An advanced GCode analyser for predicting the build time for additive manufacturing components

Abstract

Additive manufacturing is a technology for quickly fabricating physical models, functional prototypes, and small batches of parts by stacking two-dimensional layered features directly from computer-aided design data. One of the most important challenges in this sector relates to the capability to predict the build time in advance, since this is crucial to evaluating the production costs. In this paper, an accurate method for obtaining build-time is proposed. This method is based on an advanced GCode analyzer written in Python following an object-oriented paradigm for scalability and maintainability. Various examples are used to demonstrate the reliability of the algorithm, while its potential applications are also illustrated.