4. Gcode generation

While compas slicer has been mostly developed for robotic printing, we can also export the gcode of the generated paths to materialize them in a typical desktop 3D printer. The gcode generation is still at a basic level and is a work in progress. The following file can be found in /examples/4_gcode_generation/. The gcode file is placed in the /output/ folder.

import os
import logging
import compas_slicer.utilities as utils
from compas_slicer.pre_processing import move_mesh_to_point
from compas_slicer.slicers import PlanarSlicer
from compas_slicer.post_processing import generate_brim
from compas_slicer.post_processing import simplify_paths_rdp_igl
from compas_slicer.post_processing import seams_smooth
from compas_slicer.print_organization import PlanarPrintOrganizer
from compas_slicer.print_organization import set_extruder_toggle
from compas_slicer.utilities import save_to_json
from compas_slicer.parameters import get_param

from compas.datastructures import Mesh
from compas.geometry import Point

logger = logging.getLogger('logger')
logging.basicConfig(format='%(levelname)s-%(message)s', level=logging.INFO)

DATA = os.path.join(os.path.dirname(__file__), 'data')
OUTPUT_DIR = utils.get_output_directory(DATA)  # creates 'output' folder if it doesn't already exist
MODEL = 'simple_vase_open_low_res.obj'


def main():

    compas_mesh = Mesh.from_obj(os.path.join(DATA, MODEL))
    delta = get_param({}, key='delta', defaults_type='gcode')  # boolean for delta printers
    print_volume_x = get_param({}, key='print_volume_x', defaults_type='gcode')  # in mm
    print_volume_y = get_param({}, key='print_volume_y', defaults_type='gcode')  # in mm
    if delta:
        move_mesh_to_point(compas_mesh, Point(0, 0, 0))
    else:
        move_mesh_to_point(compas_mesh, Point(print_volume_x/2, print_volume_y/2, 0))

    # ----- slicing
    slicer = PlanarSlicer(compas_mesh, slicer_type="cgal", layer_height=4.5)
    slicer.slice_model()
    generate_brim(slicer, layer_width=3.0, number_of_brim_offsets=4)
    simplify_paths_rdp_igl(slicer, threshold=0.6)
    seams_smooth(slicer, smooth_distance=10)
    slicer.printout_info()
    save_to_json(slicer.to_data(), OUTPUT_DIR, 'slicer_data.json')

    # ----- print organization
    print_organizer = PlanarPrintOrganizer(slicer)
    print_organizer.create_printpoints()
    # Set fabrication-related parameters
    set_extruder_toggle(print_organizer, slicer)
    print_organizer.printout_info()

    # create and output gcode
    gcode_parameters = {}  # leave all to default
    gcode_text = print_organizer.output_gcode(gcode_parameters)
    utils.save_to_text_file(gcode_text, OUTPUT_DIR, 'my_gcode.gcode')


if __name__ == "__main__":
    main()

4. Gcode generation

COMPAS