Use IA for 2D nesting, they said ...
Well, I have gone down the rabbit hole of applying IA to solve free-form 2D nesting problems, but the results weren't what I expected. However, I have learned a lot of things in the process, and created some software you might find useful, such as this packer , which has nothing to do with AI (initially), but it is a basic Left-Bottom First packer. The AI part comes in when you provide it with a somewhat "intelligent" parts sequence. And there, my friend, is where many different attempts and hours of AI training went. Let me explain what I did and how I did not accomplish much in the process: I had a collection of 2D part geometries and the results of a professional nesting tool applied to them. I thought I could use that to teach a model how to tell a dumb LBF to do better by either providing the optimal part sequence and/or rotation angle. I used different approaches to that, but I underestimated my ability to mess things up, so I ended up with six different transfor...