System and method for generating an outer layer representation of an object

A system for generating a representation of just an outer layer of a three-dimensional object, the object represented by a plurality of two-dimensional triangles, the system comprising:

• a bounding box determination module that receives the plurality of two-dimensional triangles representing the object and that determines a three-dimensional bounding box having dimensions sufficient to encapsulate the object, the bounding box being comprised of a plurality of voxels, wherein each voxel in the bounding box has a state value associated thereto, wherein the state value of each voxel is initially assigned a default value;
• an object-to-voxel module that determines an intersecting set of voxels from the plurality of voxels, wherein each member of the intersecting set of voxels intersects with at least one triangle of the plurality of triangles, wherein the object-to-voxel module changes the state value of the voxels in the intersecting set of voxels from the default value to a first value;
• and
• a outer layer determination module that determines an outer set of voxels from the intersecting set of voxels, wherein each member of the outer set of voxels shares a face with a voxel that is not a member of the intersecting set of voxels and that determines an outer layer set of triangles from the plurality of triangles, the outer layer set of triangles being comprised of triangles that have at least one vertex that intersect the outer set of voxels, wherein the outer layer determination module determines a non-intersecting set of voxels from the plurality of voxels, wherein the state values of the voxels of the non-intersecting set of voxels are equal to the default value after the intersecting set of voxels is determined, wherein the outer layer determination module, for each particular voxel having the first value as the state value, identifies a neighboring voxel that shares a face with the particular voxel and changes the state value of the neighboring voxel to a second value if the state value of the neighboring voxel is determined to be equal to the first value and the neighboring voxel shares a face with at least one voxel in the non-intersecting set of voxels, and wherein the outer layer determination module isolates the voxels having the second value as the state value and generates the representation of just the outer layer of the three-dimensional object therefrom.