Meshless slicing for AM

Grasshopper
1

Hi there,

Do any of you know of a way/addon to create .cli files with Grasshopper? We need .cli files to transfer the data to our laser sintering system.
[COMMON LAYER INTERFACE (CLI) (hmilch.net)](COMMON LAYER INTERFACE (CLI))

The reason why I am asking is the following: With Axolotl you can directly generate a slicing based on a “distance object” without having to generate a mesh first.

image
image1445×519 47.6 KB

Especially when creating complex components with lattice structures, .stl files are generated that often require several hundred MB if not GB of memory. Even within a GH definition for creating a geometry based on a volumetric approach (e.g. with Axolotl, Dendro, Isopod in GH1 or Kampecaris in GH2), the conversion to a mesh takes most of the time.
If I remember correctly, this function is integrated in nTop. If this were also possible with Grasshopper, you could save a lot of money :wink:

-Kevin
Volumetric Slicer V1.gh (109.6 KB)

2

Hi
I am not familiar with the CLI format, but writing an exporter for Rhino curves sounds feasible. As the author of Axolotl, I notice however, that you first create the axis lines of the lattice with Crystallon, then generate Axolotl Capsules from them and SmoothUnion all of them together. I did a quick test (far from proper benchmarking) but if you use Axolotl’s Lattice component directly (Bigx or Star, or what it is you want to do), the slicing (DistanceField2D) is 5 times faster.
Best, Mathias

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