Sigma Labs Inc (SASI)

[jjsmith77]

PrintRite3D - The Artificial Neural Network

PrintRite3D is built on a foundation from years of research by Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) metallurgists. These scientists have studied metals and welding methods that included arc, laser, and electron beam. This is crucial in manufacturing by 3D printing. The high heat needed to fuse metal could cause distortion and jeopardize product integrity. These scientists have invented a system that predicts the occurrence of such conditions that cause defects to occur. This is the Artificial Neural Network.

PrintRite3D is a complex system that serves as a closed-loop process controller for 3D printing machines. A process controller is the “brain” that gives instructions for the weld mechanics. The scientists at LANL created this processor to monitor signals given off by metals and compute those signatures in an interneuron connection to predict failures. They published their work in a research paper to LANL in 2003 (page 5, figure 6 is the schematic of the Artificial Neural Network).

http://www.b6sigma.com/uploads/media/paper.LAScience-2003.pdf

“We train our neural network (see Figure 6) using feature data representing good and bad welds, and the network stores this knowledge implicitly in its weighting factors. The network can infer the quality of the bond and thus distinguish among acceptable, conditional (or marginal), and unacceptable welds, and it performs root cause analysis of faults, deducing the cause of the faults.”

This is the stuff of science fiction movies ! The scientists of LANL created a “brain” that can infer whether or not a weld is sufficient.

The patent for PrintRite3D claims the invention ensures IPQA with an Artificial Neural Network.

Claims section, item 8 and 11.
Detailed Description of the Invention section, item 0026.
http://appft.uspto.gov/netacgi/nph-Parser?Sect1=PTO2&Sect2=HITOFF&u=%2Fnetahtml%2FPTO%2Fsearch-adv.html&r=2&f=G&l=50&d=PG01&p=1&S1=12780610&OS=12780610&RS=12780610

The depth of knowledge and work of the scientists at Sigma Labs is the reason DARPA requests their help to develop a military IPQA system. The inventions DARPA has created with such items as the exoskeleton Warrior Web and the Wild Cat are wildly unimaginable. In the same manner of astonishment is PrintRite3D’s capability to learn and control metal 3D printing. This technology is a product of many years of research and highly sophisticated in its function. This is why PrintRite3D has garnered the attention from GE, Boeing, NAMII, Honeywell, and DARPA. We will soon see a large demand of PrintRite3D as the manufacturing industry race even faster to adopt metal 3D printing.

PrintRite3D was granted a patent in May 2010, with patent # 8354608. The date of application was May 14, 2009. The reapplication was filed Jan 2, 2013.