GE Sees Potential in ‘Self-Inspecting’ Metal Additive Manufacturing Systems

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December 18, 2017 | Originally published by Date Line: December 18 on

General Electric (GE) reports that researchers at its Additive Research Lab, GE Global Research, Niskayuna, New York, USA, are working to combine computer vision and machine learning to develop a type of metal Additive Manufacturing system with the ability to self-inspect its manufacturing process in real-time.

According to GE, the eventual goal of the project is to build a system which can achieve ‘100{261f6ead6a0f3cabae584e9904bae8bd53a3c91c6c837aa2d58453541104ad2d} yield’ – wherein a machine only produces perfect parts, eliminating the need for post-processing and inspection.

Some large and complex parts, in particular those produced by GE Aviation, can take days or weeks to produce by metal Additive Manufacturing. Where post-process inspection is the only validation method available, errors and faults in parts may only be discovered after this extensive build-time.

General Electric (GE) reports that researchers at its Additive Research Lab, GE Global Research, Niskayuna, New York, USA, are working to combine computer vision and machine learning to develop a type of metal Additive Manufacturing system with the ability to self-inspect its manufacturing process in real-time.

According to GE, the eventual goal of the project is to build a system which can achieve ‘100{261f6ead6a0f3cabae584e9904bae8bd53a3c91c6c837aa2d58453541104ad2d} yield’ – wherein a machine only produces perfect parts, eliminating the need for post-processing and inspection.

Some large and complex parts, in particular those produced by GE Aviation, can take days or weeks to produce by metal Additive Manufacturing. Where post-process inspection is the only validation method available, errors and faults in parts may only be discovered after this extensive build-time.