Some improvements of the marching cubes algorithm for the rendering of an orebody

Orebody-rendering techniques are developed using the marching cubes (MC) algorithm. The shape of an orebody is vividly displayed in real time and can be used to guide mining design as well. The MC algorithm has been improved in two aspects. By analyzing the principles of the MC algorithm, as well as the features of the specific application, improvements were developed to: eliminate ambiguities by using a unified isosurface constructing method in the voxels, and improve the operating efficiency of the MC algorithm by incorporating an octree structure. The analytical results of the examples demonstrate the effectiveness of our proposal.