Methods of calibration of a stereolithography system
Assignee3D Systems, Inc.
InventorsBryan D. Moran, Brian J. Bauman, Matthew Kenneth Gelber, Jordan Miller
Life of this patent
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Abstract
Provided herein is a system for producing a product. The system generally comprises a large-area micro-stereolithography system, an optical imaging system, and a controller in communication with the large-area micro-stereolithography system and the optical imaging system. The large-area micro-stereolithography system is capable of generating the product by optically polymerizing successive layers of a curable resin at a build plane. The controller is capable of analyzing a focus level of the reference target based on the captured image; and based on the analyzing, adjusting a focus property of the projected image beam of the stereolithography system.
Claims11
A method for calibrating a stereolithography system, the method comprising:
- placing a uniform reflectivity reference target into a build plane of the stereolithography system;
- with a projected image beam of the stereolithography system, projecting pixels of a known intensity onto the build plane of the stereolithography system, wherein the pixels are projected at a substantially uniform beam brightness;
- with an optical imaging system of the stereolithography system, capturing an image of the pixels;
- with a processor of the stereolithography system, analyzing a brightness of the pixels in the image to detect one or more non-uniform spots in the pixels;
- and
- based on the analyzing, adjusting a grayscale bias property of the projected image beam.
A stereolithography system configured for calibration, the system comprising:
- a build plane;
- a uniform reflectivity reference target placed on the build plane
- a beam delivery system configured to project an image beam of pixels of a known intensity onto the build plane, wherein the pixels are projected at a substantially uniform beam brightness;
- an optical imaging system configured to capture an image of the pixels;
- a processor;
- and
- a memory storing instructions that, when executed by the processor, cause the processor to:
- analyzing a brightness of the pixels in the image to detect one or more non-uniform spots in the pixels;
- and
- based on the analyzing, adjusting a grayscale bias property of the projected image beam.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.