r2stl: Save R data to an STL file

In r2stl: r2stl, R package for visualizing data using a 3D printer

Description

r2stl takes numeric input exactly as with R's normal persp() function. The output is a STL (stereolithography) file.

Usage

r2stl(x, y, z, filename = "3d-R-object.stl", object.name = "r2stl-object", z.expand = FALSE, min.height = 0.008, show.persp = FALSE, strict.stl = FALSE)

Arguments

x	x is a numeric vector with the x-coordinates to plot
y	y is a numeric vector with the y-coordinates to plot
z	z is a numeric vector with the z-coordinates to plot
filename	x is the STL filename
object.name	object.name - the object that is being described must have a name specified inside the file. There's probably no point changing it from the default
z.expand	z.expand - to force the 3D plot to touch all six faces of the imaginary cube that surrounds it, set this parameter to TRUE
min.height	min.height is the minimum height for the printed material.
show.persp	show.persp if set to TRUE then a persp() plot of this object is shown on the screen
strict.stl	strict.stl is set to TRUE it makes files smaller but isn't strictly proper STL format.

Details

To view and test the STL files before printing them can be done with many programs, for example an open-source option is Meshlab http://meshlab.sourceforge.net/.

Value

none

Author(s)

Ian Walker

Examples

# Let's do the classic persp() demo plot
x <- seq(-10, 10, length= 100)
y <- x
f <- function(x,y) { r <- sqrt(x^2+y^2); 10 * sin(r)/r }
z <- outer(x, y, f)
z[is.na(z)] <- 1
r2stl(x, y, z, filename="lovelyfunction.stl", show.persp=TRUE)

# Now let's look at R's Volcano data
z <- volcano
x <- 1:dim(volcano)[1]
y <- 1:dim(volcano)[2]
r2stl(x, y, z, filename="volcano.stl", show.persp=TRUE)

Example output

r2stl documentation built on May 2, 2019, 9:23 a.m.