GOALI: Adaptive Control of Inkjet Printing on 3D Curved Surfaces

这个学术与工业联络资助机会（GOALI）项目将应用自适应控制的工程技术，极大地扩展喷墨沉积的表面几何形状。喷墨沉积是一种有价值的技术，从伤口治疗到先进制造都有潜在的应用。然而，这种潜力目前受到喷墨沉积在平面上印刷的实际限制。这项研究将使新的技术、产品和服务成为可能。这项工作将通过德克萨斯大学达拉斯分校的研究人员和达拉斯地区组织MicroFab Technologies的专家之间的大学-工业合作伙伴关系来完成。该团队将专注于两个现实世界的应用：1)将定制的伤口治疗直接打印到因癌症组织切除或创伤性损伤而产生的伤口上；2)将标签打印到制造零件上，以提高装配效率。研究成果将被整合到达拉斯德州大学的工程教育研讨会中，并在达拉斯市中心的佩罗自然与科学博物馆展出。由于缺乏沉积/撞击后液滴在曲面上运动的具体知识，因此需要采用检测和改变液滴位置的方法来调节最终的流体分布。这是一个复杂的问题，结合了表面几何，表面化学，材料科学，估计和控制理论，以调节正确的滴位置与移动打印头。该项目需要创新的传感和控制策略，包括前馈、反馈和自适应控制，以解决表面测量和液体与表面相互作用模型中的不确定性。具体来说，信息论、非线性估计、优化、基于李亚普诺夫的稳定性理论和几何控制等工具将被用来建立一种正式的方法，通过机器人机械手进行这种打印，同时了解液体性质和表面化学。

This Grant Opportunity for Academic Liaison with Industry (GOALI) project will apply engineering techniques in adaptive control to greatly expand the surface geometries accessible to inkjet depositing. Inkjet depositing is a valuable technique, with potential applications that vary from wound treatment to advanced manufacturing. However, this potential is currently limited by the practical restriction of inkjet depositing to printing on flat surfaces. This research will enable new classes of technologies, products, and services. The work will be done through a university-industry partnership between researchers at The University of Texas at Dallas and experts at MicroFab Technologies, a Dallas-area organization. The team will focus on two real-world applications: 1) printing customized wound treatments directly onto wounds arising from cancer tissue removal or traumatic injury, and 2) printing labels onto manufactured parts to increase assembly efficiency. Research outcomes will be integrated into engineering education workshops at UT Dallas, as well as exhibits at the Perot Museum of Nature and Science in downtown Dallas.There is a lack of specific knowledge of droplet motion on curved surfaces after deposition/impact, necessitating methods to detect and alter drop placement to regulate final fluid distribution. This is a complicated problem incorporating estimation of surface geometry, surface chemistry, materials science, and estimation and control theory to regulate correct drop placement with a moving print head. This project requires innovative sensing and control strategies incorporating feedforward, feedback and adaptive control to address uncertainty in the surface measurement and models of the interactions between liquid and surface. Specifically, tools of information theory, nonlinear estimation, optimization, Lyapunov-based stability theory and geometric control will be used to establish a formal approach to conduct such printing with robot manipulators, along with understanding of liquid properties and surface chemistry.