3D-Printed Building Structures with Profilometer Feedback Control
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Traditional construction methods for structures, such as dwellings, require multiple construction steps and skilled trades, extending the construction period to several months or more, which is undesirable in situations needing rapid construction.
Innovation Solution
A construction system utilizing additive manufacturing techniques, specifically 3D printing, with a printing assembly and profilometers to control the geometric formation of extrudable building material layers, employing a feedback loop to adjust nozzle speed, height, pump rate, and material composition in real-time to ensure uniformity and quality.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Manufacturing precision
If traditional construction methods are used, then skilled trades and multiple construction steps can be employed, but the construction period extends to several months or more
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements a feedback loop where profilometers continuously measure the cross-sectional geometry of extruded building material, and this measurement data is fed back to control systems that adjust extrusion parameters in real-time. This closed-loop control ensures consistent layer geometry and structural quality while maintaining rapid additive manufacturing speeds, resolving the contradiction between construction speed and quality precision.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent replaces traditional mechanical construction methods with additive manufacturing technology. Instead of manual labor and conventional building techniques that require multiple steps and skilled trades, the system uses computer-controlled extrusion of building material layer by layer, dramatically reducing construction time while maintaining quality through digital precision and automated control.
2Loss of time
If additive manufacturing techniques are used to reduce construction time, then construction period is shortened, but continuous monitoring and adjustment systems are required to ensure uniformity and quality
Solution Approach 1:
The printing assembly integrates multiple functions into a single system: extrusion of building material, real-time geometric measurement via profilometers, data processing, and automated parameter adjustment. This multi-functional integration reduces the need for separate monitoring and control systems, making the complex additive manufacturing process more manageable while ensuring consistent quality throughout construction.
Solution Approach 2:
The system performs self-monitoring and self-adjustment through the feedback loop. The profilometers continuously measure layer geometry, and the control system automatically adjusts extrusion parameters without human intervention. This self-service capability ensures quality uniformity while reducing the operational complexity that would otherwise require extensive manual monitoring and adjustment.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
Enables the construction of structures in a fraction of the time typically required by traditional methods, ensuring uniformity and quality of building material layers through continuous monitoring and adjustment.
Implementation Method 1
a laser emitter may be configured to project a line of collimated light across at least a portion of a cross-section of the bead
Implementation Method 2
The camera may be configured to collect the collimated light reflected from the bead as the bead is being formed
Data Source
AI summary
A system and method is provided to construct a structure using three dimensional printing of extrudable building material to a wall surface of a structure. According to one embodiment, a printing assembly is moveably disposed above the surface, and extrudable building material is applied from a nozzle onto the surface. One or more profilometers measure at periodic intervals along a geometric cross-section of a bead of extrudable building material. One or more controllers compare the measured cross-section to a predetermined, target cross section and one or more controllers periodically change, for example, the rate of application and/or the viscosity of the extrudable building material applied along the longitudinal axis. The nozzle direction can change, and the profilometers can be rotated about the nozzle along different longitudinal axes, or directions, depending on the wall locations being formed.