Remote monitoring and control of a three-dimensional object in a fabrication apparatus

Abstract

A three-dimensional object fabrication apparatus. A housing encloses a work area. An interface is provided in the housing permit a processor within the housing to receive digital data defining geometry for a three-dimensional object to be fabricated. A fabrication mechanism forms a portion of the object by addition of material substantially consistent with the digital data for a corresponding portion of the geometry received by the processor. A camera to images a portion of the fabrication process, e.g., molding or assembly. The images are transmitted via an interface over a wide area network to permit a user to monitor the process imaged. A user interface is provided to permit the user to send commands to the fabrication apparatus from various devices that access the wide area network.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A three-dimensional object fabrication system comprising:
 a structure defining a work area;
 an interface in the structure to receive digital data defining a geometry for a three-dimensional object to be fabricated; 
 a controller within the structure wherein no local interactive display panel is physically coupled to the controller; 
 a fabrication mechanism to form a portion of the object by addition of a material, substantially consistent with the digital data for a corresponding portion of the geometry; and 
 a user interface to issue commands to control the operation of the apparatus from at least one of a web page running on a computing device, a smart phone, a tablet computer, and a handheld computing device. 
   
     
     
         2 . The system of  claim 1  wherein the images and commands are transmitted in substantially real time. 
     
     
         3 . The system of  claim 1  wherein the fabrication mechanism does not require local user interaction to start, stop, and modify fabrication. 
     
     
         4 . A three-dimensional object fabrication apparatus comprising:
 a structure defining a work area;   an interface in the structure to receive digital data defining a geometry for a three-dimensional object to be fabricated;   a fabrication mechanism to form a portion of the object by addition of a material, substantially consistent with the digital data for a corresponding portion of the geometry; and   a subtractive head to remove material to increase the consistency between the portion of the object and the digital data for the corresponding portion of the geometry, wherein the addition and subtraction of material can occur concurrently at different locations within the structure.   
     
     
         5 . The apparatus of  claim 4  further comprising a subtractive head wherein the subtractive head includes a drive to position the head relative to the object with at least one of a rotary platen axis, a head swing arm axis, and a head incidence angle axis. 
     
     
         6 . The apparatus of  claim 4  wherein the subtraction of material can occur between the addition of two consecutive layers. 
     
     
         7 . The system of  claim 1  further comprising:
 a camera to image a portion of the fabrication process; and 
 an interface to transmit images from the camera over a wide-area network. 
 
     
     
         8 . The system of  claim 1  wherein at least some of the controls for fabrication mechanism are absent from a local control panel such that of the system is substantially controlled over a wide area network. 
     
     
         9 . The apparatus of  claim 4  wherein the subtractive head removes material from a layer other than a current addition layer.