Parallel 3D printing based on skeletal remeshing

Abstract

Although 3D printing is becoming more popular, but there are two major problem. The first is the slowness of the process because of requirement of processing information of an extra axis comparing to tradition 2D printers. The second is the printable dimension of 3D printers. Generally, the larger the model is printed, the larger a 3D printer has to be and the more expensive it is. Furthermore, it would also require a large amount of extra inflation materials. With the entrance of cheap 3D printers, such as OLO 3D printers [Inc. 2016], parallel printing with multiple cheap printers can possibly be the solution. In order to parallel print a 3D model, we must decompose a 3D model into smaller components. After printing out all the components, we assemble them together by attaching them to the skeleton through supporters and joints to form the final result. As shown in our results, our designed shell-and-bone-based model printing can not only save the printing time but also use lesser material than the original whole model printing.