3D Printing Job Segmentation and Scheduling
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Solution Overview
Problem
3D printing technologies face limitations in flexibility and efficiency, as users must wait for ongoing jobs to complete before starting new or revised prints, leading to wasted time and resources due to the inability to pause, update, or prioritize jobs in real-time.
Innovation Solution
A method that optimizes 3D printing by segmenting jobs into sub-objects, allowing for simultaneous printing on multiple printers, combining jobs within a single print envelope, reorienting objects, and enabling on-the-fly job additions or cancellations, using user-defined metrics to prioritize and schedule prints based on printer characteristics and user needs.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Productivity
If 3D printing is used to produce prototypes, then fabrication speed is improved compared to conventional techniques, but printing time still takes many hours and maximum prototype size is limited by the printing envelope
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments a single large 3D printing job into multiple smaller sub-jobs that can be printed in parallel on multiple 3D printers. The system divides the original printing envelope requirements into smaller portions, assigns them to different printers, and coordinates their simultaneous execution to reduce total fabrication time while maintaining the ability to produce large-scale prototypes.
2Device complexity
If a single 3D printer is used, then device complexity is reduced, but flexibility and efficiency are limited as users must wait for ongoing jobs to complete
Solution Approach 1:
The patent merges multiple 3D printers into a coordinated networked system managed by a centralized server. This allows the system to maintain individual printer simplicity while achieving collective flexibility through job segmentation, parallel processing, and dynamic scheduling. Users gain the ability to submit, update, and prioritize jobs across multiple printers without each printer becoming more complex.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent implements dynamic job scheduling that allows real-time modifications to printing jobs. The system can pause ongoing jobs, insert urgent jobs into the queue, update job parameters, and reassign jobs between printers based on priority and availability. This dynamic capability provides flexibility without requiring complex hardware modifications to individual printers.
3Device complexity
If jobs are printed sequentially on a single printer, then resource utilization is simplified, but throughput is reduced as users cannot add or update jobs in real-time
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments the printing workflow into independent sub-jobs that can be processed in parallel across multiple printers. This segmentation enables the system to accept and process multiple user jobs simultaneously, increasing overall throughput while keeping the scheduling logic relatively simple by treating each sub-job as an independent unit that can be assigned to any available printer.
Data Source
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AI summary
3D printing may be optimized by segmenting input jobs and/or combining parts of input jobs together. In an embodiment, a user-defined metric is received associated with each input job and this is used in scheduling input jobs to optimize latency and/or throughput of the 3D printing process, along with the printing envelope and other characteristics of the 3D printers used. In various embodiments, the scheduling may comprise dividing a 3D object into a number of parts and then scheduling these parts separately and/or combining 3D objects, or parts of 3D objects, from various input jobs to be printed at the same time on the same 3D printer. In various embodiments, the scheduling is repeated when a new input job is received and changes made during printing. In various embodiments, a user may submit an updated version of an input job which is already in the process of being printed.