DLP 3D-printing and labview

[LeonidLeites]

Hello everyone! My name is Leonid. Currently I am working on the development of projection microstereolithogra[hy 3D-printer.

Our plan is to use LabVIEW to manage 3D-printing process. LabVIEW works great with X,Y and Z Sigmakoki translators (they are connected to HSC-103 controller and they can be considered as COM ports). 

However, I have a problem working with DLP projector. I want to project a certain .png image via DLP projector using LabVIEW only. (I do not want to use second monitor and make a slideshow). 

Is there any way how to work with projector with LabVIEW using HDMI port? And change its parameters such as brighness, exposure time and others

[Bob_Schor]

Isn't your HDMI Projector essentially a "second Monitor", just one that "projects" its image to shine on a surface (a Wall, or a white "projector screen")?  What sort of image(s) and their timing(s) are you considering?  While thinking about your question, I thought "Why not create a movie (a .avi file, for example) of what you want?  You could create a static image at 30 fps that plays for, say, 10 seconds (that would be 300 frames), and "vary the intensity" by playing from 1 to 300 frames.

Of course, I don't really know how you want to use this Projector, nor what the image and imaging parameters you need to consider, nor the constraints under which you are working.  Just throwing out some ideas ...

Bob Schor

[LVNinja]

to change the parameters you need to search the documentation if it allows sending/receaving commands from the computer to the projector controller.

[LeonidLeites]

The question is: Can I synchronize this movie with translators via Labview. There are certain mechanical movements between exposures

[santo_13]

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@LeonidLeites wrote:

The question is: Can I synchronize this movie with translators via Labview. There are certain mechanical movements between exposures

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Sure, you can, you need a way to control the motors for the movement and play/pause the movie after each step in the movement. But nothing exists that can do this out of the box, so, somebody has to develop this (may be you).

If you want to control the image going to the projector, create a LabVIEW VI front panel that maximizes to full screen (project shows up as just another monitor to the OS), move the LabVIEW VI to the projector display. Have a picture indicator on the FP, now display anything that you want on the picture indicator and control the motors appropriately.

[LeonidLeites]

This what I was trying to avoid. Did not want to move something to projector display since such approach does not look like fully automated process. However, if there is no other option, I will probably work this way 

[Bob_Schor]

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@LeonidLeites wrote:

This what I was trying to avoid. Did not want to move something to projector display since such approach does not look like fully automated process. However, if there is no other option, I will probably work this way 

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I'm not certain I understand your problem ("Did not want to move something to projector display").  This sounds to me like a confustion between "What I want to do" and "How I want to do it".

Here is my thought about What you want to do:

1. You are doing 3D Printing based on projecting an image (of a certain size, for a certain amount of time) to a 3D printer.  This "prints" a 2D "thin" slice of the object-being-printed, after which the Printer moves in the "z" (perpendicular to the plane that was just printed).
2. During the movement of the printer, the image that was being projected is turned off.  [This step might be optional ...]
3. When the printer finishes the motion, if more slices are to be printed, then the Printer increments the slice Image and returns to step 1, otherwise the Job is finished.

I've never, myself, done 3D printing, but I've seen modern 3D printers that appear to work this way.  In the one I observed, the "Image" was being drawn "slow enough" that you could actually see a single beam flashing the 2D surface of the piece (what you might expect so see with a CRT display that was slowed down by a factor of 100).  In this case, the "scanning beam" defining the (planar) surface stopped scanning while the positioning motors raised (or lowered, I don't remember which way it moved) the work-piece.

It seems, to me, you have the same situation, two technologies (image projection and mechanical movement) that need to act on the same "object", but have different timing criteria and need to not run simultaneously.  The logical way to structure this is as follows:

1. Initialize position of piece to starting position.  Initialize Image to starting position.
2. Project the Image for as long as necessary to "print" a single layer.
3. Re-position the piece by moving up/down to the next layer.  Queue up Image of next layer.
4. Repeat from Step 2 until done.

So what am I missing?  Why doesn't this work for you?

Bob Schor

[santo_13]

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@LeonidLeites wrote:

This what I was trying to avoid. Did not want to move something to projector display since such approach does not look like fully automated process. However, if there is no other option, I will probably work this way 

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Please explain why you think it is not "fully automated" approach. Anything where a human need not be present to work is considered automated. For example, a washing machine doesn't need you to be present to wash the clothes.

[LeonidLeites]

By "Did not want to move something to projector display" I mean that when I turn on my projector it actually projects an image of Windows screen. Then, after I start my labview program I get a new window with my image, I need to drag this window to projector as to the second monitor and open this in full screen mode. I do not want to do this because it is quite hard to do any manipulations on projector's screen (Projected image is quite small and in the UV range)

I would like to make a labview program which would automatically open new window with image (full-screen without any boarders) on a projector. Is it possible?

[Bob_Schor]

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@LeonidLeites wrote:

I would like to make a labview program which would automatically open new window with image (full-screen without any boarders) on a projector. Is it possible?

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I believe the answer is "Yes, this is possible", largely because I think I've done this (about 5 years ago).  I was designing a test where a drifting sinusoidal grating could be projected onto a second monitor and drift horizontally left or right, or (rotated 90 degrees) vertically (up or down) by the press of a button from the User.  However, I currently "away" and don't have access to the PC where I hope my old code is still present.  If you don't see something from me early next week, send me a PM or simply reply to this thread (unless, of course, someone else gives you a "Proof of Concept").

Bob Schor