Açık mimariye sahip yeni bir hızlı prototpileme sisteminin geliştirilmesi

Rapid Prototyping (RP) is a crucial technology in order to reduce the product development time. Today this technology is not only used for prototyping in product development but also manufacturing of small volume products and rapid tooling for some special cases. Moreover, beside the production industry, it is used in a wide range of areas from art to medicine. RP technology enables 3D model designed by using a computer aided design (CAD) program to be manufactured layer-by-layer. This advanced technology allows users to save significant amount of time over the conventional manufacturing methods. Many different RP methods have been developed in the last two decades and well known ones are stereolithography (SL), selective laser sintering (SLS), laminated object manufacturing (LOM) and fused deposition modeling (FDM). A wide range of materials including ceramics, polymers and metals can be used for production with these methods. In addition, living cells can also be used to create tissues with RP technology.In this thesis, a novel open architecture rapid prototyping system is developed including all its hardware as well as its software. The hardware includes a 3-axis machine that is precisely controlled by a PC via a servo system. Since the system is open architecture, various tool path generation algorithms developed in-house can be implemented. Three different slicing and path generation software are created. In the developed software, the operator can generate tool paths manually as well as using stereolithography files (STL file) or cutter location source files (CLS file) as inputs. The STL or CLS files for any part can be obtained from any commercially available solid model based CAD/CAM programs. The developed software processes 3D CAD data and generates electronic signals to drive the servo system. Moreover, a new rapid prototyping robot dispensing (RPBOD) unit is developed and integrated to the system. Various 3D parts produced by this new open architecture RP system are also presented.