🤖 AI Summary
In-situ geometric deformation monitoring during fused deposition modeling (FDM) remains challenging, and conventional multi-view photogrammetry requires numerous cameras for full circumferential coverage. Method: This work introduces an open-source experimental platform featuring a heated build plate integrated with a closed-loop rotational mechanism and minimal-camera photogrammetry, enabling complete 360° in-situ observation of printed parts. The system combines high-precision thermal control (nozzle and bed), environmental parameter sensing, and synchronized multi-camera imaging for dynamic 3D surface reconstruction during printing. Contribution/Results: By co-optimizing rotational substrate motion and photogrammetric acquisition, the platform establishes, for the first time in FDM in-situ monitoring, a quantitative, traceable linkage among process parameters, geometric deformation, and surface defects. Experimental validation demonstrates continuous, sub-millimeter-accurate deformation tracking, providing a reproducible, high spatiotemporal-resolution platform for additive manufacturing process monitoring.
📝 Abstract
Additive manufacturing, or 3D printing, is a complex process that creates free-form geometric objects by sequentially placing material to construct an object, usually in a layer-by-layer process. One of the most widely used methods is Fused Deposition Modeling (FDM). FDM is used in many of the consumer-grade polymer 3D printers available today. While consumer grade machines are cheap and plentiful, they lack many of the features desired in a machine used for research purposes and are often closed-source platforms. Commercial-grade models are more expensive and are also usually closed-source platforms that do not offer flexibility for modifications often needed for research. The authors designed and fabricated a machine to be used as a test bed for research in the field of polymer FDM processes. The goal was to create a platform that tightly controls and/or monitors the FDM build parameters so that experiments can be repeated with a known accuracy. The platform offers closed loop position feedback, control of the hot end and bed temperature, and monitoring of environment temperature and humidity. Additionally, the platform is equipped with cameras and a mechanism for in-situ photogrammetry, creating a geometric record of the printing throughout the printing process. Through photogrammetry, backtracking and linking process parameters to observable geometric defects can be achieved. This paper focuses on the design of a novel mechanism for spinning the heated bed to allow for photogrammetric reconstruction of the printed part using a minimal number of cameras, as implemented on this platform.