Direct writing of digital images onto 3D surfaces

Purpose - Aims to develop a greyscale "painting system" by enabling the physical reproduction of digital texture maps on arbitrary 3D objects selectively exposing "pixels" of photographic emulsion with a robot mounted light source. Design/methodology/approach - 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. Findings - Results obtained from successfully rendering images on the surface of a test object are presented. Research limitations/implications - Limitations of current system include the overall process time and the inability to handle objects with concave geometry. Originality/value - 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. © AMSE 2005.