Development of DLP-Based Stereolithography System
203
Fig. 2 Sliced CAD model in MATLAB
2.3 ARDUINO Programming
In the Z-stage, we have to control the linear movement of the platform with the
help of stepper motor and ball screw. The stepper motors rotational motion was
transformed into linear motion with help of ball screw coupled with motor shaft. The
rotational movement of the stepper motor was controlled with the help of special
Arduino program. The program mainly consists of various commands and statements
to control the various parameters like speed, time delay, etc. With the used ball screw
and stepper motor, the Z-stage can move with 0.005 mm minimum distance. The
Arduino microcontroller with stepper motor was interfaced with Creation Workshop
Software to obtain desired motion of Z-stage.
3 Experimental Results and Discussions
The experiments were performed on objects with hexagonal cross-section and
pyramid objects with 0.1 mm curing depth along Z-axis. The trials were performed
with different exposure time and settling period. The exposure time was varied from
10 to 1 s and it was observed that the objects were best cured for 2 s curing time.
The pyramid object with 120 numbers of layers with 12 mm dimension along Z-axis
was cured. The maximum area 18 mm × 16 mm of pyramid object along X-Y plane
was cured. The resolution in Z-axis of 0.25 mm creates a fairly coarse surface for
medium-sized parts, but for larger models, the layer steps are not too noticeable
due to the relative size of larger parts. A resolution of 0.1 mm provides a more
favorable surface finish for medium and small parts [10, 11]. Therefore, experiments
203
Fig. 2 Sliced CAD model in MATLAB
2.3 ARDUINO Programming
In the Z-stage, we have to control the linear movement of the platform with the
help of stepper motor and ball screw. The stepper motors rotational motion was
transformed into linear motion with help of ball screw coupled with motor shaft. The
rotational movement of the stepper motor was controlled with the help of special
Arduino program. The program mainly consists of various commands and statements
to control the various parameters like speed, time delay, etc. With the used ball screw
and stepper motor, the Z-stage can move with 0.005 mm minimum distance. The
Arduino microcontroller with stepper motor was interfaced with Creation Workshop
Software to obtain desired motion of Z-stage.
3 Experimental Results and Discussions
The experiments were performed on objects with hexagonal cross-section and
pyramid objects with 0.1 mm curing depth along Z-axis. The trials were performed
with different exposure time and settling period. The exposure time was varied from
10 to 1 s and it was observed that the objects were best cured for 2 s curing time.
The pyramid object with 120 numbers of layers with 12 mm dimension along Z-axis
was cured. The maximum area 18 mm × 16 mm of pyramid object along X-Y plane
was cured. The resolution in Z-axis of 0.25 mm creates a fairly coarse surface for
medium-sized parts, but for larger models, the layer steps are not too noticeable
due to the relative size of larger parts. A resolution of 0.1 mm provides a more
favorable surface finish for medium and small parts [10, 11]. Therefore, experiments