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EP-4740126-A1 - METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR CORRECTING COLOR ARTIFACTS IN ADDITIVE MANUFACTURING

EP4740126A1EP 4740126 A1EP4740126 A1EP 4740126A1EP-4740126-A1

Abstract

A method of encoding data for additive manufacturing, comprises receiving a first computer object shell dataset and a second computer object shell dataset, respectively describing geometries and optical property assignments of a first object part and a second object part, and obtaining a combined dataset describing an object assembly representing a partial embedding of the first object part in the second object part. The method also comprises updating optical property assignment for the combined dataset by replacing optical property assignment for each dataset element corresponding to a portion of a respective object part which is external in the object part but internal in the object assembly.

Inventors

  • LIBINSON, ALEXANDER
  • NAHARI, Gilad
  • KHAIMOV, Lior

Assignees

  • Stratasys Ltd.

Dates

Publication Date
20260513
Application Date
20240705

Claims (20)

  1. 1. A method of encoding data for additive manufacturing, comprising: receiving a first computer object shell dataset and a second computer object shell dataset, respectively describing geometries and optical property assignments of a first object part and a second object part; obtaining a combined dataset describing an object assembly representing a partial embedding of said first object part in said second object part; and updating optical property assignment for said combined dataset by replacing optical property assignment for each dataset element corresponding to a portion of a respective object part which is external in said object part but internal in said object assembly.
  2. 2. The method according to claim 1, wherein at least one of said computer object shell datasets describes an object part having an inner region encapsulated by an outer region, and the method comprises replacing optical property assignment for each dataset element corresponding to a portion of said outer region which is internal in said object assembly.
  3. 3. The method according to claim 1 , wherein at least one of said computer object shell datasets describes an object part having a core region enclosed by a plurality of encapsulating regions defining an onion-like structure for said object part, and the method comprises replacing optical property assignment for each dataset element corresponding to a portion of at least one encapsulating region which is internal in said object assembly.
  4. 4. The method according to any of claims 1-3, wherein said replacing said optical property assignment is such as to increase an opacity level of said portion of said respective object part.
  5. 5. The method according to any of claims 1-4, comprising slicing said combined dataset into a plurality of slices, each defined over a plurality of voxels, and assigning for each voxel of each slice, a building material formulation corresponding to optical property assignments of said combined dataset following said update.
  6. 6. The method according to claim 5, comprising transmitting said plurality of slices to a controller of an additive manufacturing system for additive manufacturing of a plurality of layers respectively corresponding to said plurality of slices.
  7. 7. The method according to any of claims 1-6, wherein said replacing said optical property assignments comprises substituting a colorless or colored optical property with a substitute optical property, wherein an amount of white portion in said substitute optical property is higher than an amount of white portion in said colorless or colored optical property.
  8. 8. The method according to any of claims 1-7, comprising receiving a first geometry dataset describing a first geometry of said first object part, a second geometry dataset describing a second geometry of said second object part, presenting said first and said second geometry datasets on a graphical user interface (GUI), and selecting, using said GUI, at least one optical property for each geometry dataset, thereby generating said first and said second computer object shell datasets.
  9. 9. The method according to any of claims 1-8, comprising, prior to said updating, using said computer object shell datasets for defining external and internal regions for each object part, and identifying portions of said external regions that are internal in said object assembly.
  10. 10. The method according to any of claims 1-9, comprising identifying dataset elements in said combined dataset that correspond to air gaps between said object parts, wherein said updating said optical property assignment comprises assigning a predetermined optical property for each identified dataset element.
  11. 11. A method of encoding data for additive manufacturing, comprising: receiving slice data describing a plurality of slices, each slice being defined over a plurality of voxels, and each voxel being assigned with a building material formulation; applying image processing to each slice, to identify in said slice regions corresponding to a layer of a first object part and a layer of a second object, wherein said layer of said first object part is at least partially embedded in said layer of said second object part; and updating building material assignments for at least one of said slices by replacing material assignment for each voxel corresponding to a portion of a respective object part which is external in said object part but internal within said slice.
  12. 12. The method according to claim 11, further comprising constructing, based on said identification, a first computer object shell dataset describing a three-dimensional geometry and building material assignments of said first object part, a second computer object shell dataset describing a three-dimensional geometry and building material assignments of said second object part, and a combined computer object shell dataset describing a three-dimensional geometry and building material assignments of an object assembly representing a partial embedding of said first object part in said second object part, wherein said updating of said building material assignments for said at least one slice is executed by replacing material assignment for voxels corresponding to a portion of a respective object part which are external in said object part but internal in said object assembly.
  13. 13. The method according to any of claims 11 and 12, wherein at least one of said first and said second object parts has an inner region encapsulated by an outer region, and the method comprises replacing material assignment for each voxel corresponding to a portion of said outer region which is internal in said slice.
  14. 14. The method according to any of claims 11 and 12, wherein at least one of said object parts has a core region enclosed by a plurality of encapsulating regions defining an onionlike structure for said object part, and the method comprises replacing material assignment for each voxel corresponding to a portion of at least one encapsulating region which is internal in said slice.
  15. 15. The method according to any of claims 11-14, wherein said replacing said material assignment is such as to increase an opacity level of said portion of said respective object part.
  16. 16. The method according to any of claims 11-15, comprising, following said update of said building material assignments, transmitting said plurality of slices to a controller of an additive manufacturing system for additive manufacturing of a plurality of layers respectively corresponding to said plurality of slices.
  17. 17. The method according to any of claims 1-16, wherein said first object part has a shape of a tooth or a plurality of teeth, and said second object part has a shape of a gingiva.
  18. 18. The method according to any of claims 1-17, wherein said replacing said material assignments comprises substituting a colorless or colored building material formulation with a substitute building material formulation, wherein an amount of white coloring agent in said substitute building material formulation is higher than an amount of white coloring agent in said colorless or colored building material formulation.
  19. 19. The method according to claim 18, wherein said colorless or colored building material formulation is colorless.
  20. 20. The method according to any of claims 18 and 19, wherein said colorless or colored building material formulation is a colored building material formulation comprising a coloring agent other than a white coloring agent.

Description

METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR CORRECTING COLOR ARTIFACTS IN ADDITIVE MANUFACTURING RELATED APPLICATIONS This application claims the benefit of priority of U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 63/525,066 filed on 5 July 2023, the contents of which are incorporated herein by reference in their entirety. This application is also related to U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 63/525,074 filed on July 5, 2023, the contents of which are incorporated herein by reference in their entirety. This application is further related co-filed PCT Application entitled “ADDITIVE MANUFACTURING OF DENTAL PROSTHESES” (Attorney Docket No. 100033), the contents of which are incorporated herein by reference in their entirety. FIELD AND BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION The present invention, in some embodiments thereof, relates to additive manufacturing and, more particularly, but not exclusively, to a method and system for correcting color artifacts in additive manufacturing. Additive manufacturing (AM) is generally a process in which a three-dimensional (3D) object is manufactured utilizing a computer model of the objects. Such a process is used in various fields, such as design related fields for purposes of visualization, demonstration and mechanical prototyping, as well as for rapid manufacturing (RM). The basic operation of any AM system consists of slicing a three-dimensional computer model into thin cross sections, translating the result into two-dimensional position data and feeding the data to control equipment which manufacture a three-dimensional structure in a layerwise manner. One type of AM is three-dimensional inkjet printing processes. In this process, a building material is dispensed from a dispensing head having a set of nozzles to deposit layers on a supporting structure. Depending on the building material, the layers may then be cured or solidified using a suitable device. Various three-dimensional inkjet printing techniques exist and are disclosed in, e.g., U.S. Patent Nos. 6,259,962, 6,569,373, 6,658,314, 6,850,334, 7,183,335, 7,209,797, 7,225,045, 7,300,619, 7,479,510, 7,500,846, 7,962,237, and International Publication No. WO2020/194318, the contents of which are hereby incorporated by reference. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION According to an aspect of some embodiments of the present invention there is provided a method of encoding data for additive manufacturing. The method comprises: receiving a first computer object shell dataset and a second computer object shell dataset, respectively describing geometries and optical property assignments of a first object part and a second object part, and obtaining a combined dataset describing an object assembly representing a partial embedding of the first object part in the second object part. The method also comprises updating optical property assignment for the combined dataset by replacing optical property assignment for each dataset element corresponding to a portion of a respective object part which is external in the object part but internal in the object assembly. According to some embodiments of the invention at least one of the computer object shell datasets describes an object part having an inner region encapsulated by an outer region, wherein the method comprises replacing optical property assignment for each dataset element corresponding to a portion of the outer region which is internal in the object assembly. According to some embodiments of the invention at least one of the computer object shell datasets describes an object part having a core region enclosed by a plurality of encapsulating regions defining an onion-like structure for the object part, wherein the method comprises replacing optical property assignment for each dataset element corresponding to a portion of at least one encapsulating region which is internal in the object assembly. According to some embodiments of the invention the optical property assignment is replaced such as to increase an opacity level of the portion of the respective object part. According to some embodiments of the invention the method comprises slicing the combined dataset into a plurality of slices, each defined over a plurality of voxels, and assigning for each voxel of each slice, a building material formulation corresponding to an optical property assignment of a respective dataset element of the combined dataset following the update. According to some embodiments of the invention the method comprises transmitting the plurality of slices to a controller of an additive manufacturing system for additive manufacturing of a plurality of layers respectively corresponding to the plurality of slices. According to some embodiments of the invention the optical property assignments are replaced by substituting a colorless or colored optical property with a substitute optical property, wherein an amount of white portion in the substitute optical property is higher than an amount of white portion in the colorless or colored optica