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Overview

Extracting bounding dimensions from technical drawings is a complex task. While a naïve approach might simply look for the largest dimensions on the drawing, real-world scenarios require a deeper understanding of how dimensions are structured.

WERK24's API simplifies this process by analyzing technical drawings and returning well-structured bounding dimensions, which can be directly used in your application.

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Key Features:

  • Extracts enclosing cuboid (width × height × depth)
  • Extracts enclosing cylinder (diameter × depth)
  • Handles complex dimensioning scenarios

Challenges in Extracting External Dimensions

Extracting external dimensions is not straightforward because:

  • Dimension Summation – Sometimes the width or height is split across multiple dimensions, requiring summation.
  • Hidden External Features – Some parts contain radii or overhanging edges that extend beyond the main structure.
  • Rotational Ambiguity – A lathe part may only be illustrated in one view, making it difficult to determine whether it’s flat or cylindrical.

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WERK24's External Dimension Extraction

WERK24 processes technical drawings and returns two different bounding volumes, depending on the part’s geometry:

  1. Enclosing Cuboid → Best for prismatic parts (width × height × depth).
  2. Enclosing Cylinder → Best for lathe and rotational parts (diameter × depth).

Enclosing Cuboid

The enclosing cuboid is the smallest box that fully contains the part in three dimensions:

  • Width
  • Height
  • Depth

Front View Assumption

WERK24 assumes the width and height come from the front view. This means the resulting cuboid may not be the absolute smallest possible volume, as a different orientation could yield a smaller bounding box.

Enclosing Cylinder

Enclosing Cylinder For lathe and lathe-mill parts, an enclosing cylinder provides a more accurate representation of the part’s external dimensions. It is defined by:

  • Diameter
  • Depth

Orientation Adjustment

The system reorients the part to ensure that the diameter measurement reflects the dimension with the highest cylindricity. As a result, the enclosing cylinder’s orientation may differ from the enclosing cuboid’s orientation.

Aluminum Profiles

The diameter of the enclosing cylinder also represents the enclosing circle for aluminum profiles.