Print Paths Key-framing

Abstract

We present a method to design non-planar layered print paths for robotic fused deposition modeling (FDM) printing of single-shell surfaces. The advent of robotic arms has created great potential in the 3D printing industry for the realization of non-planar print paths that allow transitioning between different orientations during the print. However, this potential is often not fully realized due to the various challenges associated with the design of feasible non-planar print paths. Inspired by the ubiquitous key-framing technique in animation, where an input of limited degrees of freedom is used to describe a complex behavior, we propose a method to generate non-planar layered print paths subject to the input of the designer, by specifying a series of target curves on the surface of a mesh. Our method generates intermediary print paths with a direction that interpolates that of the targets while respecting the sequence and distances between neighboring paths imposed by fabrication constraints. The resulting print paths have variable layer height, and their realization relies on variable end-effector orientation. We present several examples and fabricated prototypes and make qualitative comparisons to planar slicing, to showcase the capabilities of our method.

As-Continuous-As-Possible Extrusion Fabrication of Surface Models

“…It is worth mentioning that although we have a hard support structure constraint (subsection 3.1), we can decompose the model when no feasible orientation exists. As shown in Figure 18, we manually decompose the kitten into three patches like [Mitropoulou et al 2020] did, run our framework for each patch separately, and finally assemble them. We remark that different degrees of shrinkage may leave noticeable seam lines between parts after hardening.…”

“…Most works in the literature adopt multi-axis platforms and incorporate curved layers for printing shells. [Mitropoulou et al 2020] present a method to design non-planar layered print paths for robotic FDM printing of single-shell surfaces. [Bhatt et al 2020] propose the layer slicing and toolpath planning algorithm to build thin shell parts on a 3-DOF build-platform and a 3-DOF extrusion tool.…”

Nonplanar 3D Printing of Bifurcating Forms

“…We present extensions to the approach proposed in Mitropoulou et al 17 to design nonplanar paths for single-shell layered robotic 3D printing, driven by user-defined targets that are interpolated. Our methods address several challenges identified in that work related to the design and fabrication of bifurcating shapes.…”

“…In this article, we extend existing work 17 and focus on enabling the user-controlled design of nonplanar paths for shapes that contain bifurcations, as there are various challenges and opportunities associated with the nonplanar printing of these geometries. We also propose a method for partitioning higher genus geometries into simpler bifurcating shapes, which makes our approach relevant for a great variety of geometries.…”

“…Zhong et al 23 propose an interactive modeling and fabrication framework that relies on sweeping surfaces as a design tool to create clay single-shell surfaces. Another recent work, Print Paths Key-framing , 17 which is the precursor to our work, proposes the design of print paths by interpolating user-defined boundaries. This method relies on calculating an interpolating distance field, leading to paths described as isolines that morph between the boundaries.…”