Augmenting Shared 3D Model Repositories with Slicing Results for 3D Printing

In this thesis, we propose a method to augment shared 3D model repositories, such as Thingiverse, with slicing results that are readily available to all users. By having print time and material consumption for different print resolution profiles and model scales available in real-time, users are able to explore different slicing configurations efficiently to find the one that best fits their time and material constraints. To prototype this idea, we build a system called SliceHub, which consists of three components: (1) a repository with an evolving database of 3D models, for which we store the print time and material consumption for various print resolution profiles and model scales, (2) a user interface integrated into an existing slicer that allows users to explore the slicing information from the 3D models, and (3) a computational infrastructure to quickly generate new slicing results, either through parallel slicing of multiple print resolution profiles and model scales or through interpolation. We motivate our work with a formative study of the challenges faced by users of existing slicers and provide a technical evaluation of the SliceHub system.

Name thesis:degree_name

Master

Department dc:contributor.department

Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science

Grantor dc:publisher

Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Year dc:date.issued

2022

Author dc:creator

• Faruqi, Faraz

Advisor dc:contributor.advisor

• Mueller, Stefanie

Statement dc:rights

• In Copyright - Educational Use Permitted
• Copyright MIT

Licence dc:rights.uri

• http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC-EDU/1.0/

Handle dc:identifier.uri

https://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/144717

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:dspace.mit.edu:1721.1/144717