Agent-based slicing

US10768606B2 · kind B2 · utility

Assignee

• Autodesk, Inc. · US

Inventors

• Evan Patrick Atherton · San Carlos, US
• David Thomasson · Fairfax, US
• Maurice Ugo Conti · Muir Beach, US
• Heather Kerrick · Oakland, US
• Nicholas Cote · San Francisco, US
• Hui Li · Fremont, US

Key dates

• Filing date: Jun 2, 2017
• Grant date: Sep 8, 2020
• Expiry date: Nov 13, 2038

Classification

• Technology area (CPC Y): Emerging Cross-Sectional Technologies
• CPC primary: Y02P90/02
• WIPO field: Control
• WIPO sector: Instruments

Abstract

An agent engine allocates a collection of agents to scan the surface of an object model. Each agent operates autonomously and implements particular behaviors based on the actions of nearby agents. Accordingly, the collection of agents exhibits swarm-like behavior. Over a sequence of time steps, the agents traverse the surface of the object model. Each agent acts to avoid other agents, thereby maintaining a relatively consistent distribution of agents across the surface of the object model over all time steps. At a given time step, the agent engine generates a slice through the object model that intersects each agent in a group of agents. The slice associated with a given time step represents a set of locations where material should be deposited to fabricate a 3D object. Based on a set of such slices, a robot engine causes a robot to fabricate the 3D object.