will be contenders in St. Pete."
"The starts were crazy as usual. I stayed out of trouble, took the points I could, and will move to St. Pete with a trove of new info," Nick continues. "The team has a good synergy already, and certainly the crew is as good as any I have worked with. Always looking for the incremental gain after each session. When you look at the GT and GTS fields, it is a pretty amazing field of cars and drivers, and I am proud to be a part of it."
Dan Martinson, driver of the No. 33 Gear Tie Racing Mustang, shares his thoughts on the event: "The Capaldi guys did a great job of getting the car ready for COTA and ran a tight ship all weekend. Everybody was great to work with . . . including my friendly competitors Nick and Jack. Couldn't have asked for a better group to hang out with all season.
"I was pretty happy with my finish in race one given the fact that it was my first time in a Mustang. The learning curve was a lot steeper than I expected. If we can get the brakes dialed in and get a test day before St. Pete, we should be competitive. Overall, I love the series. Can't wait for the next race."
And finally, Jack Roush Jr., driver of the No. 60 ROUSH Performance Mustang, adds his own comments about the race at COTA: "I would first of all like to thank the team for a great first outing. Leo has assembled a top-quality group of guys. I'm also very thankful to have some of the team members from my team that have transitioned over with me. It was great working with my new teammates, Nick Esayain and Dan Martinson."
Jack continues: "A top ten finish was not a bad way to start the season, but obviously, we are aimed at the front, and that's where we are heading looking at our P5 finish and battle for P3 at the end of the second race."
No. 60 Mustang driven by Jack Roush Jr.: ROUSH Performance, Performance Friction Brakes, Quarter Master, Brown and Miller Racing Solutions, Ford Performance, GoPro, Sparco, Meguiar's, KW Suspensions, PROCAM, PWR Performance Products, RAM, and Eaton Team Sponsors
No. 34 Mustang driven by Nick Esayain: Travel Clean, Special Operations Warrior Foundation, and Speed34.com
No. 33 Mustang driven by Dan Martinson: Nite Ize and Gear Tie Racing
Dan Martinson to Race in the 2015 Pirelli World Challenge
Rogers, MN. (January 26, 2015) - We're excited to announce that Dan Martinson will be joining the Capaldi Racing Team in the
Pirelli World Challenge Championships
for a full season in 2015. Martinson will be driving the #33 Ford Mustang Boss 302S along side teammates Jack Roush Jr. and Nick Esayian in GTS class.
"As a rookie, I can't imagine a better situation. Joining an established top team with experienced drivers and a highly developed race car will help me tremendously."
Martinson began his racing career in the Skip Barber Mazda Speed Challenge in 2011. Since then he has spent the last two years competing in the Porsche Club of America, Intercontinental Trophy Cup, and 944 Cup Championship Series driving a variety of Porsche race cars. In 50 race starts since 2012, he has won 20 times and been on the podium in 35 of those races.
"I was hooked on the Pirelli World Challenge after I raced at COTA back in 2013 in a Pontiac Solstice in TC Class. Now that the series has split GT and GTS into separate run groups and TV broadcasts, it's a great opportunity for me to make the jump into professional racing while promoting my products and brands.
In addition to his racing career, Martinson is the inventor and manufacturer of the
Gear Tie
Reusable Rubber Twist Tie and
Knot Bone Stretch Laces
. Both products are made in the USA at his Xtrudex manufacturing facility in Rogers, Minnesota and distributed worldwide by the
Nite Ize
company in Boulder, Colorado.
"We plan to set up our Gear Tie promotional tent in the
Capaldi Racing
paddock every race weekend throughout the season. In addition to handing out thousands of free Gear Ties to fans and teams each weekend, we will be announcing a contest sometime before the first race at the Circuit of the Americas. So, if you are at the track, please stop on by and check us out!"
When Martinson isn't racing, you'll find him in Medina, Minnesota watching his 15 year old son Noah play baseball, his 13 year old son Jack play basketball, and his 10 year old daughter Ella dancing…or spending some quality time with his wife, Heidi.
ROUSH Performance and Capaldi Racing Partner For The 2015 Season In The Pirelli World Challenge Series
Photo by Melissa K. Smith
Chesterfield, Michigan - December 12, 2014 -- Capaldi Racing is excited to announce a new partnership between ROUSH Performance and Jack Roush Jr. for the 2015 Pirelli World Challenge series. This development will move Roush Jr.'s home base from North Carolina up to Chesterfield, Michigan to race out of Capaldi Racing headquarters.
After several years competing successfully in the Continental Tire Challenge Series and finishing with ten victories and 24 podiums, Jack Roush Jr., racing with the ROUSH Road Racing team, moved to the GTS class of the Pirelli World Challenge Series for the 2014 season. In his first year competing in the series, the seasoned driver landed himself in the number five spot with his Ford Mustang Boss 302R, earning four podiums throughout the season. Roush Jr. is a well-rounded driver with experience in circle track, rally, and drag racing.
"I have known the Capaldi family for over thirty years," says Jack Roush Jr. "They are both great racers and great people, and I look forward to partnering both with them and the strong line-up of drivers on the team this coming year."
Capaldi Racing has substantial experience competing within the Pirelli World Challenge Series. "Our new partnership should really bring us all up a level for 2015. With four podiums in 2014 for our team coupled with Jack's impressive rookie season with four podiums, combining our efforts is only going to make us more competitive as a team," stated team principle Leo Capaldi.
Series veteran Brad Adams returns to GTS and the newly-united team in the crowd favorite #96 Ford Mustang Boss 302S (WHO DAT/DAT DOG/Voodoo Experience).
Also new to the Capaldi Racing team for the 2015 season is Nick Esayian - a four-time contributor to Manufacturer's Championships with RealTime Racing with 130 Pirelli World Challenge race starts, and multiple wins and podiums throughout his career.
"I have known, respected, and admired Capaldi Racing since my career started in World Challenge in 2004, so it is a real treat having the opportunity to race for Leo, Craig, and Sandie, and partner with a teammate like Jack Roush Jr.," says Esayian. "I am very confident that we collectively have the experience, resources, and talent to make a solid run for both the Driver's and Manufacturer's Championships."
Rookie Dan Martinson is making the jump into professional racing with Capaldi Racing for the 2015 season as well, piloting a Ford Mustang Boss 302R in the GTS class. He comes with a background in Porsche Club of America Club Racing Series and has won 20 races and 35 podiums in just 50 race starts since 2012.
Capaldi Racing has also partnered with Wolverine Bronze for the 2015 season as we continue to showcase their Low Volume Casting capabilities through motorsports
Capaldi Racing is looking forward to another season in the Pirelli World Challenge Series and is excited about this promising new partnership with ROUSH Performance.
Capaldi Racing's Season Recap
Chesterfield MI – Preparation is underway for Capaldi Racing for their home town event as the Pirelli World Challenge is set to visit the Motor City and the Detroit Belle Isle Grand Prix for rounds 5 & 6 of the championship. The team is set to return to the track fielding once again three cars in GTS. Brad Adams and Craig Capaldi are both returning to the streets of Belle Isle and hope to help kick start Tony Buffomante's first visit to the 2.3 mile temporary street circuit.
Photo by Melissa K. Smith
Taking a step back to the opening rounds, getting to Detroit has been full of highs and lows. For round 1, team mates Brad Adams in the #96 (WHO DAT / VooDoo Music / Dat Dog / Capaldi Racing /BOSS 302)and newcomer Tony Buffomante in the #33 Capaldi Racing / Ford Racing / BOSS 302 were set to start the 2014 season off with solid finishes. Adams would qualify in the 15th starting position but after a solid run into the top ten, the #96 would eventually have to pit for repairs after a mid race mistake by a fellow competitor put Adams into a tire wall. Brad fought back to eventually finish the day in 17th. Buffomante started his freshmen year in World Challenge strong putting the #33 in the 5th place starting position during qualifying. Come race day, after battling throughout the top five for the 50 minute race, Tony came just shy of the podium finishing in 4th place. "The weekend was a great start to our championship hunt, the team just got the car finished and practice one was the first time the car had seen a track. Tony had never run here before so coming out of here with a solid finish is great" stated team owner Leo Capaldi.
Round 2 took the team to the historic Long Beach Grand Prix and after promising results in round 1 the team was enthusiastic. Brad Adams returned to the famed circuit which has brought him good results in the past and quickly was up to speed posting the 11th best lap time during qualifying. The team focused on chassis improvements on the #96 for race day but bad luck struck Adams as a mechanical issue halted his forward march. Adams hung onto the pack amidst only having 7 cylinders pumping and brought home a solid 9th place finish. Meanwhile, after a stellar qualifying lap for Buffomante, he battled from his 4th place starting position to a podium finish in P2 after several attempts at the top step. "Just like St. Pete, I have personally never competed at this venue. Having two strong finishes in the first two events with an all new car is amazing, the team is working hard to get us that little bit more we need to stick with these guys up front but we will get there." Stated Buffomante post race.
Photo by Melissa K. Smith
Most recently, Capaldi Racing headed to Alabama and Barber Motorsports Park, this time with three BOSS 302 Mustangs in tow. Joining Adams and Buffomante would be Craig Capaldi in the #68 Wolverine Bronze / Ford Racing / Capaldi Racing Mustang making his season debut. The trio used practice and shared resources to quickly get the cars up to speed as qualifying quickly approached. The combined knowledge helped each in gauging the new facility added to this seasons schedule. Buffomante would find himself starting in the 12th position followed by Capaldi (13th) and Adams (17th) for round 3. As the race began to unfold, Adams would unfortunately be collected by another competitor in a turn 2 incident which would put him into a gravel trap in need of recovery. Despite the first lap mayhem, Adams would get back on track to bring home a 21st finishing spot. Fortunately, Buffomante and Capaldi were able to get through the first laps and begin battling for positions. At the checkered flag, Tony had made his way once again to the front of the pack coming home in the 4th spot. Capaldi meanwhile, had a race long battle with several competitors and while finishing in the same spot as he started, was optimistic about Sunday's race "I gave a bit up on the first few laps of green and had to really work to track down a couple guys, once we got there I knew the team gave me better overall package and I was able to pick up a few spots I lost. We will have a better showing tomorrow!" commented Capaldi. Race 2 for the weekend would mark round 4 for the championship and the cars would be gridded by the quick laps in race 1, Buffomante 9th, Capaldi 14th, and Adams in 18th. The lights went out for the start of round 4 and the cars raced towards turn 1, but just as fast as the race started it was over for Buffomante. Several cars fought for position entering turn one and the end result left four cars including the #33 damaged at the exit of turn 1. Through the debris and smoke, Adams and Capaldi managed to escape unscathed and would continue to carry the Ford flag to strong 9th and 11th finishing positions respectfully.
Photo by Melissa K. Smith
Battered but not beaten, the Capaldi Racing crew is hard at work prepping the trio of entries for the teams next stop at the challenging Detroit Belle Isle. Catch all the action from Barber Motorsports Park starting at 4pm Eastern on NBC Sports Network this coming Saturday, May 10th.
Capaldi Wraps Up His First Racing Season
Capaldi Racing Team Driver, Chris Capaldi, headed to the Streets of Houston for the final two rounds of the 2013 Pirelli World Challenge TCB Season – his first season of pro racing. Chris teamed up with Wolverine Bronze, Ford Racing, and Capaldi Racing to campaign the Wolverine Bronze Ford Fiesta in the Pirelli World Challenge TCB class.
He started his first pro racing season at Round 1 at the Circuit of the Americas in Austin, TX. Chris put his front-wheel drive experience to good use, keeping the Wolverine Bronze/Capaldi Racing Fiesta out of trouble and finishing the weekend's three races 18th, 14th and 15th, respectively.
After the Circuit of the Americas, he traveled to the historic Lime Rock Park in Connecticut. This was his first time at the tight 1.5-mile track. Chris started the weekend's first race 17th , and was able to stay out of trouble until the second lap when he was hit by a Fiat which killed any momentum he had going. He was able to recover and finished the race 13th. In the weekend's second race, Chris stayed out of trouble, running with the pack and finishing 15th. The third race of the weekend was a 40-minute race and again, he stayed out of trouble and crossed the finish line in 15th while setting his fastest lap of the weekend.
After a short one-week break after Lime Rock, the team headed to Toronto for his first international race. This was Chris' first time racing on a street circuit so he had a lot to learn. He quickly learned the tight street course and delivered his best qualifying results of the season coming back with a 7th place starting position his best yet. He did what he had to do to survive a street race, stay out of trouble, and crossed the line in 8th place – his best finish to date in the Wolverine Bronze/Capaldi Racing Fiesta. In the weekend's second race, he took what he learned from the first race and topped his race one finish, coming home in 7th place.
With the momentum of his best finish to date, he headed to his home track, the Mid Ohio Sports Car Course. He started the weekend's first race in 15th, and ran the race mid-pack while battling back and forth with those around him. He kept it clean and ended up finishing 13th place. He started the second race in 13th and avoided a multi-car crash on the first lap that put him up to 5th. He then moved to 4th where he stayed until he was hit by another vehicle slipping down to 7th where he finished the race.
For his next race, he headed to Sonoma Raceway in the heart of California's Wine Country. He spent the practice sessions learning the 2.5-mile road course. He ended up qualifying 12th for the first race but had some contact in the first lap causing him to lose the lead pack. He kept going and ended up finishing the race 11th. In the weekend's second race, he stayed out of trouble and got his momentum up and finished 9th.
Rounds 13 and 14 were a tough weekend for Chris at the Houston Grand Prix in the Wolverine Bronze/Capaldi Racing Ford Fiesta.
The grid for Round 13 was set by points as track alterations and time constraints meant Friday's qualifying sessions were canceled which put him in 9th on the starting grid but an incident between Davis and Francis Jr brought out a yellow. During the yellow he was passed by 2 cars gaining one of those positions back before the restart. After the restart the #99 car of Alejandro decided to punt Chris into the tire wall damaging the engine & ending his weekend. He took 10th place in the 14-race TCB season which is not bad considering it was his 1st year in the Pro series.
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A resident stands outside the apartment building where Quazi Mohammad Rezwanul Ahsan Nafis lives in the Queens borough of New York October 17, 2012. REUTERS/Carlo Allegri
DHAKA: A young Bangladeshi man accused of plotting to blow up the New York Federal Reserve is a bank manager's son who dropped out of the country's most liberal university before moving to the United States.
Authorities in New York allege that Quazi Mohammad Rezwanul Ahsan Nafis travelled to the US with "the purpose of conducting a terrorist attack" and actively sought out Al-Qaeda contacts after his arrival.
But the family of the 21-year-old insist he had never displayed any radical tendencies but was rather a devout Muslim whose arrest had come as a deep shock.
"We're stunned. Nafis is not a radical type. He says prayers five times a day, and reads the holy Koran and Hadith every day. I have never seen him reading any books on jihad," his father Quazi Mohammad Ahsanullah told AFP on Thursday.
"We don't believe that he can have committed this... He is our pride and joy."
Nafis's extended family lives in North Jatrabari, an upper middle-class neighbourhood of southeastern Dhaka. His father is a senior vice president of National Bank and his sister is a doctor.
Speaking to AFP from the family home on Thursday, Nafis's brother-in-law Arik said they had spoken to him only hours before his arrest and even discussed a possible bride for him.
"We heard the news this morning. Everyone is crying here," said Arik. "Nafis never showed any form of radicalisation when he was in Bangladesh."
Nafis had been an unexceptional high school student but managed to get a place as an undergraduate at North South University, a private university known for being the country's most liberal centre of learning as well as its most expensive.
Bangladesh is an overwhelmingly Muslim and conservative country, but North South stands out as a place where upper-class male and female students can mingle freely on campus, usually dressed in designer Western clothing.
University officials said that Nafis had struggled during his eight semesters as an electrical engineering and telecommunications student and had been effectively forced to leave after disappointing exam results.
"He obtained one of the lowest exam point scores in December last year. He had already been under probation for three semesters," said Belal Ahmed, a spokesman at the university.
His family and Nafis's own Facebook page show that he then moved to the United States where he initially took up a place at Missouri Southern State University.
"We were afraid that he would be spoiled after going to America, but he told us that he remained a devout Muslim," said Ahsanullah.
"He completed only one semester at Missouri Southern University. But it was too costly. He went to New York and then took a job at a hotel."
Nafis has allegedly written a statement claiming responsibility for his planned attack in which he said he wanted to "destroy America" and referred to slain Al-Qaeda founder Osama bin Laden as "beloved."
He has been charged with trying to use a weapon of mass destruction and attempting to support Al-Qaeda. Federal prosecutors office say he "attempted to recruit individuals to form a terrorist cell inside the United States".
But according to his father, Nafis's main concern was trying to scrape together a living to afford to pay for a computer science course and for the rent on a property he was sharing with a relative in the Queens district.
"He used to work 10 hours a day at the hotel," said Ahsanullah.
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Women are beginning to realize that wearing really uncomfortable heels all day just does not fit into their lifestyle. When selecting heels, many ladies are turning towards lower and thicker heels for stability and balance. Of course, nobody wants to wear shoes that look like something a frumpy grandma might wear.
Of course, there are also some really stylish flats on the market that are nice enough to wear out or to a professional job, and yet they feel almost as comfortable as a favorite pair of gym shoes. If you need comfortable flats and cute heels, consider some of these top brands on the market.
Cute And Comfy Flats And Heels For Women's Shoes
Sam Edelman Ballet Flats
These are really cute shoes, and they can get matched with jeans, a nice skirt, or even fairly formal clothes. They are considered ballet flats, but the actually do have the smallest suggestion of a small and wide heel. This gives a woman just a bit of a lift, but it doesn't make them uncomfortable.
A pair of these comfortable shoes is about $100, and they have a very sophisticated and stylish appearance that you can wear almost anywhere and with almost anything.
Geox Ballet Flats
These flats also have a very stylish appearance, but they also have breathable uppers. Plus, they give you the advantage of being waterproof. These are great if you need to wear your shoes inside and outside, and you need comfortable and sensible shoes to wear with casual or dressy clothes.
These high-fashion flats are a bit pricier, at about $140, but they should provide you with miles and miles of style and comfort during your day if you are at work in a professional office, touring the country, or dining out in a fancy restaurant.
Nine West: Boutique 9
These are flats, but they have the appearance of dressy pumps. The only thing that you are missing are the very uncomfortable heels. These shoes come in a vast array of styles and colors. Add to that the fact that these shoes are more affordable, at about $60, and you might be able to afford to buy a couple of different pairs to match up with different outfits. If you wear Boutique 9 shoes, nobody will accuse you of wearing frumpy shoes!
Comfortable Heels
Nobody can deny the power of a nice pair of heels. They make legs appear longer and leaner, and they also can add a bit of height. Some women just don't feel really dressed up unless they wear heels. We set out to find shoes that offered both heels and comfort, and these two things can go together.
If Prada is within your shoe budget, you really can have it all. These stylish shoes offer all of the elegance and bragging rights you can hope for, and they actually are pretty easy to walk around in. The main drawback, of course, is that a pair of Prada heels may set you back over $500, so these are not your every-day pair of shoes unless you are very "well heeled!"
Giani Bernini Sweets
These are affordable, comfortable, and stylish pumps that you can find at a store like Macy's for less than $60. They offer quite a tall heel, but it is fairly thick for balance. The way the heel is designed, it looks graceful and not blocky, so you should be proud to wear shoes like this with a business outfit or even an evening dress.
They come in black, red, pewter, and faux-croc to give you choices, and you may be able to find similar styles in other colors and textures. They also come in sizes from 5 to 11, so almost every woman should be able to buy a pair that fits perfectly.
The footbed is made of memory foam for cushioning, and the outer soles are rubber, so they are very slip resistant.
Finding Comfort And Style
There are important things to consider when choosing your own comfortable and stylish shoes. Of course, many shoppers are aware of their budgets, but it is possible to find good choices for about $60. Having a larger budget gives you many more choices, but $60 is a good starting point.
Besides that, look at the soles to make sure they resist slipping. Wider heels give women more stability, and they are likely to feel more comfortable. Besides the soles and the heels, having cushioning and support is likely to reduce or prevent fatigue, aches, and even serious feet problems.
For all-day comfort, you might choose to give up on heels, and you are welcome to pick your own style. However, it is still possible to find comfortable heels in almost all price ranges.


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"Great story, poor audio quality"
Beautiful book but the audio has some issues. Chapters 3&4 were swapped, the transitions are rough and volume is very low.
elizabeth in la plata
"Not a good reading"
Actually the story isn't very good! I expected better. And the reader wasn't really suited to this type of book.
Boring story, annoying reader.
"Boring due to the reader's low and sleepy tone"
A better reader, someone who read it with some heart and volume to the voice.
It wasn't Wilder's problem - it was the reader, Mr. Sam Waterson. I will not buy or listen to anything by Mr. Waterson again.
Low voice and sleepy tonality.
Redo the book with another reader, being careful to the quality of the voice and tonality.
"Wonderful story, worst audio quality"
No, I would have them read it
This book was unique; it had features of Hemmingway's Old Man and the Sea
Sam Waterston did a good job, but the audio quality made listening a challenge
No; it is an introspective story
"A well constructed and thoughtful story"
Excellent plot with well developed characters. Universal morality tale.
Graham Greene's "The Power and the Glory."
Good grasp of characters and ability to express many emotions.
A Bridge to Eternity
"The sound quality drags this one down"
I didn't like the sound quality at all. It's muffled, which, combined with the somewhat flat reading, makes the story just drone on and on. The story goes into significant depth about the characters, but I simply gave up on starting the second of five stories. While the stories might be interesting, I don't recommend this audiobook on the simple lack of audio quality. You can get a good idea of it in the audio sample.
The concept of the story seems interesting, but ultimately, I was finding the details, coupled with the difficulty in hearing it just not worth the effort.
Certainly a clearer recording - that didn't sound like it was made on a cassette recorder 35 years ago. It must be a rather old recording, transferred from tape.
And as much as I've always liked Sam Waterson as an actor, I found his reading flat to the point of becoming a drone.
Only to try to return the book.
The recording quality is probably a disservice to the writing. Sorry to write such a negative review. I think this might be a book better read off the printed page than this recording.
"True American Literature"
Examination of the human heart.
The psychology.
The characters were brought to life.
Lives completed.
"A very compelling story performed well."
A very thought provoking story. Incredibly enjoyable and well performed. Characters have depth and are realistic.
"Soothing narration"
At first I was surprised by the lack of polish in Sam Waterston's narration, for example, you can hear him inhaling at the end of sentences and he provides no change of voice to emphasize characters or moods. However, I quickly concluded that the narration was perfect for this philosophical novella about fate, love, and life. It is like a wise and favorite uncle talking to you. I found it comforting and soothing, as befitting the message of the final section of the book.
A school administrator and avid reader and listener of books. At least an hour of every day is spent in the car, and that's where the bulk of my listening is done. I tend to listen to books on "faster" mode so I can get through more books!
"Better read than listened to?"
Maybe this book is better taken in via reading it, rather than listening, for it lacked a compelling reason to stay with it. While I did complete the novel, I was left wanting more, wishing it was better, wishing for the profound.