Advancing printheads, data preparation and mass customization

Dyndrite, the provider of a core accelerated computation engine used to create next-generation digital manufacturing hardware and software, has revealed three high-profile partnerships focusing on different aspects of the additive manufacturing workflow. In particular, the company is working with Xaar and Meteor Inkjet to develop more efficient inkjet printheads for binder jetting processes, with Impossible Objects for CBAM data preparation on composite AM, and with DNA.am to improve processes for mass customization and serial digital additive mass production (DAMP).

Advancing printheads for binder jetting

Xaar, a leading inkjet technology provider, is partnering with Dyndrite and Meteor to accelerate raster 3D printing product development. Xaar’s TF Technology and Ultra High Viscosity technology, incorporated into Xaar’s printheads, provide unique advantages to the process of binder jetting with inkjet.

“Xaar’s TF Technology alongside our Ultra High Viscosity technology broadens the range of fluids with functional properties that can be binder jetted extremely reliably. This also includes high viscosity fluids , which Xaar printheads are designed to handle with ease,” said Graham Tweedale, General Manager of Xaar’s Printhead business unit, “Raster inkjet 3D printing is one of the most innovative forms of additive technology today. This partnership with Meteor and Dyndrite helps accelerate the pace of that innovation by OEMs and enable their customers to qualify more materials and more parts, significantly faster.”

Meteor helps customers harness the power of inkjet for binder jetting applications by providing scalable printhead drive electronics, a very fast Raster Image Processor (RIP) and a flexible software Digital Front End (DFE) tailored to the specific requirements of additive manufacturing.  With electronics designed to take advantage of all that Xaar printheads have to offer and software carefully integrated with the Dyndrite accelerated computation engine, Meteor is playing a fundamental role in the push to democratize inkjet technology for the industry.

“Developing and implementing an industrial inkjet system can be tricky,” said Clive Ayling, managing director of Meteor.“Rather than being distracted by the intricacies of inkjet technology, print system builders can quickly leverage the integration work done by Meteor, Xaarand Dyndrite to radically simplify the path from development through to production, significantly reducing time-to-market and risk.”

Dyndrite delivers an Accelerated Computation Engine (ACE) which provides GPU-powered 3D CAD-to-Print software for generating toolpaths and rasterizing 3D data for additive manufacturing processes. Additionally, through an integrated Python API, Dyndrite brings full automation of data workflows at a speed that fulfills even the most challenging production workflows or data requirements.

The new toolpathing APIs from Dyndrite also enable advanced parameter control at the voxel level using grayscale and RGB color-based metadata, anisotropic compensation routines, image manipulation and the streamlined handling of large images as slices. Dyndrite is focused on enabling better repeatability, greater accuracy, faster material qualification and machine calibration.

“Building on the advantages of leading printheads and DFEs from Xaar and Meteor, Dyndrite and its partners are set to advance binder jetting in digital manufacturing to new levels of speed, accuracy, reliability and repeatability,” Said Harshil Goel, CEO, Dyndrite. “With Dyndrite 3D printing can occur at the resolution of the machine, at scale, with automated workflows – creating opportunities for true advancement and innovation in additive.”

Accelerating data preparation for CBAM

Dyndrite also worked with Impossible Objects, a 3D printer and materials company pioneering the advancement of composites in additive manufacturing on accelerating build data preparation of 3D printed carbon and fiberglass composite parts by ten times.

Impossible Objects’ Rules-based Automated Masking Packing and Slicing software project, or ON-RAMP, powered by Dyndrite, fuses the multi-threaded, GPU-accelerated, Python-based Accelerated Computation Engine from Dyndrite with Impossible Objects’ proprietary software to drive data preparation for its unique CBAM process. Composite-Based Additive Manufacturing – or CBAM – is a unique proprietary process designed to produce carbon fiber and fiberglass parts paired with Nylon and PEEK. It is designed to deliver production parts automatically, outshining hand layup production times while being 60% lighter than traditional parts.

“The improvement to overall workflow is remarkable. Manual build prep is reduced from 3 hours to a few minutes with automation, and 3D data processing benchmarks go from 56 minutes to 5 minutes, meaning that the entire 4-hour process is now completed in less than 10 minutes,” said Len Wanger, CTM, Impossible Objects. “Dyndrite is revolutionizing the user experience in the production of CBAM parts. The focused APIs, CAD import capability, combined with GPU-based processing of voxel data, plus Python automation, deliver cumulative benefits to the entire CAD to CBAM print workflow. As quickly as 2 weeks into the project we realized a huge time savings, and suspect this is just the tip of the iceberg.”‍

Data preparation for DAMP

ON-RAMP Powered by Dyndrite, delivers an automated CAD-to-print workflow for data preparation in Impossible Objects’ CBAM production process. Automation provides numerous benefits, including much faster processing of 3D data while reducing tedious manual labor, automated nesting that optimizes build space and minimizes scrap, and customizable workflows that allow significantly faster time to first part. Additionally, automating best practice design rules on build blocks allows the embedding of QA/QC data tracking for improved traceability and a reduction in part error rates. Finally, Dyndrite’s ability to quickly process very large 3D datasets streamlines the entire process. Accelerating all phases of the AM workflow is key in achieving true DAMP (digital additive mass production) capabilities.

“The last 30 years of software development for additive has been a failure due to fundamental issues and problematic philosophy,” said Harshil Goel, CEO and Founder, Dyndrite. “We are working to deliver software that speaks directly to making serial production a reality with additive manufacturing. This is the most important initiative for the next 30 years of additive. This is your time to become part of it.”

“The number one factor preventing true serial production in additive is the software,” said Wanger. “With Dyndrite we are finding new ways to deliver much-needed repeatability and traceability, helping to overcome a key bottleneck in the production of composite parts. It’s like having an application engineer in a box –we are very excited.”

Enabling mass customization

Via the partnership with DNA.am, a leading additive manufacturing software company, Dyndrite is working to deliver Manufacturing Execution Systems (MES) that enable mass customization and serial production in DAMP (digital additive mass production).

DNA.am, which is part of The Fitfactory group, develops MES software solutions specifically for additive manufacturing and mass customization. The software streamlines and digitalizes AM process control, capturing AM business intelligence and ensuring robust material traceability in compliance with AS9100 and NADCAP. The company has an impressive client list ranging from global AM bureaus and research organizations, to corporate customers including Airbus, Safran, WiPro and RICOH.

“Serial production and mass customization in all manufacturing processes requires repeatable quality and traceability. Achieving that in additive is only possible through better software solutions,” said Harshil Goel, CEO, Dyndrite. “We are excited to work with a company of the caliber of DNA.am which understands that end-users need better software tools, better transparency into the data, and automated workflows with traceability where it matters most.”

DNA.am is integrating Dyndrite’s Accelerated Computation Engine (ACE) to optimize workflow automation during the build process, build traceability to a higher level, and enable customers to deliver true manufacturing production with additive manufacturing.

“As manufacturers step towards digital supply chains with additive, data security, quality assurance and traceability take on a higher importance,” said RamKumar Revanur, CTO, DNA.am. “We are developing MES solutions that will play a pivotal role in scaling additive manufacturing, and Dyndrite is a key element of this.”

The first phase of the integration will be the automated use of part metadata in the build, powered by Dyndrite’s GPU-based processing and Python scripting.

“Unique identifiers such as serial numbers on every part are something we have needed in additive for a long time,” Ram continued. “In large batch sizes, it is virtually impossible to do manually and yet Dyndrite can do the number-crunching at scale to automatically place labels onto each part directly from a database or spreadsheet. While automated labeling is one example of the traceability required for production in additive. The way Dyndrite is enabling it is a huge leap forward. Our intent is to deeply integrate with Dyndrite to develop a robust system for traceability which includes databases for auto-generated manufacturing travelers, build reports, and more.”

Dyndrite auto generates human-readable scripts in Python to help define additive build preparation recipes that drive productivity and significantly reduce manual labor by codifying the workflow. As a design change is made, these automated scripts can be executed, without technicians having to spend hours or days reconstructing the build data.

“Ultimately, we will have full and detailed traceability throughout the entire end-to-end additive workflow,” said Jim Walters, MD, DNA.am. “The flexibility of Dyndrite means that end-users will have workflows that are easily tuned to their needs, whether qualifying new materials, parts, or mass customization within serial production.”