Visual Feedback for Large Scale Additive Manufacturing Process

Abstract

Large-scale Additive Manufacturing is blossoming and brings new challenges to the Additive Manufacturing scene. For larger constructions, material deformation from weight, environmental disturbances and extrusion may disturb the AM process. This thesis looks for a way to measure these errors. A proof of concept software workflow has been created to measure road-width and height of the extruded material directly after extrusion using a simple edge detection algorithm. Testing the workflow on a life-size robot arm and a practical extrusion test shows promise for future applications and improvements.