Slicing directly in grasshopper for 3d printing

Hello community this is my first post so please bear with me.

I've been having fun with grasshopper and other plugins for a while on and off, and consider myself as intermediate user.

The biggest problem I have with grasshopper is it was most of the times necessary to 1) fix the mesh and also 2) carefully build the algorithm so the model doesn't have physically impossible edges and stuff.

Since low-end 3d printers' slicing software have gotten so much far, baked models usually get repaired suitable for 3d printing by slicing software without any human interaction other than click of a button.

Here's the question;

I am trying to somehow automatize slicing and printing process when certain values match with pre-set values. Algorithm is already made but to implement slicing and printing into grasshopper or the other way around such as baking(with Lunchbox) then exporting, slicing, then 3d printing-which seems harder to actualize- seems impossible without scripting which I don't have much experience with.

Cura(open source-written with python, I think) is the slicing software I use for FDM machine, Preform for Form1.

Anyone has done this? Or is there a grasshopper plug in I can install to achieve such result?

Any comment, idea, rant is appreciated.

Thank you

Hyun

Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Luis Fraguada on February 23, 2014 at 5:28am

You should be able to write a program that sends the geometry to these slicers. I personally prefer slic3r. If you want a gh integrated solution, try silkworm. While I do not think it actually uses a slicer, it does most of what a slicer does and gives you the paths and gcode. I usually use silkworm for the times I just want to trace a specific path, and not create necessarily a sliced model (like letters, for example).

Permalink Reply by Hyun Park on February 23, 2014 at 6:58am

Thanks Luis, I just downloaded silkworm and give it a shot. Ultimaker is reprap based machine so it should handle most of the functions just fine.

Btw, you said writing a program, meaning writing a program with programming language right? If it's more than simple script it is outta my range.

Permalink Reply by Luis Fraguada on February 23, 2014 at 8:52am

Maybe read up on scli3r or CUDA command line options. It might be as easy as writing a few lines that save the obj or 3d file and run the slicer program from command line and gives you back the gcode. Generally these are not too tough and it will be a good learning experience.

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