Patent ID: 7982732

Claim:
A method implemented on a computer having a processor, for optimizing a design representing a physical object, comprising the steps: representing the design of the physical object, using a model and a grid, wherein the model includes object points, the grid is a Free-Form Deformation (FFD) grid comprising control points, and wherein the representation of the Free-Form Deformation grid is variable and adaptive, and wherein the Free-Form Deformation grid is realized as a mesh of splines, and wherein the object points are user-selectable handles within the Free-Form Deformation grid; applying an optimization algorithm on the design representation using the processor, comprising the step of modifying the design using direct manipulation of the object points; and adapting the grid by altering the position of the control points based on the manipulation of the object points to optimize the design, wherein during the optimization of the design representation the presentation of the grid is optimized by adding or removing single control points to increase or decrease the number of control points in the grid according to the optimization algorithm used in order to arrive at an optimal control point placement.