# SweepNet: Unsupervised Learning Shape Abstraction via Neural Sweepers

arXiv: https://arxiv.org/abs/2407.06305 · HTML: https://mlsanity.com/paper/2407.06305/

## Key facts

- Cited by 5 papers in the map (data through 14 Oct 2026).
- Builds on 51 of its 82 references that are in the map.
- First posted on arXiv 8 Jul 2024.

## Builds on (most cited first, 30 of 51)

- [ShapeNet: An Information-Rich 3D Model Repository](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1512.03012/) (2015)
- [DeepSDF: Learning Continuous Signed Distance Functions for Shape Representation](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1901.05103/) (2019)
- [Occupancy Networks: Learning 3D Reconstruction in Function Space](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1812.03828/) (2018)
- [Learning Implicit Fields for Generative Shape Modeling](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1812.02822/) (2018)
- [PIFu: Pixel-Aligned Implicit Function for High-Resolution Clothed Human Digitization](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1905.05172/) (2019)
- [Convolutional Occupancy Networks](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2003.04618/) (2020)
- [Local Implicit Grid Representations for 3D Scenes](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2003.08981/) (2020)
- [Implicit Functions in Feature Space for 3D Shape Reconstruction and Completion](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2003.01456/) (2020)
- [DISN: Deep Implicit Surface Network for High-quality Single-view 3D Reconstruction](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1905.10711/) (2019)
- [Deep Local Shapes: Learning Local SDF Priors for Detailed 3D Reconstruction](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2003.10983/) (2020)
- [DeepCAD: A Deep Generative Network for Computer-Aided Design Models](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2105.09492/) (2021)
- [What Do Single-view 3D Reconstruction Networks Learn?](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1905.03678/) (2019)
- [Learning Shape Templates with Structured Implicit Functions](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1904.06447/) (2019)
- [BSP-Net: Generating Compact Meshes via Binary Space Partitioning](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1911.06971/) (2019)
- [Thingi10K: A Dataset of 10,000 3D-Printing Models](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1605.04797/) (2016)
- [Learning Shape Abstractions by Assembling Volumetric Primitives](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1612.00404/) (2016)
- [CvxNet: Learnable Convex Decomposition](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1909.05736/) (2019)
- [Superquadrics Revisited: Learning 3D Shape Parsing beyond Cuboids](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1904.09970/) (2019)
- [CSGNet: Neural Shape Parser for Constructive Solid Geometry](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1712.08290/) (2017)
- [Neural Kernel Surface Reconstruction](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2305.19590/) (2023)
- [Neural Parts: Learning Expressive 3D Shape Abstractions with Invertible Neural Networks](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2103.10429/) (2021)
- [ParSeNet: A Parametric Surface Fitting Network for 3D Point Clouds](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2003.12181/) (2020)
- [3DILG: Irregular Latent Grids for 3D Generative Modeling](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2205.13914/) (2022)
- [POCO: Point Convolution for Surface Reconstruction](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2201.01831/) (2022)
- [Supervised Fitting of Geometric Primitives to 3D Point Clouds](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1811.08988/) (2018)
- [DualSDF: Semantic Shape Manipulation using a Two-Level Representation](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2004.02869/) (2020)
- [PatchNets: Patch-Based Generalizable Deep Implicit 3D Shape Representations](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2008.01639/) (2020)
- [UCSG-Net -- Unsupervised Discovering of Constructive Solid Geometry Tree](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2006.09102/) (2020)
- [3D-PRNN: Generating Shape Primitives with Recurrent Neural Networks](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1708.01648/) (2017)
- [Learning Unsupervised Hierarchical Part Decomposition of 3D Objects from a Single RGB Image](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2004.01176/) (2020)

## Built on by (most cited first, 5 of 5)

- [Residual Primitive Fitting of 3D Shapes with SuperFrusta](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2512.09201/) (2025)
- [Advances in 4D Representation: Geometry, Motion, and Interaction](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2510.19255/) (2025)
- [Learning Convex Decomposition via Feature Fields](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2603.09285/) (2026)
- [Prompting Image Generators for Training-free Primitive Shape Abstraction](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2607.05568/) (2026)
- [Task-Adaptive Grounded 3D-Programmers Using 2D VLMs](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2610.02021/) (2026)

## Abstract (arXiv)

Shape abstraction is an important task for simplifying complex geometric structures while retaining essential features. Sweep surfaces, commonly found in human-made objects, aid in this process by effectively capturing and representing object geometry, thereby facilitating abstraction. In this paper, we introduce papername, a novel approach to shape abstraction through sweep surfaces. We propose an effective parameterization for sweep surfaces, utilizing superellipses for profile representation and B-spline curves for the axis. This compact representation, requiring as few as 14 float numbers, facilitates intuitive and interactive editing while preserving shape details effectively. Additionally, by introducing a differentiable neural sweeper and an encoder-decoder architecture, we demonstrate the ability to predict sweep surface representations without supervision. We show the superiority of our model through several quantitative and qualitative experiments throughout the paper. Our code is available at https://mingrui-zhao.github.io/SweepNet/