Researchers Develop 3-D Search Engine

Researchers Develop 3-D Search Engine
Fri Apr 16,10:19 AM ET Add Technology - AP to My
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By BRIAN BERGSTEIN, AP Technology Writer

NEW YORK - The mind-boggling speed and reach of
Internet search engines mask a severe limitation: They
are powered by words alone.


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What a humdrum existence. The world is so much
brighter and more varied, full of objects and patterns
that defy searchable descriptions.


In hopes of wrapping their arms around more of that
stuff, computing researchers have developed new search
engines that can mine catalogs of three-dimensional
objects, like airplane parts or architectural
features.


All the users have to do is sketch what they're
thinking of, and the search engines can produce
comparable objects.


"The idea of information and knowledge, and retrieval
of knowledge, has been something I've been intrigued
with for a long time. This gives it a more solidified
meaning," said Karthik Ramani, a Purdue University
professor who created a system that can find
computer-designed industrial parts.


Ramani expects his search engine will serve huge
industrial companies whose engineers often waste time
and energy designing a specialized part when someone
else has already created, used or rejected something
similar.


Rick Jeffs, senior engineering specialist at a
Caterpillar Inc. engine center in Lafayette, Ind.,
believes Ramani's technology could help the company
simplify its inventory. Jeffs' center alone has tens
of thousands of different parts.


"If you've got to design a new elbow for an oil line,
more often than not, we have a plethora of elbows,"
Jeffs said. But even though many parts are created
with computer-aided design (CAD) software, they are
catalogued such that each has to be examined
separately, a tedious task "that isn't even performed
that often, because it isn't feasible or practical."


With the Purdue search engine, designers could sketch
the part they need and instantly see dozens in
inventory that might fit the bill.


If an item seems close, but not quite right, designers
can see a "skeleton" of the part and manipulate it on
their computer screens