Direct writing of digital images onto 3D surfaces

R. C W Sung, Jonathan Corney, David P. Towers, Ian Black, Duncan P. Hand, D. E R Clark, Myrkus S. Gross

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceedingConference contribution

2 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

This paper describes a greyscale "painting system" that enables the physical reproduction of digital texture maps on arbitrary 3D objects by selectively exposing "pixels" of photographic emulsion with a robot mounted light source. The system requires no bespoke production tooling and fills an automation gap in rapid prototyping and manufacturing technology that is currently occupied by hand painting. After reviewing existing methods of "decorating" 3D components, the properties of photographic emulsion are introduced and the nature of the rendering process' pixels discussed. A proposed path planning algorithm, used to derive both the robot's movement and the exposure times directly from a VRML representation, is then presented. Next, there is a description of the system's implementation and a discussion of the results obtained from rendering images on the surface of a test object. Finally, a discussion of the system's potential and limitations is given. Copyright © 2005 by ASME.

Original languageEnglish
Title of host publicationProc. of the ASME International Des. Eng. Tech. Conferences and Computers and Inf. in Engineering Conf. - DETC2005: ASME/IEEE International Conference on Mechatronic and Embedded Systems Appl.
Pages365-374
Number of pages10
Volume4
Publication statusPublished - 2005
EventDETC2005: ASME International Design Engineering Technical Conferences and Computers and Information in Engineering Conference - Long Beach, CA, United States
Duration: 24 Sept 200528 Sept 2005

Conference

ConferenceDETC2005: ASME International Design Engineering Technical Conferences and Computers and Information in Engineering Conference
Country/TerritoryUnited States
CityLong Beach, CA
Period24/09/0528/09/05

Keywords

  • Applied Optics
  • Mass Customisation
  • Path-Planning
  • Rapid Prototyping
  • VRML

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