targets.source_cloud_from_shape() function missing

[generein]

In v0.0.7, the source_cloud_from_shape function has been removed from targets. I can read a mesh in with meshio.read(path_to_stl_file), but there is no stochastic sampling possible from this file. Will this be re-introduced in a future release?

[LyceanEM]

source_cloud_from_shape was removed from the library as it gives inconsistent results in terms of the geodesic separation of points across a surface. The points it produces using the Poisson sampling algorithm are regularly spaced in world coordinates, but sharp edges are not captured well, often producing points either side but none on the edge itself. The recommended approach is to use pygmsh or gmsh to import CAD files such as .step files, and then generate a mesh file using this approach. The benefit of this method is a greater degree of control over the size of the triangles, and the vertices can then be used as the source, sink, or scattering points.

We do intend to implement an improved stochastic sampling method for arbitrary mesh files, but it may not be soon.