3D printing and measurement apparatus and method
A method of 3D printing an object includes receiving design information corresponding to an object for which a printed object is to be generated by a 3D printing operation according to a first set of print instructions, generating a plurality of measurement locations, printing successive layers which form the object, measuring the object at the measurement locations to form measurement data, comparing the measurement data with expected measurements of the measurement locations based on the design information, and generating, based on the comparing, deviation information. The measurement locations represent locations of the object to be measured by a measurement device. The deviation information represents deviations between the printed object following completion of the printing, and the object represented by the design information.
1 . A method of correcting positioning errors in a system that includes a movement component, comprising:
detecting a plurality of topographical features positioned at different locations on the surface of a reference object disposed within the system;
comparing a location of the detected topographical features to expected locations for the topographical features;
generating transformation information based on the comparison; and
correcting movement instructions of the movement component based on the generated transformation information, the corrected movement instructions relating to an object different from the reference object,
wherein the comparing step includes, for each detected topographical feature:
determining a portion of the respective topographical feature as a left-side portion,
determining a portion of the respective topographical feature as a right-side portion,
determining the location of the center of the respective topographical feature based on the determined left-side portion and the determined right-side portion, and
comparing the location of the center of the respective topographical feature to the expected location for the topographical feature, and
wherein the location of the center of the respective topographical feature is determined based on the intersection of the determined left-side portion and the determined right-side portion.
2 . A method of correcting positioning errors in a system that includes a movement component, comprising:
detecting a plurality of topographical features positioned at different locations on the surface of a reference object disposed within the system;
comparing a location of the detected topographical features to expected locations for the topographical features;
generating transformation information based on the comparison; and correcting movement instructions of the movement component based on the generated transformation information, the corrected movement instructions relating to an object different from the reference object,
wherein the comparing step includes, for each detected topographical feature:
determining a portion of the respective topographical feature as a left-side portion,
determining a portion of the respective topographical feature as a right-side portion,
determining the location of the center of the respective topographical feature based on the determined left-side portion and the determined right-side portion, and
comparing the location of the center of the respective topographical feature to the expected location for the topographical feature, and
wherein the location of the center of the respective topographical feature is determined based on the intersection of a regression performed based on the determined left-side portion and a regression performed based on the determined right-side portion.
3 . The method of claim 2 , wherein the topographical features includes grooves.
4 . The method of claim 3 , wherein the grooves are V-shaped.
5 . The method of claim 2 , wherein the detecting of the plurality of topographical features includes detecting the topographical features with a laser scanner.
6 . The method of claim 2 , wherein the movement component is a gantry providing movement in the X and Y directions.
7 . The method of claim 2 , wherein the topographical features are arranged in a grid pattern.