Geometrical Analysis of Simple Contours Deposited by a 3D Printing Hexacopter

Abstract

Current limitations in vertical and horizontal mobility for ground robots in 3D printing of medium to large-scale objects have recently led to the development of a 3D printing hexacopter testbed at the University of Texas at Austin. This testbed can fly to a desired location and deposit polylactic acid on flat surfaces. A previous study has shown the feasibility of this approach but has not yet quantified the testbed’s printing capabilities. In this paper, we quantify the printing capabilities. We print square contours of different sizes and quantify the printed results based on their geometric dimensions. We also quantify the testbed’s trajectory tracking to assess the testbed’s positioning accuracy during printing. In quantifying the testbed, we lay the groundwork for using aerial robots in printing applications of medium to large-scale objects, such as concrete printing.