Abstract: A method of measuring the viscosity of a resin in a bottom-up additive manufacturing apparatus, includes the steps of: (a) providing an additive manufacturing apparatus including a build platform and a light transmissive window, said build platform and said window defining a build region there between, with said window carrying a resin; (b) advancing said build platform and said window towards one another until said build platform contacts said resin; (c) detecting the force exerted on said build platform by said resin; and (d) generating in a processor a viscosity measure of said resin from said detected force.

Abstract: A method of improving production performance of an additive manufacturing system includes obtaining a first production plan and a second production plan, different from the first production plan, for the manufacture of a plurality of objects using a fleet of additive manufacturing apparatus, automatically generating a first allocation of a first quantity of the plurality of objects to the fleet of additive manufacturing apparatus using the first production plan, automatically generating a second allocation of a second quantity of the plurality of objects to the fleet of additive manufacturing apparatus using the second production plan, comparing a production performance of the first and second quantity of the plurality of objects after being manufactured by the fleet of additive manufacturing apparatus, and based on the comparison of the production performance, automatically regenerating the first and second allocations to change the first and second quantities.

Abstract: A method of measuring the viscosity of a resin in a bottom-up additive manufacturing apparatus, includes the steps of: (a) providing an additive manufacturing apparatus including a build platform and a light transmissive window, said build platform and said window defining a build region there between, with said window carrying a resin; (b) advancing said build platform and said window towards one another until said build platform contacts said resin; (c) detecting the force exerted on said build platform by said resin; and (d) generating in a processor a viscosity measure of said resin from said detected force.

Abstract: A method of measuring the viscosity of a resin in a bottom-up additive manufacturing apparatus, includes the steps of: (a) providing an additive manufacturing apparatus including a build platform and a light transmissive window, said build platform and said window defining a build region there between, with said window carrying a resin; (b) advancing said build platform and said window towards one another until said build platform contacts said resin; (c) detecting the force exerted on said build platform by said resin; and (d) generating in a processor a viscosity measure of said resin from said detected force.

Abstract: A method of improving production performance of an additive manufacturing system includes obtaining a first production plan and a second production plan, different from the first production plan, for the manufacture of a plurality of objects using a fleet of additive manufacturing apparatus, automatically generating a first allocation of a first quantity of the plurality of objects to the fleet of additive manufacturing apparatus using the first production plan, automatically generating a second allocation of a second quantity of the plurality of objects to the fleet of additive manufacturing apparatus using the second production plan, comparing a production performance of the first and second quantity of the plurality of objects after being manufactured by the fleet of additive manufacturing apparatus, and based on the comparison of the production performance, automatically regenerating the first and second allocations to change the first and second quantities.

Abstract: A method of measuring the viscosity of a resin in a bottom-up additive manufacturing apparatus, includes the steps of: (a) providing an additive manufacturing apparatus including a build platform and a light transmissive window, said build platform and said window defining a build region there between, with said window carrying a resin; (b) advancing said build platform and said window towards one another until said build platform contacts said resin; (c) detecting the force exerted on said build platform by said resin; and (d) generating in a processor a viscosity measure of said resin from said detected force.