Part position recognition for printing electrical or optical interconnects
| DWPI Title: Adaptive printing of element e.g. resistor using direct write printer, involves taking images of surface upon which element is to be direct write printed using imager, stitching together images using hierarchical stitching process to thus generate master actual position image |
| Abstract: A method for direct write printing of an electrical or optical element based upon a generated master actual position map and a master expected position map is disclosed. The generated master actual position map is generated by efficiently stitching together a number of images using a hierarchical stitching process. Once the desired location of the electrical or optical element is determined by comparing the master actual position map with the master expected position map, a corresponding toolpath for a direct write printer is generated. The direct write printer then direct write prints the electrical or optical element using the generated toolpath. By using different types of inks, the electrical element may be a trace, a resistor, an inductor, a transformer, a capacitor, or some combination thereof. In like manner, the optical element may be a waveguide, a beam-splitter, a phase shifter, an optical attenuator, an interferometer, or some combination thereof. |
| Use: Method for adaptive printing of an element such as an electrical element e.g. a trace, a resistor, an inductor, a transformer, or a capacitor, an optical element such as a waveguide, an optical coupler or an optical splitter, a phase shifter, an optical attenuator, or an interferometer using a direct write printer such as an aerosol jet printer, a direct ink writer, or an ink jet printer (claimed). |
| Advantage: The method accurately positions the electrical elements using a direct write printer. By employing inks and corresponding toolpaths, waveguides having both a core and a cladding layer may be printed. Further, the width of the electrical trace can be increased by printing a serpentine path with a narrower width ink stream. |
| Novelty: The method for adaptive printing of an element using a direct write printer involves: taking images of a surface upon which the element is to be direct write printed using an imager, where each of the images overlaps a portion of each adjacent image; stitching together the images using a hierarchical stitching process to thus generate a master actual position image; calibrating the imager using the imager to take a calibration image of a two-dimensional calibration target and to then generate calibration data; generating a master actual position map based upon the master actual position image and the calibration data; comparing the master actual position map to a master expected position map, where the master expected position map has expected locations of features on the surface and corresponding identities of the features to thus identify the features in the master actual position map. |
| Filed: 2/20/2023 |
| Application Number: US18111801A |
| Tech ID: SD 15792.0 |
| This invention was made with Government support under Contract No. DE-NA0003525 awarded by the United States Department of Energy/National Nuclear Security Administration. The Government has certain rights in the invention. |
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