Purdue University engineers have developed a 'shape-search' system that will enable users to search industry databases by entering a part that has a similar shape, sketching a part from scratch, or modifying a part that has a similar 3-D shape. This image (above) shows the beginning of the search process, in which the user selects a catalogued part--shown with a black background--that is similar to the shape of the desired part. The system progressively narrows the search results in a multi-step process that provides groups of parts that have similar shapes.

This image shows the second step in the multi-step process. In this step, the system retrieves a group of parts that have similar 3-D shapes to the desired part.