Development of a multi-optical source rapid prototyping system

Two sets of optical sources with different laser beam diameter are integrated into a rapid prototyping system for increased machining speed in this research. The smaller laser beam is used to scan the object contour to obtain an accurate machining surface and the larger laser beam is used to quickly scan the inner part of the contour without precision control limitation to save machining time. The fabrication parameters of this system are investigated based on product quality and accuracy of practical implementations. The path planning of the inner part and the outer contour are discussed. The user-friendly man-machine interface is developed using the Visual Basic program .