Artificial Intelligence in 3D Printing

Tamil Murasu, முப்பரிமாண அச்சில் செயற்கை நுண்ணறிவு

[Translated summary]

Is 3D printing through voice-based conversations possible?

“It is,” says Youssef Elkhouly, Senior Research Assistant at the Singapore University of Technology and Design (SUTD).

People can interact with Talk2Print, a 3D-printing software platform that he developed in just two months. The system creates a variety of designs according to users’ preferences.

Once a user selects one of them, it is converted into a three-dimensional model and prepared for printing.

As a result, even those who are not familiar with the intricacies of 3D printing can print with ease.

Talk2Print also solves one of the key challenges in 3D printing today.

“Many people have felt disappointed after returning the next day to find defects in an object that was left to print overnight,” said Mr Elkhouly.

“The problem may have occurred many hours earlier. If it is discovered only at the end, what remains is a damaged and unusable object.”

Under the Talk2Print framework, a camera monitors the 3D-printing process and sends photographs to the software at fixed intervals.

“The software analyses them using artificial intelligence (AI), identifies problems and rectifies them.

“Since information about such issues is stored within the software, the AI also learns how to avoid similar problems in the future,” Mr Elkhouly said.

If the AI makes any changes, it also explains the reasons for those changes to the user.

Notably, Talk2Print can be used with many existing 3D printers.

“Our goal is to make ordinary printers intelligent. There is no need to develop or purchase new printers specifically for this purpose,” Mr Elkhouly said.

The guidance of SUTD Engineering Product Development Associate Professor Soh Gim Song also contributed to the development of Talk2Print.

Designs generated by AI may sometimes appear realistic on a computer screen but may not be suitable for printing.

To address this, Mr Elkhouly plans to launch an AI platform called Design Assistant for students in the near future. It will provide recommendations on how designs can be modified to make them suitable for printing.

The technology has been undergoing testing over the past two months.

Through the platform, students will not only be able to communicate through voice commands but also upload their own drawings and designs. Even before printing begins, the platform will evaluate their ideas and explain, with reasons, whether printing them is feasible.