Plotting a 3D rectangle, with vertex starting at the origin, from a list of dimensions.

Question

Hi,

I have been struggling to find a resource that I truly understand and that is exactly what I'm looking for. I'm currently learning python, but working on it for my senior research project.

So, I have created a list that has randomized dimensions within in it. I want to take the dimensions and plot a series of 3D rectangles that appear one after another in a row and also can stack up on one another (eventually until each column hits a certain volume). I haven't had any luck plotting 3D rectangles. Does anyone know a way I can do this based on the dimensions within the list?

Here is my code:

Also, I want to note that this specifically does a birdseye view.

import numpy

from matplotlib.collections import PatchCollection

import matplotlib.pyplot as plt

from mpl_toolkits import mplot3d

from mpl_toolkits.mplot3d import Axes3D

import matplotlib.patches as patches

#%matplotlib inline

import random

def createBox():

#this is what randomly generates the dimensions of the boxes and saves to list

N= int(input ("Enter number of boxes :"))

list1 = [];

list2 = [];

list3 = [];

list4 = [];

list5 = [];

for i in range(0,N):

x = random.randint(1,4) #non integers would be random.random or random.unif

y = random.randint(1,4)

z = random.randint(1,4)

box = [x,y,z];

area = [x,y]

list1.append(box)

list2.append(area)

print(list1)

print(list2)

#Here is where the organizes the dimensions of the box

for i in list2:

result = numpy.prod(i)

list3.append(result)

list3.sort(reverse = True)

print(list3)

for box in list2:

l = box[0] #this is along the x-axis

w = box[1] #this is along the y-axis

if l < w: #rotates the box 90 degrees, where largest size is along x-axis

l = box[1]

w = box[0]

res = [l,w]

list4.append(res)

list4.sort(reverse = True)

print(list4)

lims = (0,15)

fig1 = plt.figure()

ax1 = fig1.add_subplot(111, aspect = 'equal')

plt.ylim(lims)

plt.xlim(lims)

patchlist = [];

x = 0

y = 0

for box in list4:

l1 = box[0] #along the x-axis

w1 = box[1] #along the y-axis

list5.append(w1)

if sum(list5) <= 12:

rec = patches.Rectangle((x,y),l1,w1,fill = True, edgecolor= 'black', linewidth = 2.0 , linestyle='-')

# patchlist.append(patches.Rectangle((x,y),l1,w1,fill = False, edgecolor= 'black', linewidth = 2.0 , linestyle='-'))

y = y + w1

# ax1.add_collection(PatchCollection(patchlist))

ax1.add_artist(rec) ##helps create the color

else:

x = x + 4

y = 0

list5 = [w1]

rec = patches.Rectangle((x,y),l1,w1,fill = True, edgecolor ='black',linewidth = 2.0, linestyle='-')

# patchlist.append(patches.Rectangle((x + l1,y),l1,w1,fill = False, edgecolor ='black',linewidth = 2.0, linestyle='-'))

y = y + w1

# ax1.add_collection(PatchCollection(patchlist))

ax1.add_artist(rec)

plt.show()

Answer 1

You are already using matplotlib which is a good. Another way you could do this is with a 2D game engine like Python Arcade or Pygame. For this application you could go with the bar chart. If a deeper explanation is needed, feel free to message me!

I would recommend writing your lists to a file or storing them at runtime. Then feeding them through a process like this.

500295 152342 25286

500295 157981 24120.6

500295 163619 15469.8

500295 169258 18071.8

500295 174897 25624.7

500295 180536 30323.5

500295 186174 8828.7

500295 191813 4681.19

500295 197452 7470.08

500295 203090 29070.4

506851 152342 2181.82

506851 157981 1809.44

506851 163619 3045.71

506851 169258 7433.56

506851 174897 10637.3

506851 180536 12511.1

506851 186174 7514.93

506851 191813 5468.37

from mpl_toolkits.mplot3d import Axes3D

import matplotlib.pyplot as plt

import numpy as np

xsize = 1000

ysize = 4000

data = np.loadtxt('data')

x, y, dz = data[:, 0], data[:, 1], data[:, 2]

dx, dy, z = np.ones(x.shape)*xsize, np.ones(x.shape)*ysize, np.zeros(x.shape)

fig = plt.figure()

ax = fig.gca(projection='3d')

ax.bar3d(x, y, z, dx, dy, dz, color='green')

plt.show()