Sigma Labs Inc (SASI)

[truthandlove]

Probably already posted but nice to see sigma and Boeing in the same paragraph.

"New ways to test without stopping production are being created. Research is able to provide enough data to create a process window. By comparing real-time data to test data, it is then possible to determine the finished properties of a 3D part. The key is that this data can be collected without stopping or interfering with production.

One example is Sigma Labs, a software company that is helping to assure the quality of metal AM parts. The company started with some related work when Boeing was developing its 787 Dreamliner. Boeing was looking for quality assurance software to effectively get rid of the inspector. “Having a digital thread that follows a design from concept to finish gives the regulating bodies (in aerospace, it’s the FAA) objective evidence of compliance,” says Mark Cola, CEO of Sigma Labs. “Quality assurance software can track a process and part and verify that as long as everything documented in the digital thread was within a specific window, or parameter, that part can be certified.”
"...To obtain data without interfering with production, Sigma Labs uses non-contact thermal sensors to track the melt (weld) pool and the part temperatures during the print. This data, with previously tested research, helps verify the properties of the finished product without a separate inspection step.

"In-line verification may need to process a lot of data. Furthermore, processing data locally can increase real-time performance by eliminating any lag and cost that might happen from a massive amount of data constantly being uploaded and downloaded to a Cloud-based server for analysis. Products increasingly contain Systems on a Chip (SoCs) and/or Field-Programmable Gate Arrays (FPGA) to enable information processes to be handled locally allowing for Edge Intelligence to only send necessary data to IoT servers for later gathering of additional manufacturing intelligence."

"For example, the Modular Industry Computing Architecture (MICA) released last year by Harting is an open hardware and software system that temporarily saves, evaluates, and processes data close to the machine or at the edge of the Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT). Sigma uses Edge computing devices to locally process the mass of data from the photo-thermal sensors to verify that the weld pool and part are operating within the processing window. SoC, FGPA, and products like the MICA will become more important as more manufacturers move to an in-line inspection or expand the IIoT."


http://www.machinedesign.com/3d-printing/aerospace-opportunities-demand-quick-resolution-3d-printing-issues