An example system includes an object and a support frame supporting the object. The support frame constrains movement of the object relative to the support frame, and the support frame includes at least one of a cage or a shackle to non-rigidly constrain movement of at least a part of the object.

A shaping data combining process of an external PC to which 3D data indicating a shaped object shaped by a 3D printer is input for each 3D job includes: a step of generating shaping data based on the 3D job, a step of combining a plurality of shaping data to generate combined shaping data to fill a margin region where the shaping of the shaped object is not performed with respect to a shapeable region of the 3D printer, and a step of transmitting the combined shaping data to the 3D printer.

A method for generating print images for additive manufacturing includes: accessing a part model; accessing a set of dimensional tolerances for the part model; and segmenting the part model into a set of model layers. The method also includes, and, for each model layer: detecting an edge in the model layer; assigning a dimensional tolerance to the edge; defining an outer exposure shell inset from the edge by an erosion distance inversely proportional to a width of the dimensional tolerance; defining an inner exposure shell inset from the outer exposure shell and scheduled for exposure separately from the outer exposure shell; defining an a outer exposure energy proportional to the width of the dimensional tolerance and assigned to the outer exposure shell; and defining an inner exposure energy greater than the outer exposure energy and assigned to the inner exposure shell.

A set of multi-mode elastic wave generating and detecting devices and field sensors are utilized in a real-time in-situ monitoring system based on the quality assessment of a specially designed article made by an additive manufacturing machine. The original invention disclosed in U.S. patent application Ser. No. 15/731,366 involves the transmission and reception of waves into a periodic test artifact while it is being built. The current invention involves the transmission and reception of multi-mode waves into a test artifact, the processing of data from narrow and wide field-of-view sensors, and correlating and relating the waveforms and sensor data while it is being built using physics-based and machine learning models. The disclosed system may initiate control and real-time corrective actions based on the properties and characteristics of the obtained waveforms and sensor data and their correlations and functional relationships.

Methods and systems are provided, which convert points in a cloud into a model for 3D printing in a computationally efficient manner and while maintaining and possibly adjusting shape, volume and color information. Methods include deriving, from the points, a crude watertight mesh with respect to the points, e.g., an alpha shape, determining, using normal vectors associated with the points, locations of the points with respect to the mesh (e.g., as being inside, outside or within the model) and using the derived mesh to define the model with respect to the determined locations of the points. Combining the computational geometry approach with the field approach is synergetic and results in better information content of the resulting model for 3D printing while consuming less computational resources.

The invention relates to an installation (1) for the three-dimensional printing of a medical device directly at a location where the medical device is to be used.

According to the invention, the installation comprises a container (2) comprising inside it: a production module (3) comprising a 3D printer (6); a clean room (4) comprising means (12) for washing and disinfection of the printed medical device, and a machine (13) for packaging the washed and disinfected medical device.

Examples of methods for registering objects are described herein. In some examples, a method includes determining a set of overlap scores based on a set of orientations between a first bounding box of a three-dimensional (3D) object model and a second bounding box of a 3D scan of an object. In some examples, the method includes registering the 3D scan with the 3D object model based on the set of overlap scores.

A system and method for improving additive manufacturing, including additive manufacturing toolpaths, is provided. The system and method includes a toolpath generator that obtains initial toolpaths of an object, identifies isolated paths in the toolpaths, and adds bridge connections between neighboring isolated paths in each layer to improve the toolpaths. The bridge connections facilitate the continuous and non-stop deposition of each layer according to improved toolpaths during additive manufacture, which can reduce total deposition time and improve the resultant additive manufacture.

Methods and apparatus for two-dimensional and three-dimensional scanning path visualization are disclosed. An example apparatus includes a parameter determiner to determine at least one of a laser beam parameter setting or an electron beam parameter setting, a melt pool geometry determiner to identify melt pool dimensions using the parameter setting, the melt pool geometry determiner to vary the parameter setting to obtain multiple melt pool dimensions, and a visualization path generator to generate a three-dimensional view of a scanning path for an additive manufacturing process using the identified melt pool dimensions. The visualization path generator adjusts the laser beam parameters based on the generated three-dimensional view.

A 3D printing system comprising, an extendable body, a material delivery system, a first wall adhesion device, and a second wall adhesion device.