Thickness Control Technique for Printing Tactile Sheets with Fused Deposition Modeling

Abstract

We present a printing technique that controls the thickness of objects by increasing and decreasing the amount of material extruded during printing. Using this technique, printers can dynamically control thickness and output thicker objects without a staircase effect. This technique allows users to print aesthetic pattern sheets and objects that are tactile without requiring any new hardware. This extends the capabilities of fused deposition modeling (FDM) 3D printers in a simple way. We describe a method of generating and calculating a movement path for printing tactile sheets, and demonstrate the usage and processing of example objects.