Streamlining LEGO® model design: An automated optimisation approach

LEGO® models have become increasingly popular beyond their traditional toy and entertainment applications, and are now used in fields such as education, cognitive science, engineering and robotics. However, designing LEGO® models for such diverse applications poses new challenges in terms of automation and optimisation. To address such issues, this paper proposes a design support system that automatically generates LEGO® models from any 3D model of a target object using a specific set of standard LEGO® bricks in a layer-by-layer fashion. The system converts the 3D model into a LEGO® model using the minimum number of LEGO® bricks required. The core of the proposed system lies in the use of a greedy algorithm for merging optimisation of each layer of bricks and a depth-first search algorithm for optimising the connection between multiple layers of bricks. Experimental results on several 3D graphics validate the effectiveness of the proposed methodology and its ability to output the corresponding LEGO® model and detailed layout illustrations for each layer of bricks. The proposed system can provide LEGO® builders with an automated optimisation approach for designing LEGO® models, minimising errors compared to manual design.