Machine control for additive manufacturing process and apparatus

A method of controlling an additive manufacturing apparatus, in which an object is built by consolidating material in a layer-by-layer manner, the additive manufacturing apparatus comprising steering devices for steering energy beams and a controller for controlling the additive manufacturing apparatus, and the method comprising:

• receiving commands to be executed by the additive manufacturing apparatus to cause the additive manufacturing apparatus to carry out a build of an object, wherein each command comprises an identifier identifying a time during the build at which the command is to be executed by the controller;
• and
• executing each of the commands on the additive manufacturing apparatus with the controller in accordance with the time identified by the associated identifier to cause scanning of one of the energy beams simultaneously with scanning of another of the energy beams such that a timing between the scanning of the energy beams is predetermined.

A method of controlling an additive manufacturing apparatus, in which an object is built by consolidating material in a layer-by-layer manner, the additive manufacturing apparatus comprising (i) steering devices for steering energy beams, (ii) a wiper for forming each layer, and (iii) a controller for controlling the additive manufacturing apparatus, and the method comprising:

• receiving commands to be executed by the additive manufacturing apparatus to cause the additive manufacturing apparatus to carry out a build of an object, wherein each command comprises an identifier identifying a time during the build at which the command is to be executed by the controller;
• and
• executing each of the commands on the additive manufacturing apparatus with the controller in accordance with the time identified by the associated identifier to cause scanning of one of the energy beams simultaneously with moving of the wiper to form a layer of material.