Multi-objective optimization and rapid prototyping for jewelry industry: methodologies and case studies

The new research and technologies that have ensured the digitalization of industries and the introduction of smart manufacturing are still characterized by poorly studied processes. In particular, communication and integration between different platforms, which form the ecosystem of smart manufacturing, are subject to various communication problems. The research conducted and propounded in this article is based on the implementation of an integrated manufacturing system that involves parametric modeling, optimization, and additive manufacturing. The ecosystem analyzed guarantees communication between IT platforms such as Rhino-Grasshopper, for parametric modeling, and PreForm, slicing software for Formlab’s stereolithographic 3D printers. For this purpose, C# scripts have been implemented in order to solve optimization problems in 3D modeling of objects and to guarantee integration between the two platforms. The latter script is configured as a real add-in for Rhino whose advantages are easily demonstrated thanks to the large number of recursive operations that are automated.