3D Printer system

In recent years CNC (Computer Numerical Control) and 3D printing have become a common form
of manufacturing. Due to the high cost of commercial off-the-shelf CNC machines, manufacturers
have been building their own machines.
Creating an efficient and low cost tool chain, from planning stage to manufacture, will simplify the
process.

 

PROJECT GOAL

Create a simple tool chain for CNC (Computer Numerical Control) Manufacturing

The tool chain consists of four different tools:

  1. CAD (Computer Aided Design)

Software for planning the geometry and designing specific dimensions of any necessary component.

  1. CAM (Computer Aided Manufacturing)

Software that:

  1. receives CAD’s outcome.
  2. Creates tool paths (The path through space that the tip of a cutting tool follows on its way to producing the desired geometry of the workpiece) under user constraints and generates Gcode (machine language) files.
  3. Controller Interface

Software for interfacing with the hardware controller. The software is mainly for streaming the Gcode to the controller and for modifying and reading different control parameters.

  1. Controller

Hardware that controls motion of the cutting head according to the generated tool path.

The method was to test and evaluate existing independent tools and combine them into a single tool chain allowing easy CNC manufacturing.