3D printing with custom surface reflectance

Number: 9827719
Published: 2017-11-28
Filed: 2015-11-19
Assignee: Disney Enterprises, Inc.
Inventors: Kautz; Jan, Roullier; Olivier, Bickel; Bernd, Alexa; Marc, Matusik; Wojciech
CPC: B33Y50/02; B29C64/393
Verdict: Low Hardware
Source: Google Patents · FreePatentsOnline

The keeper's note

A 3D printing method that optimizes surface micro-geometry to fabricate custom, spatially-varying light reflectance properties on printed objects.

Abstract

A method for fabricating custom surface reflectance and spatially-varying bi-directional reflectance distribution functions (BDRFs or svBRDFs). The 3D printing method optimizes micro-geometry to produce a normal distribution function (NDF) that can be printed on surfaces with a 3D printer. Particularly, the method involves optimizing the micro-geometry for a wide range of analytic NDFs and simulating the effective reflectance of the resulting surface. Using the results of the simulation, the appearance of an input svBRDF can be reproduced. To this end, the micro-geometry is optimized in a data-driven fashion and distributed on the surface of the printed object. The methods were demonstrated to allow 3D printing svBRDF on planar samples with current 3D printing technology even with a limited set of printing materials, and the described methods have been shown to be naturally extendable to printing svBRDF on arbitrary shapes or 3D objects.

Background

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS(1) FIG. 1 is a functional block diagram or schematic of a 3D printing system of one embodiment showing a controller/computing device providing a module for creating a 3D model with custom surface reflectance and for providing a 3Dmodel, modified to include a reflective skin or covering layer(s) with micro-structures adapted to provide the custom reflectance, to a 3D printer;(2) FIG. 2 is a schematic of a processes or functions performed by the surface reflectance module as part of controlling reflectance of a 3D printer surface of an object;(3) FIGS. 3A-3D provide a 2D graphic illustrations of construction, as a Voronoi Cell, of a geometry for a micro-structure or reflectance element to provide an NDF;(4) FIGS. 4A and 4B illustrate side perspective views of adome-shaped reflectance element or microstructure before and after optimization, respectively, to equalize sizes/areas of the facets on the outer surface;(5) FIGS. 5A-5D illustrate top and side views of optimized dome-shaped reflectance elements or micro-structures with increasing specularity and, corresponding, decreasing height;(6) FIG. 6 illustrates a side view of a 3D printed object printed according to the present description; and(7) FIG. 7is a graph showing measured effective BRDF on printed samples of an NDF with exponents 1,10, 25, 100, 500, and 1000.DETAILED DESCRIPTION(8) The present description is directed toward methods and systems for using a 3D printer to print objects t

Claims

1. A 3Dprinting method, comprising: providing a diffuse base layer; printing a layer of transparent material comprising a surface with a plurality of micro-structures, wherein the micro-structures are configured based on a 3D model defining a geometry corresponding to a numerical representation of a target reflectance; and forming a 3D printed object by attaching the layer of transparent material to the diffuse base layer with the micro-structures facing away from the diffuse base layer to define reflectance for the 3D printed object. 9. A 3D printing method, comprising: providing a diffuse base layer; printing a layer of transparent material comprising a surface with a plurality of micro-structures, wherein the micro-structures are configured based on a 3D model defining a geometry corresponding to a numerical representation of a target reflectance; forming a 3D printed object by attaching the layer of transparent material to the diffuse base layer with the micro-structures facingaway from the diffuse base layer to define reflectance for the 3D printed object, whereinthe providing, the printing, and the forming are performed by a single multi-material 3D printer; measuring reflectances of printing materials available for the diffuse base layerand the layer of transparent material; and based on the measured reflectances, optimizingthe geometry of the micro-structures to reproduce the numerical representation.