A method and an apparatus for collecting powder samples in real-time in powder bed fusion additive manufacturing may involves an ingester system for in-process collection and characterizations of powder samples. The collection may be performed periodically and uses the results of characterizations for adjustments in the powder bed fusion process. The ingester system of the present disclosure is capable of packaging powder samples collected in real-time into storage containers serving a multitude purposes of audit, process adjustments or actions.

A system and method for making made-to-order architectural millwork of custom dimensions; including the design of wood joints and a system for deploying them within the overall structural design of individual architectural millwork units, as well as methods for online design and ordering, automated writing of machine code, robotic part preparation, and simplified on-site installation. With the automation and generation of digital code for manufacturing custom architectural components, this method makes the formation of distributed manufacturing centers possible. Through this method and with minimum re-tooling and/or training, these centers are able to produce custom millwork more efficiently and effectively than traditional custom millwork woodshops.

A method for controlling an industrial process includes: determining, by a process controller, based at least in part on a set of current values and/or past values of state variables of the industrial process, a set of control outputs to be applied to at least one actor and/or lower-level controller configured to cause a performing of at least one physical action on the process; querying, based on at least a subset of the set of current values and/or past values of state variables and on at least a subset of the set of control outputs, a trained machine-learning model configured to output a classification value, and/or a regression value, that is indicative of a propensity of a watching human operator to at least partially override the control outputs delivered by the process controller; and determining that the classification value, the regression value, and/or the propensity, meets a predetermined criterion.

Virtually-integrated wire harness design and automated production systems and methods that achieve completely integrated data management by automatically producing scripts to dynamically propagate production commands and data to various subsystems for handling assembling necessary circuits and wire harness layout boards to produce corresponding batches of wire harnesses while script-based methods control configuring, testing, and using wire harness layout boards, and assembling, testing, reworking, and delivering wire harnesses. Augmented reality is used to assist in the assembly of layout boards and wire harnesses.

Methods and apparatus relating to substructures for 3D objects are described. In an example, a method for providing a three-dimensional halftone threshold matrix is described. The method may comprise receiving a substructure model representing a three-dimensional material structure and populating each location in the substructure model at which the structure exists with a halftone threshold value.

Methods and apparatus relating to substructures for three-dimensional objects are described. In an example, a method comprises receiving a lattice model having a consistent dimensionality and determining a substructure model representing a three-dimensional material structure, the substructure model being based on the lattice model and specifying a variable material distribution. The substructure model may be populated with halftone threshold data to provide a three-dimensional halftone threshold matrix

There are provided methods and systems for making or repairing a specified part. For example, there is provided a method for creating a manufacturing process to make or repair the specified part. The method includes receiving data from a plurality of sources, the data including as-designed, as-manufactured, as-simulated, as-operated, as-inspected, and as-tested data relative to one or more parts similar to the specified part. The method includes updating, in real time, a surrogate model corresponding with a physics-based model of the specified part, wherein the surrogate model forms a digital twin of the specified part. The method includes generating a multi-variant distribution including component performance and manufacturing variance, the manufacturing variance being associated with at least one of an additive manufacturing process step and a reductive manufacturing process step. The method includes comparing a performance from the multi-variant distribution with an expected performance of the new part based on the surrogate model. The method includes executing, based on the digital twin, the optimized process to either repair or make the specified part.

A system and method for controlling an additive manufacturing system to form a multi-material component. Operating parameter values may be determined for the additive manufacturing system based on a first material and a second material used to form the multi-material component to ensure a requisite level of bonding between particles of a gradient between the first and second materials. Data or models for the first and second materials, along with observed data from a plurality of sample multi-material components formed from the first and second materials may be utilized to determine the operating parameter values. In some cases, the operating parameter values may be tuned to form a multi-material component having predetermined values for parameter objectives along the gradient of the multi-material component. The additive manufacturing system may be a selective laser melting system.

Provided are a system, method, and computer program product for optimizing a manufacturing process. The method includes receiving manufacturing data associated with a manufacturing process for manufacturing a product. The manufacturing data may include data from a plurality of data sources associated with a plurality of stages of the manufacturing process, and the manufacturing data may include values for a plurality of parameters including at least one process parameter value and at least one quality parameter value. The method includes generating a time-sequenced data structure including the manufacturing data and transforming the time-sequenced data structure to a positionally-dimensioned data structure based on timing data associated with the plurality of stages. The method includes determining a new value for the at least one process parameter value based on the positionally-dimensioned data structure and at least one algorithm and optimizing the manufacturing process based on the new value.

A manipulator device such as a robot arm that is capable of increasing manufacturing throughput for additively manufactured parts, and allows for the manipulation of parts that would be difficult or impossible for a human to move is described. The manipulator can grasp various permanent or temporary additively manufactured manipulation points on a part to enable repositioning or maneuvering of the part.