The Development of an Integrated Graphical SLS Process Control Interface

This paper presents the systematic development of a man/machine interface for Selective Laser Sintering. The interface developed integrates geometry design, process data/code generation, power control and communication in a graphical environment. The objective of this interface is to provide high flexibility and robustness to researchers to meet their special needs. For example, the user can generate laser power profiles of any shape, or control the laser power by PWM or an analog voltage. The control code for the machine is automatically generated with minimum human input. Currently the interface is limited to use on a single layer machine, but can be easily modified for multi-layer machines. LabVIEW™ is employed as the developing platform.