3D printers have been used to produce everything from blood vessels to dinosaur bones, but the structural quality of the results have been inconsistent. Researchers at Purdue University and Adobe’s Advanced Technology Labs are looking to alleviate the problem by developing software that analyzes the 3D design before it reaches the printer.
Adobe co-develops 3D printing software to improve structural designs
Researchers at Purdue University and Adobe’s Advanced Technology Labs have developed software to make 3D printing more structurally sound and inexpensive.
Researchers at Purdue University and Adobe’s Advanced Technology Labs have developed software to make 3D printing more structurally sound and inexpensive.
According to Purdue News, the program can identify points of weakness and compensates by increasing the thickness or adding support structures. In addition to improving the object’s rigidity, the adjustments also make production more cost effective by optimizing the weight and amount of materials used in the process. The group recently presented their findings at the SIGGRAPH computer graphics conference in Los Angeles, though cautions that significant testing still must be performed before the software is ready for wider implementation.
Follow topics and authors from this story to see more like this in your personalized homepage feed and to receive email updates.
