Application of genetic algorithm in rapid prototyping

Part-building orientation (PBO) and scanning direction of path planning (SDPP) are two tasks of process plan in rapid prototyping technology (RPT). Through investigating the geometric issues of STL model and process planning of RPT. This paper establishes optimizing model based on the considerations of staircase effect, support area and production time. And then, through analyzing the hatching characteristic of polygonal contours, approximately optimization model of direction of scanning vectors is established. The best part-building orientation is obtained by solving the general satisfactory degree function employing genetic algorithm and the optimal scanning direction is also solved by genetic algorithm. Two cases of experiment show that GA can effectively solve not only the determination problem of part-building orientation but also the optimization problem of scanning direction in RP.