Building blocks towards VR-based flow sculpting

This paper reports work exploring the relationship between solid modelling, mesh generating and flow solving in the general context of design optimisation. In particular, the work is interested in the opportunities derived by tightly integrating these traditionally separate activities together within one piece of software. The near term aim is to ask the question: how might a truly virtual, rapid prototyping design system, with a tactile response like sculpting in clay, be constructed? This paper reports the building blocks supporting that ambition.

Viscous layer meshes from level sets on cartesian meshes

The long term goal of our work is to enable rapid prototyping design optimization to take place on geometries of arbitrary size in a spirit of a real time computer game. In recent papers we have reported the integration of a Level Set based geometry kernel with an octree-based cut-Cartesian mesh generator, RANS flow solver and post-processing all within a single piece of software - and all implemented in parallel with commodity PC clusters as the target. This work has shown that it is possible to eliminate all serial bottlenecks from the CED Process. This paper reports further progress towards our goal; in particular we report on the generation of viscous layer meshes to bridge the body to the flow across the cut-cells. The Level Set formulation, which underpins the geometry representation, is used as a natural mechanism to allow rapid construction of conformal layer meshes. The guiding principle is to construct the mesh which most closely approximates the body but remains solvable. This apparently novel approach is described and examples given.

The foundations of a new approach to additive manufacturing: Characteristics of free space metal deposition

In this paper, we report on the realisation of a free space deposition process (FSD). For the first time the use of a moving support structure to deposit tracks of metal starting from a substrate and extending into free space is characterised. The ability to write metal shapes in free space has wide ranging applications in additive manufacturing and rapid prototyping where the tracks can be layered to build overhanging features without the use of fixed support structures (such as is used in selective laser melting (SLM) and stereo lithography (SLA)). We demonstrate and perform a preliminary characterisation of the process in which a soldering iron was used to deposit lead free solder tracks. The factors affecting the stability of tracks and the effect of operating parameters, temperature, velocity, initial track starting diameter and starting volume were measured. A series of 10 tracks at each setting were compared with a control group of tracks; the track width, taper and variation between tracks were compared. Notable results in free space track deposition were that the initial track diameter and volume affected the repeatability and quality of tracks. The standard deviation of mean track width of tracks from the constrained initial diameter group were half that of the unconstrained group. The amount of material fed to the soldering iron before commencing deposition affected the taper of tracks. At an initial volume of 7 mm3 and an initial track diameter of 0.8 mm, none of the ten tracks deposited broke or showed taper > ∼1°. The maximum deposition velocity for free space track deposition using lead-free solder was limited to 1.5 mm s-1. © 2011 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Structural optimization of lattice materials

Lattice materials are characterized at the microscopic level by a regular pattern of voids confined by walls. Recent rapid prototyping techniques allow their manufacturing from a wide range of solid materials, ensuring high degrees of accuracy and limited costs. The microstructure of lattice material permits to obtain macroscopic properties and structural performance, such as very high stiffness to weight ratios, highly anisotropy, high specific energy dissipation capability and an extended elastic range, which cannot be attained by uniform materials. Among several applications, lattice materials are of special interest for the design of morphing structures, energy absorbing components and hard tissue scaffold for biomedical prostheses. Their macroscopic mechanical properties can be finely tuned by properly selecting the lattice topology and the material of the walls. Nevertheless, since the number of the design parameters involved is very high, and their correlation to the final macroscopic properties of the material is quite complex, reliable and robust multiscale mechanics analysis and design optimization tools are a necessary aid for their practical application. In this paper, the optimization of lattice materials parameters is illustrated with reference to the design of a bracket subjected to a point load. Given the geometric shape and the boundary conditions of the component, the parameters of four selected topologies have been optimized to concurrently maximize the component stiffness and minimize its mass. Copyright © 2011 by ASME.

面向快速成形的复杂曲面重建技术研究

针对快速成形工艺特点，提出了一种基于实物的复杂曲面几何重 建的方法。由此直接生成的快速成形机优化STL接口文件，实现了反求容差与模型网格数的 最佳匹配，避免了由通用软件转换存在的错误和繁复，提高了成形设备的前处理效率，并为 反求工程与快速成形技术的有机集成提供了可靠途径。

快速成型技术中分层算法的研究与进展

根据对零件制造精度和效率的关注程度的不同,开发出了多种分层算法。在同等加工时间的情况下,根据加工精度的不同,将这些分层算法分为等层厚分层算法和适应性分层算法两类。通过对STL模型、原始CAD模型和点云数据的分析,讨论了两类分层算法的研究和发展,然后介绍了斜边分层算法和曲面分层算法等先进分层算法的原理和成果,最后讨论了快速成型分层算法的研究方向和趋势。

金属粉末激光成形过程中的检测与闭环控制研究

金属粉末激光成形技术是基于快速原型(Rapid Prototyping，RP)技术基础上发展起来的一项新型金属零件加工技术。该技术利用高能量激光束直接作用在金属粉末上，可以直接成形高熔点、形状复杂或异质材料功能梯度零件，其成形过程是按照零件几何形状，利用金属粉末逐层逐道累积成形零件的。其独特的金属零件加工特点使其得到了迅速发展，在航空、军事、医学和汽车等众多领域得到了成功应用，并发挥了重要作用。作为一项新兴技术，金属粉末激光成形技术不可避免的存在一些问题，由于激光成形过程是一个多参数影响的过程，成形过程中各参数存在较强的耦合作用，参数的不稳定往往导致成形效果难以保证，例如成形零件外形尺寸精度低、内部组织性能不佳等。这一问题，引起了国内外许多学者的关注，对加工过程中的一些重要参数与成形效果之间的关系展开研究，通过对成形过程中的一些中间过程输出参数进行实时检测，并实现闭环反馈控制，从而达到改善成形产品质量的目的。本文正是在这种背景下进行研究的，本文对熔池场几何尺寸、熔池温度场、熔覆高度与熔覆宽度实时检测进行了深入研究并实现了切实可行的检测方法，在实践中取得了较好的效果，并进行了熔覆成形过程动态辨识，研究了成形过程控制方法，提出了具有较强自适应能力的模糊PID控制方法，取得了较好的仿真效果。本课题主要研究工作有以下几个方面。 1. 激光成形过程中的熔池场包含大量的过程信息，对熔池进行实时检测，并提取熔池特征信息，为熔池场的闭环控制提供依据。为此建立了熔池场实时检测视觉传感系统，实现了图像采集、图像处理和信息提取等功能，课题成功的进行了硬件系统构建和软件系统开发。 2. 实现了红外图像比色测温法在金属粉末激光成形过程中熔池温度场检测中的应用。研究了测温原理，完成了硬件双波长图像采集系统的构建，对滤光片波长进行了选择并对选择结果进行了仿真。阐述了软件测温实现过程。 3. 激光加工过程中，对熔覆高度进行实时检测，从而实现熔覆高度闭环控制是成形高质量零件的保证。加工过程是一个多参数耦合的非线性过程，在分析激光参数对熔覆高度影响的基础上，建立利用激光工艺参数预测熔覆高度的BP神经网络模型，为实现激光加工过程熔覆高度实时预测与闭环控制打下了基础。 4. 熔覆宽度是激光成形过程中与成形效果密切相关的中间过程输出参数，该参数的实时检测为调整扫描间距，确定合理搭接率，提高熔覆表面平整度具有重要作用。提出了一种基于卡尔曼滤波技术的激光熔覆宽度检测方法。利用视觉传感系统获取激光加工过程中的熔池图像，经过图像处理求熔池宽度作为参量建立系统状态方程和测量方程，应用卡尔曼滤波原理对图像上的熔宽和熔宽变化进行状态估计，得到最小均方差条件下的熔覆宽度最佳预测值，从而减小过程噪声和测量噪声引起的熔覆宽度测量偏差，实现加工过程熔覆宽度的精确检测。 5. 成形过程动态辨识，利用阶跃响应法进行了激光参数与熔覆高度、熔覆宽度的辨识实验，建立了激光功率、扫描速度、送粉速率与熔覆高度、熔覆宽度之间的数学模型，对成形过程有了基本了解，为控制器设计与动态过程调节规范确立打下良好基础。 6. 设计了PID熔覆高度控制系统，并利用遗传算法进行了PID参数寻优，寻优获得的参数可以实现较好的控制效果，但不适于实时控制过程。为此设计了模糊PID控制系统，利用模糊逻辑算法对PID参数实现在线自动调整，控制系统具有较强的适应能力和实时处理能力，对于金属粉末激光成形过程具有较好的控制效果。

Keeping Secrets in Hardware: the Microsoft Xbox(TM) Case Study

This paper discusses the hardware foundations of the cryptosystem employed by the Xbox(TM) video game console from Microsoft. A secret boot block overlay is buried within a system ASIC. This secret boot block decrypts and verifies portions of an external FLASH-type ROM. The presence of the secret boot block is camouflaged by a decoy boot block in the external ROM. The code contained within the secret boot block is transferred to the CPU in the clear over a set of high-speed busses where it can be extracted using simple custom hardware. The paper concludes with recommendations for improving the Xbox security system. One lesson of this study is that the use of a high-performance bus alone is not a sufficient security measure, given the advent of inexpensive, fast rapid prototyping services and high-performance FPGAs.

In situ synthesis of DNA microarray on functionalized cyclic olefin copolymer substrate.

Thermoplastic materials such as cyclic-olefin copolymers (COC) provide a versatile and cost-effective alternative to the traditional glass or silicon substrate for rapid prototyping and industrial scale fabrication of microdevices. To extend the utility of COC as an effective microarray substrate, we developed a new method that enabled for the first time in situ synthesis of DNA oligonucleotide microarrays on the COC substrate. To achieve high-quality DNA synthesis, a SiO(2) thin film array was prepatterned on the inert and hydrophobic COC surface using RF sputtering technique. The subsequent in situ DNA synthesis was confined to the surface of the prepatterned hydrophilic SiO(2) thin film features by precision delivery of the phosphoramidite chemistry using an inkjet DNA synthesizer. The in situ SiO(2)-COC DNA microarray demonstrated superior quality and stability in hybridization assays and thermal cycling reactions. Furthermore, we demonstrate that pools of high-quality mixed-oligos could be cleaved off the SiO(2)-COC microarrays and used directly for construction of DNA origami nanostructures. It is believed that this method will not only enable synthesis of high-quality and low-cost COC DNA microarrays but also provide a basis for further development of integrated microfluidics microarrays for a broad range of bioanalytical and biofabrication applications.

Direct measurement of powder flavor adhesion onto crisp surface using a novel adhesion tester

A new experimental procedure has been implemented and a prototype of a novel adhesion tester has been designed and constructed using rapid prototyping technology. A tumbler mixer has been designed and constructed for coating powder material onto a crisp substrate. In the impact separation experiment, the amount of powder detached from one side of a crisp substrate by the effect of impact forces (48g, 77g, 102g) generated by the tester was measured. Salt particles with different size fractions (63-125, 125-180, and 180-250m) and several flavoring powders have been tested extensively. By plotting the detachment versus impact force, the difference obtained between adhesion strength of different flavoring powders (which is a strong function of particle size and surface oil content of the crisp) has been discussed. The detachment rate of salt particles increased (from 1% to 2%) with particle size (from 63 to 250m) in the presence of oil on the surface of the crisp substrate and decreased rapidly with the increase in the amount of oil applied (from 0 to 1%).

Creating replicas of scultural heritage through 3D reconstruction and low cost 3D printer in Education

The process of making replicas of heritage has traditionally been developed by public agencies, corporations and museums and is not commonly used in schools. Currently there are technologies that allow creating cheap replicas. The new 3D reconstruction software, based on photographs and low cost 3D printers allow to make replicas at a cost much lower than traditional. This article describes the process of creating replicas of the sculpture Goslar Warrior of artist Henry Moore, located in Santa Cruz de Tenerife. To make this process, first, a digital model have been created using Autodesk Recap 360, Autodesk 123D Catch and Autodesk Meshmixer MarkerBot MakerWare applications. Physical replication, has been reproduced in polylactic acid (PLA) by MakerBot Replicator 2 3D printer. In addition, a cost analysis using, in one hand, the printer mentioned, and in the other hand, 3D printing services both online and local, is included. Finally, there has been a specific action with 141 students and 12 high school teachers, who filled a questionnary about the use of sculptural replicas in education.

Design e desenvolvimento de equipamentos de iluminação técnica

Este documento é uma sinopse das atividades desenvolvidas e, conhecimentos adquiridos ao longo do estágio na empresa Lightenjin, Sistemas de Iluminação, Lda. e, surge em forma de relatório de projeto. O primeiro projeto foi o desenvolvimento de uma família de candeeiros. O segundo e principal projeto foi a criação e desenvolvimento de um projetor para aplicação em calha eletrificada, com as devidas restrições do Project brief apresentado pela empresa. O terceiro projeto foi o desenvolvimento de um projetor Downlight de encastrar. Houve outras tarefas ligadas à modelação de componentes, desenhos técnicos, manuais de instruções, fichas técnicas e prototipagem rápida. Em todos os projetos foi utilizada a metodologia de trabalho apresentada.

I Cling to Virtue

Kular’s work centres on design as a means of engaging with social and cultural issues. Commissioned and exhibited by the V&A Museum, this was a mixed-media collection revealing the trajectories of the Lövy-Singh clan, a fictional East London family of mixed descent. It comprised 26 sculptures and two video pieces, developing the previous explorations of the MacGuffin in narrative (Kular REF Output 2). A catalogue with 28 fictional reminiscences, a genealogy and time line positioned the family’s experiences in geographical locations and historical events. Novel use of rapid-prototyping co-opted an industry process to confuse the experience of artefact and artifice. The design explored the historical, literary and cinematic traditions of the family saga and its relationship to memory and artefact. It presented an archive of objects derived from the flawed, biased memory of the (fictional) curator. A coherent story is replaced by one that is multiple and fragmentary. Kular and Toran (RCA) ‘produced’ the family by mixing their own genealogies with those of renowned 20th-century families, both real and fictional, such as the Magnificent Ambersons and the Rothschilds, positioning family members in everyday situations or key historical moments represented by an object and a ‘memory’ triggered by the object. Concept development was undertaken jointly by Kular and Toran. Kular’s archive research emphasised commonwealth immigrant histories and British 20th-century political events. His production contribution was in 3D modelling, rapid prototyping and display, leading production of the two films and development and editing of the narrative texts. The work was accompanied by a catalogue (2011), was reviewed in ICON Magazine (2010), discussed in an article by Hayward, Jones, Toran and Kular in Design and Culture (2013), and featured in The White Review (No. 2). It was re-exhibited in the group show ‘Politique Fiction’ at la Cité du design, Saint-Étienne, France (2013).