Dimitri: 3D Printing GCode Debugger and Visualizer

Client

Val Mack, Founder of Dimitri
Email: <dgm97@cornell.edu>

Dimitri is a startup company in eLab, Cornell's accelerator program.

Student contact

Leezel Zamidar <lz283@cornell.edu> is setting up a team for this project. If you are interested in joining the team, please contact her.

Background

3D printing technology has a lot of potential but today's rapid prototyping machines designed for desktop 3D printing come with a lot of problems. This startup attempts to solve these problems, making the technology easier to use and maintain. We are focusing our efforts on developing 3D printing software tools that will drive customer engagement and interest investors. The CS 5150 project will be one component of the software platform.

3D models are converted from files in the STL (STereoLithography) format to a GCode file through slicing software. The GCode is primarily responsible for providing information to the 3D printer on how to print the 3D object. It is basically an updated version of CAM. Each line of GCode describes movement of the print head, speed of extrusion, and temperature, such that the printer knows where to lay filament. Today the lines of coordinates that make up GCode lack readability. The goal of this project is to improve readability and provide the user with a tool to be able to visualize and debug problems within their 3D prints.

Project Summary

From a technical point of the view, the project requires the design and implementation of a GCode interpreter that will be used for debugging and visualizing the GCode. This will be a two way interpreter i.e. the user can make changes to the preprinted code and it will generate the GCode file.

This project will include: an interactive front end accessed from a website that will let users visualize GCode and use the interpreter built in the website to fix and make changes to it.

Information about GCode can be found at: http://reprap.org/wiki/G-code

The client will provide the project team with all necessary resources to get started.