Feedback Control for Selective Laser Ablation Process

Open Access
- Author:
- Linkowski, Asher
- Area of Honors:
- Mechanical Engineering
- Degree:
- Bachelor of Science
- Document Type:
- Thesis
- Thesis Supervisors:
- Stephen W Brown, Thesis Supervisor
Bo Cheng, Thesis Honors Advisor
Edward William Reutzel, Faculty Reader - Keywords:
- Laser
Ablation
Laser Ablation
Robotics
Photography
LabVIEW - Abstract:
- My testable hypothesis is that a feedback control system can be implemented which increases ablation coverage and reduces over ablation while not slowing the operation of the ablation system. The first task in this project was the creation of a robot simulation program that accurately models and visualizes the implemented control program. This robot simulation program was created and implemented to expedite research by increasing ease of use of the robot and by mitigating the need for blind commands. Then, a simulation program of the laser scanner path was developed in LabVIEW. The next task was designing and fabricating a high-speed camera and lighting system capable of producing images of sufficient quality to enable automated distinction between primer and substrate. Creating the software to utilize this new hardware involved the development and optimization of a system for processing optical data into a feedback signal. The active feedback control program is a state machine program that operates by capturing images at high speeds from the camera system, analyzing the images, and returning commands to strike or not strike the plate in different areas. Finally, the last task is the integration of this feedback signal into the processing of the system to implement live feedback control. The feedback control system is intended to be implemented as a subprogram within Laser Ablation System Controller (LASCON), which represents the interface and control for the entire ablation system.