Curved slicer guide and troubleshooting

[ioannaMitropoulou]

Write a guide with all the steps that one needs to take to use the curved slicer and all the caveats that one can run into. In particular;
-Mesh sanitizing + welding
-Targets generation
-Generation of different segments

This could be part of the curved slicer tutorial

[Mostafarhmi]

Hello, hello I have a problem with Targets generation or Boundary LOW and HIGH generation, I don't know where and how I have to generate this Json file. can you please help me?

Mostafa Rahimi

[ioannaMitropoulou]

These json files contain each a list of the indices of the vertices that are in your desired boundary. Each file looks like this:

[ 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29 ]

An easy way to generate them, is by using the component that you can find in the examples/2_curved_slicing/curved_slicing_master.gh

If you look at the top part, you find the following components. There you should make sure to select the correct curves on each target (see screenshot below)

Then you can press the "Save" button, and the two files are automatically saved on your specified data folder.

Let me know if this works for you.

[Mostafarhmi]

Thank you very much for your detailed answer. it works for me, but for determining new boundary for my own model I have problem .
short question! In the curved_slicing area, how can I define max and min layer height?

[ioannaMitropoulou]

Would you like to share the model you are using and what targets you want so I can see the problem?

In the curved_slicer you cannot set a min and max layer height, you can only set an average layer height, which determines how many layers will be produced. The min and max layer height then derives from the number of layers and the distances between the provided targets.

[Mostafarhmi]

[OjasMahajan]

Hello @ioannaMitropoulou
I am having problems generating "out_printpoints.json" for this. I have your code from the repository. Can you help me out?

[ioannaMitropoulou]

Hello Ojas,
The result seems to reasonable for the inputs that you display in the image. Could you explain in more detail what is the challenging you are facing? Perhaps consider also attaching the files that you are using.
Best,
Ioanna

[OjasMahajan]

Hello @ioannaMitropoulou,
1- My requirement comes from the printing process. We want to print this piece with WAAM. And want to avoid such corners (circled in red). A gradual fillet or flat line at these corners will help a lot. If I try to change the values in your code, it does not export the "out_printpoints.json" file. Is there another way to have this control?

2- I see that your script joints all the paths into spiral toolpaths, but is there a way to have them layer by layer? Sometimes we need to wait for the metal to cool down before we start the next layer.

TO

[Mostafarhmi]

How can I define not only upper and lower boundaries but also additional boundaries in the middle, wherever necessary? In Python, I currently only have upper and lower boundaries. Could you please explain how I can do this in Rhino Grasshopper, and how should I modify my Python code for this new boundary?

[ioannaMitropoulou]

Hey @Mostafarhmi,
Thanks for your question. Currently in compas_slicer we don’t support intermediate boundaries. A workaround for that would be to manually split your mesh where you would like your boundaries to be, and then apply the interpolation slicing on each piece separately. We have followed this process to create the piece you see on the image below.
I hope this helps!

[ioannaMitropoulou]

Hey @OjasMahajan,
Thank you for your two questions!

Regarding the question about having each path separately, yes you can have that if you look directly at the output of the slicer instead of the print organizer. There each path is a separate curve (see screenshot).

Regarding your previous question about the sharp corners created in the branching geometry, yes this is also something that you can control using the smooth instead of the default union. To use the smooth union, you need to add this on your parameters dictionary as you see in the screenshot below:
'target_HIGH_smooth_union': [True, [10.0]]

The number is the radius R that controls the 'size' of the smoothing. In the screenshots below you can see the impact of R.

Without smooth union (R=0)

With smooth union (R=10)

With smooth union (R=50)

I hope this helps!