Adaptive Control of Inkjet Printing on 3D Curved Surfaces

Abstract

Deposition is a valuable manufacturing technique, but it is largely confined to printing on planar surfaces. Methods for printing on curved surfaces are often ad-hoc in terms of path planning and control of printer pose and output. This problem is complex interaction between surface geometry, surface chemistry and material science. In this Dissertation there are three major research contributions: 1) Model derivation of material line width deposited on a substrate with respect to valve duty cycle 2) A novel adaptive control algorithm for line width regulation in inkjet printing, and 3) A theory of surface fitting and mapping a pattern from 2D onto a 3D surface with minimum distortion. Accompanying the research contributions are technical study of technical application to an end-to-end scanning, planning, and printing on 3D surfaces with a target application of in-situ wound treatment and deposition of metal solutions onto surfaces to form antennas and printable circuits.