History of Rapid Prototyping

At the end of the 1960's computer aided machine tools began to appear in the industrial arena as the latest move in effieciently manufacturing mechanical parts.  These machines were able to produce parts that were more consistant and accurate than those that could be acheived manually however the machine were not user friendly and required large amounts of programming.

Around the same time University of Rochester engineering professor Herbert Voelcker produced the mathmatical theory that form the basis of computer programs that are used in the design of machined parts including how to specify surfaces in three-dimensions.  Through the 1970's his work became industry standard and today much of his work underpins what today we call Computer Aided Design (CAD).

In 1987 University of Texas researcher Carl Deckard considered constructing physical models of parts by adding one layer of material at a time. With a $50,000 Small Grant for Exploratory Research (SGER) from the National Science Foundation (NSF), Deckard was able to produce promising results culminating in being awarded one of NSF's first Strategic Manufacturing (STRATMAN) Initiative grants.

The efforts of Voelcker and Deckard became the basis for Rapid Prototyping (often referred to as free form fabrication) which has revolutionized the design and manufacturing of mechanical parts. While Voelcker's work resulted in the automation of the design of parts, the actual construction of the parts did not change. Mechanical parts were still constructed manually or with computer-controlled tools, cutting away at a piece of metal until the desired part was produced. The manner in which the cutting needed to be accomplished could not be programmatically translated from the design software to the computer-controlled tools. Deckard's work brought this translation closer to reality by breaking down the form of parts into extremely thin layers (0.1mm to 0.7mm). These layers could be determined by breaking down the surface of the part into planar triangles that are comparable to "the facets of a jewel". The coordinates and orientation of these triangles comprise a mathematical representation which can then be translated programmatically.