Software for Selective Laser Melting Syste

In this paper, the hardware-software architecture of a Selective Laser Melting (SLM) system is outlined. The hardware-software architecture consists of a controller and a host computer. The Java-developed host computer software runs the following operations: viewing of 3D models, slicing of models saved in the STL format into files with a system-specific format, 2D editing and correction of data in the layers, control of the hardware during 3D printing, and generation of test models. The embedded software of the controller accepts commands and data from the host computer, controls the movement of mirrors of laser beam positioning in two coordinates and that of the build platform and the feed cartridge. The communication protocol built on USB or UDP (TCP/IP) provides the delivery of settings and print parameters into the controller. In addition, it enables state monitoring and control of the print command flow into the hardware. The slicing algorithms for different hatching and laser beam movement patterns are considered. The examples of models are shown, in which manual correction of the generated contours is required. The slicing and printing productivities are calculated. The problems of the programming technology (design) and software productivity management, such as the usage of patterns, graphical indexing, productivity profiling and parallel processing, are discussed.