Package 'r2stl' reference manual

Title:	Visualizing Data using a 3D Printer
Description:	Converts data to STL (stereolithography) files that can be used to feed a 3-dimensional printer. The 3-dimensional output from a function can be materialized into a solid surface in a plastic material, therefore allowing more detailed examination. There are many possible uses for this new tool, such as to examine mathematical expressions with very irregular shapes, to aid teaching people with impaired vision, to create raised relief maps from digital elevation maps (DEMs), to bridge the gap between mathematical tools and rapid prototyping, and many more. Ian Walker created the function r2stl() and Jose' Gama assembled the package.
Authors:	Ian Walker [aut], Jose' Gama [aut], Paul J. Northrop [cre, ctb]
Maintainer:	Paul J. Northrop <[email protected]>
License:	CC BY-SA 4.0
Version:	1.0.3
Built:	2025-03-12 02:57:42 UTC
Source:	https://github.com/paulnorthrop/r2stl

Save R data to an STL file

Description

r2stl takes numeric input exactly as with the 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
)
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`	A numeric vector with the x-coordinates to plot.
`y`	A numeric vector with the y-coordinates to plot.
`z`	A numeric `length(x)` by `length(y)` matrix with the z-coordinates to plot.
`filename`	The STL filename.
`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`	To force the 3D plot to touch all six faces of the imaginary cube that surrounds it, set this argument to `TRUE`.
`min.height`	The minimum height for the printed material.
`show.persp`	If set to `TRUE` then a `persp` plot of this object is shown on the screen.
`strict.stl`	If 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 https://www.meshlab.net/.

Value

The object returned when close is used to close the connection to filename.

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)
  return(10 * sin(r) / r)
}
z <- outer(x, y, f)
z[is.na(z)] <- 1
file1 <- tempfile(fileext = ".stl")
r2stl(x, y, z, filename = file1, show.persp = TRUE)

# Now let's look at R's Volcano data
z <- volcano
x <- 1:dim(volcano)[1]
y <- 1:dim(volcano)[2]
file2 <- tempfile(fileext = ".stl")
r2stl(x, y, z, filename = file2, show.persp = TRUE)
# 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)
  return(10 * sin(r) / r)
}
z <- outer(x, y, f)
z[is.na(z)] <- 1
file1 <- tempfile(fileext = ".stl")
r2stl(x, y, z, filename = file1, show.persp = TRUE)

# Now let's look at R's Volcano data
z <- volcano
x <- 1:dim(volcano)[1]
y <- 1:dim(volcano)[2]
file2 <- tempfile(fileext = ".stl")
r2stl(x, y, z, filename = file2, show.persp = TRUE)

Package 'r2stl'

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