Automatic marker making system and method

摘要

An automatic marker making system and method are provided in which the creation of a new marker is facilitated through the use of already existing marker designs. A computer database of existing markers is searched for markers that are "similar" to the marker being created. An existing marker is considered "similar" if it meets certain user-specified, marker making criteria. Initially, position and orientation data from pattern pieces in the "similar" marker are used to position and orient corresponding pieces in the new marker. Then, the new marker is "compacted" using a software routine to nest all of the new pieces simultaneously, instead of nesting one or two pieces at a time. The compacting routine corrects overlaps between pieces and assures that the new pieces are nested as efficiently as possible.