Multilaser Management

You can assign and manage lasers in several different ways using the Assign Optics command in the Scan Path Generation dialog box.

This page discusses:

Automatic Laser Assignment

You can assign lasers automatically using the Assign Optics command in the Define and generate slicing and scan path panel.

Automatic laser assignment assigns laser trajectories based on the location of the laser and the range of the laser.

Three methods are possible with automatic assignment:

  • If the trajectory is within the range of a laser, the laser is assigned sequential trajectories as shown below:

  • If the trajectory is within the range of multiple lasers, the algorithm equally distributes the total length of each trajectory assigned to the lasers. Each laser has a balanced length of the trajectory. For example, the form T3 below is assigned to the laser 2 because the total calculated distance of T5 plus T6 is less than the calculated distance of T1 plus T2. To assure that both trajectories are as equal as possible, T3 is assigned to laser 2 and T4 is assigned to laser 1.

  • If the trajectory falls outside the range of the lasers, the trajectory is split and assigned to the lasers according to the trajectory length.

Initial Assignment

When inserting multiple parts into the build tray, you can assign parts to lasers using the Initial Assign command.

Depending on the range of the lasers, the build tray is divided into geometric zones. The parts are then assigned to lasers depending on which zone they lie on.

Parts that are in the range of more than one laser can be assigned to either laser. By default, a part is automatically assigned to the laser whose range contains the majority of its form. However, it is possible to change the laser according to your requirements.

If the part is too big for any zone, it is left unassigned. For example, part P3 in the illustration below is assigned to neither laser 2 nor laser 3 as it is too large for either.