Geometric algorithms for manufacturing of freeform multi-material objects using reconfigurable tools

摘要

In this research, geometric algorithms for representation and fabrication of three-dimensional (3D) freeform multi-material objects using a rapidly reconfigurable moulding process have been presented. The rapidly reconfigurable moulding system consists of many discrete arrays of pins each forming the mould-face of a mould block. A new material representation scheme is proposed for freeform multi-material objects. The geometric algorithms detailed in this paper analyse the given multi-material object and decompose it based on the material regions and manufacturability of the regions using silhouette-edge based method. The processing sequence is then determined to fabricate the decomposed multi-material object using the reconfigurable moulding process. Computer implementation and illustrative examples are also presented.