Real-Time Detection System for Printing Problems of Three-Dimensional Printers

OpenAlex İngilizce

Three-dimensional (3D) printers have been widely used in all areas recently. Some of the most popular 3D printers on the market are based on the Fused Filament Fabrication (FFF) method. Their popularity is due to their low cost, which enables rapid prototyping for small businesses, research labs, and consumers. However, many errors have still emerged in these systems, and printing processes fail from time to time. Types of defects include bending, moving from the print bed, and extrusion-related errors. The reasons for this are the relatively long operating time of the systems and the often uncontrolled operation. As a result, process errors are detected after a significant loss of time and material. This study aims to track the printed sample with the camera and stop or cancel the printing by giving a warning to the user when possible errors are encountered. The images obtained with a camera capable of vertical movement and horizontal rotation were transferred to the computer for processing in Matlab software. A system that stops the printing in case the distance between the nozzle and the print sample exceeds the threshold value has been developed. In addition, among the parts that set up the system, the components of a waste ink-jet printer were used to avoid the cost and environmental pollution. In this way, the system that detects extrusion-based errors in the 3D printer was successfully performed with a low budget.