Phase3D has introduced a new inspection hardware product through its Fringe Inspection offering for laser powder bed fusion additive manufacturing systems.
The product is the next generation of Phase3D's Fringe Inspection series and is the result of a multi-year development project.
Phase3D says the development of the product moves the company 'beyond an architecture assembled from off-the-shelf components to a custom-designed product made for volume production.'
Since scaling inspection can mean manufacturers bringing the same measurement capability to more machines and production locations, and mean OEMs incorporating inspection into their platforms with hardware developed for that role, Phase3D has sought to develop a solution around both requirements.
The company believes the result is a 'foundation for repeatable deployment as manufacturing capacity grows.'
At the heart of the product is a customised projector developed specifically for the demands of LPBF inspection. Integrated IPC, GPU, and memory bring computing into the hardware architecture and internal storage, while an aluminium enclosure with passive cooling brings projection, processing, and storage together in one purpose-built package.
“This is the result of years of development focused on what comes next for additive manufacturing,” said Dr. Niall O’Dowd, Founder and CEO of Phase3D. “We have built a product specifically for LPBF, with the computing and connectivity to support OEM integration from the outset. We want manufacturers to know that Phase3D is preparing to scale with them.”
Fringe Inspection offers a range of connectivity and triggering options to simplify machine integration, Phase3D says. M12 connectors serve camera data, power, local and machine networks, and inputs and outputs. And four hardware trigger channels accept 5–24 V signals, with additional options for software triggering and hands-off triggering using distance and light sensors. This flexibility is said to have been a key part of Phase3D's motivation, with it aiming to accommodate different machine interfaces and inspection workflows.
The Fringe Inspection hardware uses structured light to measure the build surface during additive manufacturing, producing quantitative, layer-by-layer height data. Engineers can use these measurements to investigate changes in the powder bed, locate anomalies, and quantify their magnitude. The next-generation product advances how this measurement capability can be integrated into production equipment and deployed as operations expand.
