Conformal Robotic Stereolithography
Name
Hart_Conformal Robotic Stereolithography.pdf
Size
1.32 MB
Format
Adobe PDF
Checksum (MD5)
1602c7e7d9295b680e34e859e16089c7
Author(s)
Polsen, Erik S.
Archer, Chad
Boyle, Casey
Garber, Jenna
Stevens, Adam Gregory
Kirchmeyer, Matthieu
Wu, Jieyuan
Chin, Lillian T.
Hart, Anastasios John
Oliver, Ryan
Date Issued
December 2016
Journal
3D Printing and Additive Manufacturing
Publisher
Mary Ann Liebert Inc
Citation
Stevens, Adam G., et al. “Conformal Robotic Stereolithography.” 3D Printing and Additive Manufacturing, vol. 3, no. 4, Dec. 2016, pp. 226–35. © 2016 Mary Ann Liebert, Inc.
Version
Final published version
Abstract
Additive manufacturing by layerwise photopolymerization, commonly called stereolithography (SLA), is attractive due to its high resolution and diversity of materials chemistry. However, traditional SLA methods are restricted to planar substrates and planar layers that are perpendicular to a single-axis build direction. Here, we present a robotic system that is capable of maskless layerwise photopolymerization on curved surfaces, enabling production of large-area conformal patterns and the construction of conformal freeform objects. The system comprises an industrial six-axis robot and a custom-built maskless projector end effector. Use of the system involves creating a mesh representation of the freeform substrate, generation of a triangulated toolpath with curved layers that represents the target object to be printed, precision mounting of the substrate in the robot workspace, and robotic photopatterning of the target object by coordinated motion of the robot and substrate. We demonstrate printing of conformal photopatterns on spheres of various sizes, and construction of miniature three-dimensional objects on spheres without requiring support features. Improvement of the motion accuracy and development of freeform toolpaths would enable construction of polymer objects that surpass the size and support structure constraints imparted by traditional SLA systems.
MIT Department
Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science
Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Mechanical Engineering
Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Laboratory for Manufacturing and Productivity
Terms of Use
Article is made available in accordance with the publisher's policy and may be subject to US copyright law. Please refer to the publisher's site for terms of use.
Persistent DSpace Link
DOI of Published Version
https://doi.org/10.1089/3DP.2016.0042
