SBIR Phase II: A Fully Automatic Rapid Prototyping System Using a Novel 3D Camera

这个小型企业创新研究(SBIR)第二阶段项目将开发一种集成了新型快速3D相机的全自动快速成型(RP)系统。RP系统将使用以前开发的高速摄像头，以每秒30帧的速度获取全帧3D图像，以及一台超精密RP机器。第二阶段将结合高速成像技术和超精密液滴沉积喷墨快速成型技术，在现实的数字牙科办公室环境中运行。该实验系统将获取3D牙齿图像，并实时生成具有亚毫米特征的牙齿部件。该系统有望打破目前许多快速成型应用中的一个瓶颈，即无法直接从任意形状的物体获取数字3D模型。数字牙科办公室中的快速牙科治疗和正畸将是该RP系统的早期商业应用。将开发新一代CAD/CAM牙科仪器，用于快速制造牙科诊所中的牙种植体、牙帽、牙冠和牙桥。新的快速成型技术有望彻底改变当前的牙科实践：从牙齿轮廓的3D测量到完美贴合的牙齿部位的美化，所有程序都可以在患者第一次就诊时在半小时内完成，从而为牙医和患者节省时间和成本。美国和欧洲拥有350,000名牙医和20,000个牙科实验室，3D牙科探头RP产品的潜在市场可能相当大。

This Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase II project will develop a fully automatic rapid prototyping (RP) system integrated with a novel rapid 3D camera. The RP system will utilize a previously developed high-speed camera, that acquires full-frame 3D images at a rate of 30 frames per second, and an ultra-precision RP machine. Phase II will combine the high-speed imaging technique and an ultra-precision droplet deposition ink jet RP technique for operation in a realistic digital dental office environment. The experimental system will acquire 3D dental images and produce dental parts in real-time with sub-millimeter features. This system is expected to break a bottleneck in many current RP applications, where acquisition of a digital 3D model cannot be made directly from arbitrarily shaped objects. Rapid dental treatment and orthodontics in digital dental offices will be early commercial applications of this RP system. A new generation of CAD/CAM dental instruments will be developed for rapid fabrication of dental implants, caps, crowns, and bridges in dentist's offices. The new RP technology is expected to revolutionize current dental practice: all procedures, from 3D measurement of teeth's profile to fabrification of perfectly fitted dental parts, could be done within half an hour at the first visit of the patient, thus saving time and costs for dentists and patients. With 350,000 dentists and 20,000 dental laboratories in the U.S. and Europe, the potential market for the 3D dental probe RP products could be quite large.