2D and 3D G-code planning code for an open-sourced long fiber embedded hydrogel 3D print head
(* Mechanical assembly and usage of the printer will be made available once the manuscript is published)
Steps to process a preliminary (motion control only without extrusion control) G-code file for 2D fiber embedding:
Requirement: a preliminary G-code file (.gcode) produced by DXF2GCODE (https://sourceforge.net/projects/dxf2gcode/), e.g., motion_only.gcode
Modify the preliminary G-code:
Add the following line immediately before the first motion command:
;startFlag
Add the following line immediately after the last motion command:
;endFlag
Download add_extrusion.py to a designated folder and move the preliminary G-code file there.
Using the command line, navigate to the folder and execute the following line to process the G-code with default settings:
python add_extrusion.py -f [G-code file name]
For example,
python add_extrusion.py -f motion_only.gcode
Help information on optional arguments can be retrieved using:
python add_extrusion.py -h
The output G-code will be stored in the same folder, prefixed with ‘updated_’, e.g., updated_motion_only.gcode
Steps to generate and visualize a preliminary (motion control only without extrusion control) G-code file for the 3D conical helix fiber embedding (Fig. 6N in the manuscript):
Download conical_helix.py to a designated folder.
Using the command line, navigate to the folder and execute the following line:
python conical_helix.py
The resulting preliminary G-code will be saved as conical_helix.gcode and an image of the generated pattern will be created and saved in the same folder.
Steps to process the preliminary G-code file for 3D conical helix fiber embedding (conical_helix.gcode):
Requirement: conical_helix.gcode generated by conical_helix.py
Download add_extrusion_3D.py to a designated folder and move conical_helix.gcode there.
Using the command line, navigate to the folder and execute the following line to process G-code with default settings:
python add_extrusion_3D.py -f conical_helix.gcode
Help information on optional arguments can be retrieved using:
python add_extrusion_3D.py -h
The output G-code will be stored in the same folder and named updated_conical_helix.gcode.
Steps to generate and visualize a preliminary (motion control only without extrusion control) G-code file for the 3D ventricle sleeve fiber embedding (Fig. 6R in the manuscript):
Download ventricle.py to a designated folder
Using the command line, navigate to the folder and execute the following line:
python ventricle.py
The resulting preliminary G-code will be saved as ventricle.gcode and an image of the generated pattern will be created and saved in the same folder
The preliminary G-code file for 3D ventricle sleeve fiber embedding can be processed using add_extrusion_3D.py as shown earlier and the updated G-code file will be stored as updated_ventricle.gcode: python add_extrusion_3D.py -f ventricle.gcode