In-situ detection for laser stitching misalignment

A method, comprising:

• receiving build data associated with a part to be built by an additive manufacturing machine using two or more lasers, wherein a first portion of the part is to be built by a first laser and a second portion of the part is to be built by a second laser;
• identifying a contour of the part based on the build data;
• receiving image data of a layer of the part while the part is being built by the additive manufacturing machine;
• identifying pixel locations of an edge of the part based on the image data;
• determining distances between the pixel locations of the edge and the contour;
• and
• determining misalignment between the two or more lasers based on the determined distances.

An apparatus, comprising:

• one or more processors;
• one or more memory modules;
• and
• machine-readable instructions stored in the one or more memory modules that, when executed by the one or more processors, cause the apparatus to:
• receive build data associated with a part to be built by an additive manufacturing machine using two or more lasers, wherein a first portion of the part is to be built by a first laser and a second portion of the part is to be built by a second laser;
• receive image data of a layer of the part while the part is being built by the additive manufacturing machine;
• determine a first distribution of pixel intensities inside a stitch line associated with the part being built;
• determine a second distribution of pixel intensities outside of the stitch line associated with the part being built;
• perform a comparison between the first distribution and the second distribution;
• determine misalignment between the two or more lasers based on the comparison;
• and
• cause the apparatus to take corrective action to realign the two or more lasers upon determination of the misalignment between the two or more lasers.