In a joint research project between the IGMR and the ISF of RWTH Aachen University, research is being conducted on the Multidirectional Additive Manufacturing of metallic components.
With the aid of Multidirectional Additive Manufacturing (MDAM), it is possible to build complex components layer by layer and without the need for support structures. By moving the base plate by means of an industrial robot while the welding gun remains fixed, the component to be printed can always be oriented in such a way that support structures can be avoided. The major challenge lies in the consideration of specialized welding processes with external wire feeding and the use of sensors for process monitoring. This results in a dependency of the orientation of the welding gun compared to the currently printed path.
As part of his master’s thesis, Jan Wiartalla developed a path planning algorithm that calculates an executable and, if possible, continuous path within specified, flat part slices that completely fills the cross-sectional area. This is done robot-specific, so that the algorithm always takes the robot currently in use as well as its limitations into account. A standardized interface allows for the robot model to be easily exchanged and the algorithm can thus quickly be adapted to different test environments. The video illustrates the algorithm’s procedure in a simplified way.
https://youtu.be/chuD57ja9JE
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