3D Contour Step

Operator Function

Measure the step of the contour. When point-to-point mode is selected, measure the step in Z direction from point to reference point (directional, positive when point is above reference point, negative when below). When point-to-line mode is selected, measure the distance from point to reference line (non-directional).

Parameter Introduction

Input Parameters

Parameter	Range	Default Value	Description	Illustration
Input Image	0-8	0	The IM number for image input

Calculation Parameters

Parameter	Range	Default Value	Description	Illustration
Mode			See Mode
Reference Point			See Reference Point
Reference Line			See Reference Line
Point			See Point

Mode

Parameter	Range	Default Value	Description	Illustration
Point to Point			When point-to-point mode is selected, measure the step in Z direction from point to reference point (directional). Positive when point is above reference point, negative when below.
Point to Line			When point-to-line mode is selected, measure the distance from point to reference line (non-directional).

Reference Point

Only enabled when mode is Point to Point, parameters for selecting input extraction point

Parameter	Range	Default Value	Description	Illustration
Region			Type: Only enabled in manual mode; set manually selected type: 1D Window Start Point: Only enabled in manual mode; input X, Z coordinates of start point End Point: Only enabled in manual mode; input X, Z coordinates of end point
Point Feature	Min X/Max X/Min Z/Max Z/Mean/Median/Inflection Point/Edge Point	Mean	Min X: Point with smallest X value among all points in region Max X: Point with largest X value among all points in region Min Z: Point with smallest Z value among all points in region Max Z: Point with largest Z value among all points in region Mean: Point formed by calculating X, Z average of all points in region Median: When point count in region is odd, take median point after sorting by X ascending; when even, take average of two median points Inflection Point: Where slope changes significantly on contour Edge Point: Feature points extracted based on adjacent point rise/fall and position after sorting contour left to right
Inflection Point Search Type	-X/+X/-Z/+Z	+Z	-X: Search for leftmost inflection point +X: Search for rightmost inflection point -Z: Search for bottommost inflection point +Z: Search for topmost inflection point
Noise Removal		0.000	Enable: If enabled, filter out inflection points with small jumps Threshold: Minimum difference to filter out interference points in Z direction
Edge Point Direction	Rising Edge/Falling Edge/Rising or Falling Edge	Rising or Falling Edge	Rising Edge: Search in rising direction from left to right along contour Falling Edge: Search in falling direction from left to right along contour Rising or Falling Edge: Search in rising or falling direction from left to right
Edge Point Position	First/Last/Best	Best	First: First edge point meeting requirements from left to right on contour Last: Last edge point meeting requirements from left to right on contour Best: Edge point with largest height difference among those meeting requirements from left to right

Reference Line

Only enabled when mode is Point to Line, parameters for selecting input extraction point

Parameter	Range	Default Value	Description	Illustration
Acquisition Method	Horizontal Reference Line/Fitted Line	Fitted Line	Select method to obtain reference line Horizontal Reference Line: Set a Z value as horizontal reference line Fitted Line: Use points in region to fit line as reference line
Value		0.000	Only enabled when acquisition method is Horizontal Reference Line; set value for horizontal reference line
Region			Only enabled when acquisition method is Fitted Line; fit line based on points in region Type: Only enabled in manual mode; set manually selected type: 1D Window Start Point: Only enabled in manual mode; input X, Z coordinates of start point End Point: Only enabled in manual mode; input X, Z coordinates of end point

Point

Parameters for selecting input extraction point

Parameter	Range	Default Value	Description	Illustration
Region	1D Window	1D Window	Type: Only enabled in manual mode; set manually selected type as 1D Window Start Point: Only enabled in manual mode; input X, Z coordinates of start point End Point: Only enabled in manual mode; input X, Z coordinates of end point
Point Feature	Min X, Max X, Min Z, Max Z, Mean, Median, Inflection Point, Edge Point	Mean	Min X: Point with smallest X value among all points in region Max X: Point with largest X value among all points in region Min Z: Point with smallest Z value among all points in region Max Z: Point with largest Z value among all points in region Mean: Point formed by calculating X, Z average of all points in region Median: When point count in region is odd, take median point after sorting by X ascending; when even, take average of two median points Inflection Point: Where slope changes significantly on contour Edge Point: Feature points extracted based on adjacent point rise/fall and position after sorting contour left to right
Inflection Point Search Type	-X/+X/-Z/+Z	+Z	-X: Search for leftmost inflection point +X: Search for rightmost inflection point -Z: Search for bottommost inflection point +Z: Search for topmost inflection point
Noise Removal		0.000	Only enabled when feature point is Inflection Point Enable: If enabled, filter out inflection points with small jumps Threshold: Minimum difference to filter out interference points in Z direction
Edge Point Direction	Rising Edge/Falling Edge/Rising or Falling Edge	Rising or Falling Edge	Only enabled when feature point is Edge Point Rising Edge: Search in rising direction from left to right along contour Falling Edge: Search in falling direction from left to right along contour Rising or Falling Edge: Search in rising or falling direction from left to right
Edge Point Position	First/Last/Best	Best	Only enabled when feature point is Edge Point First: First edge point meeting requirements from left to right on contour Last: Last edge point meeting requirements from left to right on contour Best: Edge point with largest height difference among those meeting requirements from left to right

Result Display

Parameter	Range	Default Value	Description	Illustration
Reference Line	true/false	false	Reference line for step calculation; if enabled, displayed in the image
Reference Point	true/false	false	Reference point for step calculation; if enabled, displayed in the image
Foot of Perpendicular	true/false	false	Foot of perpendicular from point to line; if enabled, displayed in the image
Measurement Point	true/false	false	Searched measurement point; if enabled, displayed in the image
Measurement Segment	true/false	false	Step measurement segment; if enabled, displayed in the image
Step Value	true/false	false	Step value; if enabled, displayed in the image

Output Parameters

Name	Type	Range	Description
Result	bool	true/false	true for success false for failure
Warning	bool	true/false	true indicates there is a warning false indicates there is none
Message	string		Outputs success, error, or warning information; if there is no error or warning, it is empty
Time	float		Operator execution time, unit: ms
cross_section_step	float		Output step value

Tip

For more detailed explanations of parameter types, please refer to Type Definitions

Exception Troubleshooting

No.	Exception Information	Corresponding Parameter	Solution
1	Failed to get feature points in crop region		Adjust start and end parameters of point acquisition region to ensure valid points exist in selected area
2	Input region type is {0}, invalid region type	Region Type	Input region type must be 1D Window
3	Invalid region for input point		Adjust region parameters so input point cloud in region is not empty
4	No inflection point found		Adjust inflection point parameters
5	No edge point found		Adjust edge point parameters
6	Input feature point type is {0}, invalid feature point type	Feature Point Type	Select one of: Min X/Max X/Min Z/Max Z/Mean Point/Median Point/Inflection Point/Edge Point
7	Invalid region for input line		Input line direction vector parameters cannot all be 0
8	Input reference line acquisition method is {0}, invalid acquisition method	Acquisition Method	Select reference line acquisition method as Fitted Line/Horizontal Reference Line
9	Input mode is {0}, invalid input mode		Select mode as Point to Point/Point to Line
10	Input point cloud is empty		Confirm if IM contains valid points; if no valid points, load point cloud or switch to IM with valid points

Example Introduction

Engineering Design

1. Select the Load Point Cloud tool to load the 3D point cloud image to be processed into IM0.

2. Select the 3D Contour Extraction tool to extract contours into IM1, IM2, IM3 respectively.

3. Select the 3D Contour Step tool to measure point-to-point and point-to-line contour steps respectively.

Tool Usage

1. Select the input image for operation; the image number must match the IM number where the image is located in the project.

2. Set input point or line:

If it's a point or fitted line, set the window position to get points or lines; if it's a baseline, set the baseline value.

3. Set parameters

4. Check the content you want to display in the result display section

5. Click Test to check if the image window and parameters meet expectations

6. If there are no issues, click Save, then run the operator in the run list to view the results in the corresponding IM