CHAPTER 9

RAPID PROTOTYPING MACHINE DESIGN

INTRODUCTION

In order to make sense of the wide array of rapid prototyping (RP) machine designs in existence today, it is helpful to examine them in terms of a classification scheme encompassing a number of subgroups. In the following discussion, an attempt is made, wherever possible, to identify the essential technical challenges faced by subclasses of machines and to examine a representative set of solutions to these challenges. Some groupings of machines are examined that cut across the boundaries established in the classification scheme proposed here.