阅读说明：本技术 用于增材制造的定制的工程模型的分发 (Distribution of customized engineering models for additive manufacturing ) 是由 约翰·威廉姆·卡蓬 本杰明·爱德华·贝克曼 约瑟夫·萨尔沃 于 2017-08-31 设计创作，主要内容包括：根据一些实施例,系统可包括将增材制造能力数据(例如,打印机型号,打印机分辨率等)提供至模型定制平台的增材制造平台。模型定制平台可接收增材制造打印机能力的数据,并从增材制造模型数据数据库检索与工业资产物品相关联的初级工程模型。模型定制平台然后可以根据增材制造打印机能力的数据和初级工程模型来创建初级工程模型的定制版本。定制的工程模型然后可以被发送到增材制造平台(例如,被打印以创建工业资产物品)。(According to some embodiments, a system may include an additive manufacturing platform that provides additive manufacturing capability data (e.g., printer model, printer resolution, etc.) to a model customization platform. The model customization platform may receive data of additive manufacturing printer capabilities and retrieve a primary engineering model associated with the industrial asset item from an additive manufacturing model database. The model customization platform may then create a customized version of the primary engineering model from the data of the additive manufacturing printer capabilities and the primary engineering model. The customized engineering model may then be sent to an additive manufacturing platform (e.g., printed to create an industrial asset item).)

1. A system that facilitates creation of an industrial asset item, comprising:

a model customization platform comprising:

an additive manufacturing model database storing electronic records including a primary engineering model associated with an industrial asset item,

a communication port for exchanging information with an additive manufacturing platform, an

A model customization platform computer processor coupled to an additive manufacturing database and the communication port, adapted to:

receive data of additive manufacturing printer capabilities from the additive manufacturing platform,

retrieving the primary engineering model from the additive manufacturing model database,

creating a customized version of the primary engineering model from the data of additive manufacturing printer capabilities and the primary engineering model, an

Sending the customized engineering model to the additive manufacturing platform.

2. The system of claim 1, wherein the additive manufacturing printer capability is associated with at least one of: (i) additive manufacturing printing technology, (ii) printer manufacturer, (iii) printer model, and (iv) software version associated with the printer.

3. The system of claim 1, wherein the additive manufacturing printer capability is associated with at least one of: (i) resolution, (ii) layer thickness, (iii) X-Y resolution, (iv) dot per square inch value, (v) micrometer value, and (vi) forming range.

4. The system of claim 1, wherein the additive manufacturing printer capability is associated with at least one of: (i) electron beam power, and (ii) laser power.

5. The system of claim 1, wherein the additive manufacturing printer capability is associated with at least one of: (i) raw materials, and (ii) powder characteristics.

6. The system of claim 1, wherein the additive manufacturing printer capability is associated with at least one of: (i) component capabilities, (ii) laser type, (iii) print nozzle type, (iv) velocity, and (v) tolerances.

7. The system of claim 1, wherein the additive manufacturing printer capability is associated with at least one of: (i) ambient capacity, (ii) temperature, and (iii) cleanliness value.

8. The system of claim 1, wherein the additive manufacturing printer capability is associated with at least one of: (i) inspection capabilities, and (ii) geographic information.

9. The system of claim 1, wherein at least one of the primary engineering model and the customized engineering model is associated with at least one of: (i) a scan path, (ii) a computer-aided design file, (iii) an additive manufacturing file format, and (iv) a standard mosaic language file.

10. The system of claim 1, further comprising:

the additive manufacturing platform comprising:

an additive manufacturing platform database storing electronic records including additive manufacturing capability data,

an additive manufacturing communication port for exchanging information with the model customization platform, the model customization platform being remote from the additive manufacturing platform, an

An additive manufacturing computer processor coupled to the additive manufacturing communication port and adapted to send an indication of the additive manufacturing capability data to the model customization platform.

11. The system of claim 10, wherein the additive manufacturing platform further comprises:

an additive manufacturing printer associated with at least one of: (i) three-dimensional printing, (ii) reductive photopolymerization, (iii) material jetting, (iv) binder jetting, (vi) material extrusion, (vii) powder bed fusion, (viii) sheet lamination, and (ix) directed energy deposition.

12. The system of claim 1, further comprising:

a client platform associated with a client for sending an industrial asset item request for the industrial asset item.

13. The system of claim 12, further comprising:

a digital trading platform to receive the industrial asset item request, assign the industrial asset item request to the additive manufacturing platform, and record the assignment of the industrial asset item request via a secure, distributed trading ledger.

14. The system of claim 13, wherein the secure, distributed transaction ledger comprises a blockchain technique.

15. The system of claim 13, wherein the digital trading platform is in communication with a plurality of the additive manufacturing platforms, at least some of which have different additive manufacturing capability data, and a plurality of the customer platforms requesting different industrial asset items.

16. The system of claim 1, wherein the model customization platform is associated with at least one of: (i) a single network cloud hosted topology, (ii) a multiple network cloud hosted topology, and (iii) a participant hosted intranet environment.

17. The system of claim 1, wherein the industrial asset item is associated with at least one of: (i) an engine, (ii) an aircraft, (iii) a dam, (iv) a locomotive, (v) a generator, and (vi) a wind turbine.

18. A computer-implemented method of facilitating creation of an industrial asset item, comprising:

receiving data of additive manufacturing printer capabilities from an additive manufacturing platform at a model customization platform;

retrieving, by the model customization platform, a primary engineering model associated with an industrial asset item from an additive manufacturing model database;

creating a customized version of the primary engineering model from the data of additive manufacturing printer capabilities and the primary engineering model; and

sending the customized engineering model to the additive manufacturing platform.

19. The method of claim 18, wherein the additive manufacturing capability data is associated with at least one of: (i) three-dimensional printing, (ii) reductive photopolymerization, (iii) material jetting, (iv) binder jetting, (vi) material extrusion, (vii) powder bed fusion, (viii) sheet lamination, and (ix) directed energy deposition.

20. A non-transitory computer readable medium storing program code executable by a processor of a model customization platform to cause the platform to perform a method of facilitating creation of an industrial asset item, the method comprising:

receiving data of additive manufacturing printer capabilities from an additive manufacturing platform at a model customization platform;

retrieving, by the model customization platform, a primary engineering model associated with an industrial asset item from an additive manufacturing model database;

creating a customized version of the primary engineering model from the data of additive manufacturing printer capabilities and the primary engineering model; and

sending the customized engineering model to the additive manufacturing platform.

21. A system that facilitates creation of an industrial asset item, comprising:

a model customization platform comprising:

a communication port for exchanging information with an additive manufacturing platform, an

A model customization platform computer processor coupled to the communication port and an additive manufacturing model database, the database storing electronic records including a primary engineering model associated with an industrial asset item, the model customization platform computer processor adapted to:

receive data of additive manufacturing printer capabilities from the additive manufacturing platform,

retrieving the primary engineering model from the additive manufacturing model database,

creating a customized version of the primary engineering model from the data of additive manufacturing printer capabilities and the primary engineering model, an

Sending the customized engineering model to the additive manufacturing platform.

22. The system of claim 21, further comprising:

the additive manufacturing model database stores an electronic record including the primary engineering model associated with the industrial asset item.

23. The system of claim 22, further comprising:

an additive manufacturing platform comprising:

an additive manufacturing platform database storing electronic records including additive manufacturing capability data,

an additive manufacturing communication port for exchanging information with the model customization platform remotely, the model customization platform being remote from the additive manufacturing platform, an

An additive manufacturing computer processor coupled to the additive manufacturing communication port and adapted to send an indication of the additive manufacturing capability data to the model customization platform.

24. The system of claim 21, further comprising:

a client platform associated with a client for sending an industrial asset item request for the industrial asset item.

Technical Field

Some embodiments disclosed herein relate to industrial assets, and more particularly, to distribution of customized engineering models to facilitate additive manufacturing of industrial asset items.

Background

The entity may want to obtain a three-dimensional industrial asset item, such as a nozzle of a jet engine, a replacement part of a wind turbine, or another three-dimensional industrial asset item. In some cases, an entity may have a part created by one of many different additive manufacturing platforms. For example, an additive manufacturing platform may receive an item definition file (associated with an engineering model) that may be used to print a three-dimensional item. Note that different additive manufacturing platforms may have different item creation capabilities. For example, different platforms may utilize different three-dimensional printers having different printing resolutions, different powders, etc. Further, different item creation capabilities may require or benefit from different item definition files and/or different engineering models. However, creating an item definition file and/or an engineering model for all possible additive manufacturing scenarios may be impractical. This problem can be particularly difficult when there is a relatively large number of potential customers, items, and/or additive manufacturing platforms. Accordingly, it is desirable to provide systems and methods that efficiently and accurately facilitate the creation of industrial asset items.

Disclosure of Invention

According to some embodiments, a system may include an additive manufacturing platform that provides additive manufacturing capability data (e.g., printer model, printer resolution, etc.) to a model customization platform. The model customization platform may receive data of additive manufacturing printer capabilities and retrieve a primary engineering model associated with the industrial asset item from an additive manufacturing model data database. The model customization platform may then create a customized version of the primary engineering model from the data of the additive manufacturing printer capabilities and the primary engineering model. The customized engineering model may then be sent to an additive manufacturing platform (e.g., to be printed to create an industrial asset item).

Some embodiments include: means for receiving data of additive manufacturing printer capabilities from an additive manufacturing platform at a model customization platform; means for retrieving, by the model customization platform, a primary engineering model associated with the industrial asset item from an additive manufacturing model database; means for creating a customized version of the primary engineering model from the data of additive manufacturing printer capabilities and the primary engineering model; and means for sending the customized engineering model to an additive manufacturing platform.

A technical effect of some embodiments of the present invention is an improved and computerized way to efficiently and accurately facilitate the creation of industrial asset items. A more complete understanding of the nature of the present invention may be derived by referring to the following detailed description and accompanying drawings that are apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art.

Drawings

Fig. 1 is a high-level block diagram of a system according to some embodiments.

FIG. 2 is a method that may be associated with a model customization platform, according to some embodiments.

Fig. 3 is a high-level block diagram of a system including a model creation platform and an additive manufacturing platform according to some embodiments.

FIG. 4 illustrates a primary engineering model and an associated customized engineering model, according to some embodiments.

Fig. 5 is a block diagram of an additive digital ecosystem, according to some embodiments.

Fig. 6 is a high-level block diagram of a digital trading system, according to another embodiment.

Fig. 7 is an additive part production chain enabled by a model customization platform, according to some embodiments.

Fig. 8 is a system implementing a digital transaction with blockchain verification according to some embodiments.

FIG. 9 is a system for implementing digital transactions using multiple digital transaction engines, according to some embodiments.

FIG. 10 illustrates a platform according to some embodiments.

FIG. 11 is a portion of a table model database according to some embodiments.

FIG. 12 is a distributed ledger reference architecture, according to some embodiments.

FIG. 13 illustrates a computer display according to some embodiments.

FIG. 14 illustrates a tablet computer providing a display according to some embodiments.

Detailed Description

In the following detailed description, numerous specific details are set forth in order to provide a thorough understanding of the embodiments. However, it will be understood by those of ordinary skill in the art that the embodiments may be practiced without these specific details. In other instances, well-known methods, procedures, components and circuits have not been described in detail so as not to obscure the embodiments.

One or more specific embodiments of the present invention will be described below. In an effort to provide a concise description of these embodiments, all features of an actual implementation may not be described in the specification. It should be appreciated that in the development of any such actual implementation, as in any engineering or design project, numerous implementation-specific decisions must be made to achieve the developers' specific goals, such as compliance with system-related and business-related constraints, which may vary from one implementation to another. Moreover, it should be appreciated that such a development effort might be complex and time consuming, but would nevertheless be a routine undertaking of design, fabrication, and manufacture for those of ordinary skill having the benefit of this disclosure.

It is generally desirable to efficiently and accurately facilitate the creation of industrial asset items. Fig. 1 is a high-level block diagram of a system 100 according to some embodiments. In particular, system 100 includes a model customization platform 120 having a communication port to exchange information (e.g., with many different remote three-dimensional printers and/or printing platforms). According to some embodiments, model customization platform 120 receives data of additive manufacturing printer capabilities and retrieves a preliminary engineering model from additive manufacturing model database 130 (e.g., storing item definition files associated with various industrial asset items). The model customization platform 120 and/or other elements may then create and output a customized engineering model. Note that model customization platform 120 may be completely decentralized and/or may be associated with a third party (such as a provider performing services for an enterprise).

Model customization platform 120 may be associated with, for example, a personal computer ("PC"), a laptop computer, a tablet computer, a smart phone, an enterprise server, a server farm, a digital transaction engine, and/or a database or similar storage device. According to some embodiments, the "automated" model customization platform 120 may automatically create customized engineering models. As used herein, the term "automated" may refer to actions that may be performed with little (or no) human intervention, for example.

As used herein, a device, including a device associated with model customization platform 120 and any other device described herein, may exchange information via any communication network, which may be one or more of a local area network ("L AN"), a metropolitan area network ("MAN"), a wide area network ("WAN"), a private network, a public switched telephone network ("PSTN"), a wireless application protocol ("WAP") network, a Bluetooth network, a wireless L AN network, and/or AN Internet protocol ("IP") network, such as the Internet, AN intranet, or AN extranet.

Model customization platform 120 may store and/or retrieve information to/from a data store (e.g., additive manufacturing model database 130 and/or other data stores). The data store may, for example, store electronic records representing engineering models, previous transactions, transactions currently being processed, and the like. The data store may be stored locally or reside remotely from the model customization platform 120. Although a single model customization platform 120 is shown in FIG. 1, any number of such devices may be included. Furthermore, the various devices described herein may be combined in accordance with embodiments of the present invention. For example, in some embodiments, model customization platform 120, additive manufacturing database, and/or other apparatus may be co-located and/or may comprise a single device.

In this manner, the system 100 can efficiently and accurately facilitate creation of industrial asset items. For example, at (a), the model customization platform 120 may receive additive manufacturing capability data (e.g., including build envelope (resolution), laser power values, etc.) from the additive manufacturing platform. At (B), the model customization platform 120 may retrieve a primary engineering model defining the industrial asset item from the additive manufacturing database 130. Model customization platform 120 may then create an appropriately customized engineering model for that particular three-dimensional printer and send the customized model at (C). The customized engineering model can then be used to print an industrial asset item. As a result, the system 100 may distribute engineering models and data packages for manufacturing using various manufacturing techniques, and these engineering models may be customized to suit a manufacturer's particular manufacturing equipment.

Note that the system 100 of fig. 1 is provided as an example only, and embodiments may be associated with additive elements or components. According to some embodiments, elements of the system 100 automatically facilitate creation of industrial asset items for a customer. For example, FIG. 2 illustrates a method 200 that may be performed by the model customization platform 120 and/or other elements of the system 100 described with respect to FIG. 1, or any other system, according to some embodiments of the invention. The flow charts described herein do not imply a fixed order to the steps and embodiments of the present invention may be practiced in any practicable order. Note that any of the methods described herein may be performed by hardware, software, or any combination of these methods. For example, a computer-readable storage medium may store thereon instructions that, when executed by a machine, result in performance according to any of the embodiments described herein.

As used herein, the phrase "additive manufacturing" may refer to various types of three-dimensional printing, including, for example, three-dimensional printing described in the american society for testing and materials ("ASTM") group "ASTM f 42-additive manufacturing" standards, which may include, but are not limited to, reduction photopolymerization (using reduction slots for liquid photopolymer resin ")), material jetting (where material is jetted onto the build platform), adhesive jetting (using, for example, powder-based materials and adhesives), material extrusion such as fuse deposition (" EBM "), powder bed fusion (e.g., direct metal laser sintering (" DM L S "), electron beam melting (" EBM "), etc.), sheet lamination (including ultrasonic additive manufacturing (" UAM ") and ultrasonic additive manufacturing (" deom "), energy deposition (" defm "), laminate (" defm "), etc.; oriented object deposition (" defm L), etc.).

Note that additive manufacturing printer capabilities may be associated with many different types of data. For example, printer "resolution" may describe layer thickness and X-Y resolution in dots per inch ("dpi") or micrometers ("μm"). Typical layer thicknesses may be about 100 μm (250dpi), but some printers may create layers of 16 μm (1,600dpi) or less. As a result, additive manufacturing printer capabilities may be associated with resolution, layer thickness, X-Y resolution, dpi values, μm values, forming ranges (e.g., defining the size of the largest article that may be created by the printer), and so forth.

According to some embodiments, additive manufacturing printer capabilities may be associated with data about a particular printer part or component, such as electron beam power, laser power, raw materials used by the printer (e.g., powder characteristics), component capabilities, laser type, print nozzle type, component speed, component tolerances, and the like. As other examples, additive manufacturing printer capabilities may be associated with environmental capabilities (e.g., temperature or cleanliness values), inspection capabilities, geographic information (e.g., export restrictions may limit data included in the engineering model), and so forth.

At 220, the model customization platform may retrieve a primary engineering "model" associated with the industrial asset item from an additive manufacturing model data database, for example, the primary engineering model may include an industrial asset file associated with a computer aided design ("CAD") protocol defining a three-dimensional "industrial asset" part (e.g., a gear, a fuel nozzle, etc.).

At 230, a customized version of the primary engineering model may be created from the data of the additive manufacturing printer capabilities and the primary engineering model. For example, given the limited capabilities of a particular printer, the resolution of the information in the custom model may be reduced as compared to the primary model. At 240, the customized engineering model may be sent to an additive manufacturing platform. The additive manufacturing platform may then communicate with the additive manufacturing printer to create an industrial asset (e.g., which may then be delivered to a customer). According to some embodiments, the customized engineering model may instead be sent from the model customization platform to the three-dimensional printer.

According to some embodiments, the model customization platform is in communication with a plurality of additive manufacturing platforms (at least some of which have different additive manufacturing capability data) and/or a plurality of customer platforms requesting different industrial asset items. Note that the model customization platform may be associated with a single network cloud hosted topology, multiple network cloud hosted topologies, and/or participant hosted intranet environments. For example, fig. 3 is a high-level block diagram of a system 300 including a model customization platform 320 and an additive manufacturing platform 360, according to some embodiments. As before, model customization platform 320 may receive data of additive manufacturing printer capabilities (in this case, from multiple additive manufacturing platforms 360 based on data stored locally at additive manufacturing database 370) and retrieve the preliminary engineering model from additive manufacturing model database 330 (e.g., storing item definition files associated with various industrial asset items). Model customization platform 320 and/or other elements may then create a customized engineering model and output the customized engineering model to additive manufacturing platform 360. The customized model can then be used to create an industrial asset item via the three-dimensional printer 380. Thus, the creation of a single preliminary engineering model may depict the original engineering design intent. Multiple versions of an engineering model (suitable for optimized manufacturing on a different manufacturing facility) may be created based on unique characteristics of the facility. Such techniques may allow for the economical creation and distribution of engineering models needed to manufacture industrial asset items in an advantageous manner.

FIG. 4 illustrates a primary engineering model 410 and an associated customized engineering model 420 according to some embodiments. Note that a single primary engineering model 410 (e.g., representing an idealized version of an industrial asset model) may ultimately be associated with multiple customized engineering models 420 (e.g., each to be used by a different three-dimensional printer having different capabilities). Further, the customized engineering model 420 may be generated from the primary engineering model 410 or, according to some embodiments, from another customized engineering model 420.

Thus, an individual or company that may wish to obtain an engineering model for manufacturing on their equipment may provide specific characteristics of their manufacturing equipment to facilitate customization of the engineering model 420. The specific characteristic may be provided electronically, for example. The engineering model 420 required to manufacture the part via a particular manufacturing process may be modified with knowledge of the particular equipment characteristics of the buyer to create a customized engineering model 420 (e.g., scan path) to be provided to the buyer.

Note that computer controlled manufacturing equipment is rapidly improving. In order to optimally manufacture a part using certain manufacturing processes, the necessary data files (e.g., engineering models, scan paths, etc.) may be customized to suit the particular characteristics of a particular manufacturing facility. According to some embodiments, an individual or company may wish to obtain an engineering model to manufacture with their manufacturing equipment, which may be different than other individuals and companies. Some embodiments described herein may allow for the creation of a customized engineering model 420 that is appropriate for a particular type or configuration of equipment.

Fig. 5 is a block diagram of an additive digital ecosystem 500 according to some embodiments. Specifically, the additive digital ecosystem 500 includes a digital trading engine 550 having a communication port to exchange information with a number of customer platforms 510. According to some embodiments, the digital transaction engine 550 receives industry data from one of the customer platforms 510An asset item request and distributes the request to one of a plurality of additive manufacturing platforms 560. Each additive manufacturing platform 560 may include and/or be associated with additive manufacturing database 570 and three-dimensional printer 580 (e.g., where database 570 may store a printer version number, a maximum resolution of the printer, a powder specification, a minimum turnaround time for a newly received job, etc.). According to some embodiments, model customization platform 520 may retrieve the preliminary engineering model from additive manufacturing model database 530, customize the model, and provide the customized model to digital trading engine 550 (or directly to additive manufacturing platform 560, as shown by the dashed lines in fig. 5). The digital transaction engine 550 and/or other elements of the system may then record information about the transaction using the secure, distributed transaction ledger 590 (e.g., via a blockchain validation process). For example, the digital trading engine 550 can record order date and time, customized engineering model identifiers, prices, bids, and the like via the secure, distributed trade ledger 590 in accordance with any of the embodiments described herein. According to some embodiments, the distributed ledger may be associated withThe blockchain verification system is associated. Note that the digital trading engine 550 may be completely decentralized and/or may be associated with a third party, such as a provider performing services for an enterprise.

As used herein, devices including devices associated with the digital transaction engine 550 and any other devices described herein may exchange information via any communication network, which may be one or more of L AN, MAN, WAN, private network, PSTN, WAP network, bluetooth network, wireless L AN network, and/or AN IP network.

The digital transaction engine 550 may store information in and/or retrieve information from a data store. The data store may, for example, store electronic records representing previous transactions, transactions currently being processed, and the like. The data store may be stored locally or reside remotely from the digital transaction engine 550. Although a single digital transaction engine 550 is shown in fig. 5, any number of such devices may be included in ecosystem 500. Furthermore, the various devices described herein may be combined in accordance with embodiments of the present invention. For example, in some embodiments, digital trading engine 550, model customization platform 520, data store, and/or other apparatus may be co-located and/or may comprise a single device.

In this manner, the additive digital ecosystem 500 can efficiently and accurately facilitate the creation of industrial asset items. For example, at (a), additive manufacturing platform 560 may obtain additive manufacturing capability data from additive manufacturing database 570 and provide this information to digital trading engine 550. At (B), model customization platform 520 may retrieve the primary engineering model from additive manufacturing model database 530, customize it based on the capability data, and provide the customized model to digital trading engine 550 at (C). At (D), the customer platform 510 may send an industrial asset item request to the digital transaction engine 550. At (E), the digital trading engine 550 may then assign the request to one of the additive manufacturing platforms 560 (e.g., by sending a customized engineering model to the platform 560 that can produce the item at the lowest cost). At (F), additive manufacturing platform 560 may then communicate with three-dimensional printer 580 to initiate the printing process. Note that at (G), each step of the transaction may be recorded in the secure, distributed transaction ledger 590. When created, the completed item may be provided to the customer at (H) (as indicated by the dashed arrow in fig. 5).

Some embodiments may provide transaction and/or digital payment to the digital transaction engine 550. This can provide an infrastructure for a digital ecosystem for the creation of industrial asset items. Some embodiments may also provide intelligent contracts and/or proxy payments, and in some cases anonymity and/or other protection. For example, cryptocurrency may be used to create an opaque marketplace (as opposed to a transparent marketplace) where identity is protected. Finally, some embodiments may provide strong encryption for precise control of advanced three-dimensional printing techniques, equipment, intellectual property, supply chain and pedigree history, and the like. As a result, counterfeit parts may be reduced and encryption keys may be used to control access to equipment, build files, production volumes, and service contracts alike. In addition, the additive digital ecosystem 500 can post encrypted lineage and transaction data to the distributed ledger 590 to help control the flow of knowledge from design, modeling, simulation, and manufacturing through contract services.

According to some embodiments, the digital trading engine 550 may communicate with offline optimization applications and real-time applications via digital service marketplaces and communities. The digital trading engine 550 may be associated with, for example, a content distribution and access management toolchain, a system level optimization, and/or a multidisciplinary optimization. The offline optimization applications may include design applications, manufacturing planning applications, scan path generation applications, and the like. Real-time applications may include, for example, machine control, online inspection, plant visualization, and the like. Note that the offline optimization application and/or the real-time application may support various item creation processes, such as design, manufacturing planning, scan path generation, build, online inspection, part creation, post-processing inspection, and the like. In this manner, the additive digital ecosystem 500 can provide improved results (e.g., reduced time required for design changes to one day or less, self-optimized build processes, improved life and/or performance of individualized parts, etc.).

Fig. 6 is a high-level block diagram of a digital trading system 600, according to another embodiment. As before, the digital transaction engine 650 can receive an industrial asset item request from the customer platform 610. The digital transaction engine 650 may distribute the request to the appropriate additive manufacturing platform 660, the platform 660 having an additive manufacturing database 670 (e.g., a database 670 storing capability information) and a three-dimensional printer 680, the database 670 may be a database local to the platform 660. The printer 680 may then create the item so that the item may be provided to the customer requesting it. Some or all of these steps may be recorded in a secure, distributed transaction ledger 690 (e.g., blockchain technology). In this embodiment, design platform 640 may work with a customer and/or model customization platform 620 having a locally stored additive manufacturing model database 630 to create an appropriate primary engineering model for the item (e.g., an appropriate shape of the item, tools needed to create the item, raw materials, etc.). According to some embodiments, the definition file may be encrypted and/or cryptographically signed and/or include pedigree data. Note that design platform 640 and/or model customization platform 620 may create multiple designs and/or definitions for a single article (e.g., different designs may be associated with different additive manufacturing processes, different printer models, etc.).

Fig. 7 is an additive part production chain 700 enabled by a model customization platform, according to some embodiments. Again, the digital transaction engine 750 may receive an industrial asset item request from the customer platform 710. The digital transaction engine 750 may distribute the request to the appropriate additive manufacturing platform 760 to create the item so that the item may be provided to the customer requesting it. Some or all of these steps may be recorded in a secure, distributed transaction ledger 790 (e.g., blockchain technology). Note that the customer may submit an "agent purchase" to the digital trading engine 750 via the customer platform 710 (the digital trading engine 750 may then determine that the virtual production bid was accepted and used to initiate the build process, obtain the desired design, obtain the desired raw materials, etc.). In other embodiments, the customer may instead send a "direct purchase" to the additive manufacturing platform 760. Further, in some embodiments, design platform 740 may arrange for custom, certified build (e.g., in conjunction with model customization platform and locally stored additive manufacturing model database 730), certified designs, certified powders, and so forth.

Accordingly, embodiments may facilitate distribution of intellectual property (e.g., engineering models and data packages for manufacturing using additive manufacturing techniques) facilitated by blockchain techniques. Further, the distributed ledger transaction can be used to influence and verify transactions between end users (e.g., customers, manufacturers, etc.) and sellers/lenders of intellectual property (e.g., engineering models, technical data packages, process conditions, inspection data, etc.) either directly or through an electronic intermediary such as a digital marketplace. Further, embodiments may provide a process for distribution of customized engineering models through a single transaction (or a series of transactions) via the use of blockchain distributed ledger techniques. According to some embodiments, two or more parties may use distributed ledger techniques to record an economic exchange of information necessary for manufacturing an additive manufactured part. For each intermediate step in the exchange of technical information (e.g., including quotes, bids or medium bid selections, manufacturing capability sharing, engineering model generation, engineering model distribution, additive raw material procurement, supply and preparation, part manufacturing, part inspection, part supply, and payment), a corresponding transaction may be created. These transactions may be posted in the distributed ledger in partially (or wholly) unencrypted or encrypted form as a means of providing an online spectrum of manufactured parts to interested parties.

For many different reasons (such as the popularity of industry-related additive manufacturing printing hardware, the increasing specifications of additive manufacturing processes used to manufacture parts, etc.), it may become economically advantageous to make digital files (containing intellectual property) for the manufacture of parts available to end users of non-internal or constrained part suppliers. Accordingly, it may be desirable to perform such transactions in a secure manner such that these digital engineering documents and manufacturing process technologies remain secure. According to some embodiments described herein, the use of blockchain based techniques may be provided to create a digital ecosystem with strong encryption for precise control of advanced three-dimensional printing techniques, equipment, intellectual property, manufacturing, supply chain and pedigree history.

To protect the intellectual property required to manufacture a part, the necessary build files (e.g., customized engineering models, scan paths, etc.) and associated detailed information (material specifications, batch data, machine specifications, process conditions, etc.) must be managed to protect the integrity of the data and limit theft (while still ensuring the production of high quality parts using verification techniques). Finally, a verification mechanism may help verify the authenticity of the manufactured component while also protecting the data rights.

Fig. 8 is a system 800 that implements digital transactions including blockchain validation according to some embodiments, a cloud-based integrity monitor 810 may provide transaction integrity data via a web browser and exchange information with blockchain 820 (or other secure distributed transaction ledgers) and digital transaction engine 850 via a representational state transfer ("REST") web service or other similar web service, REST web services may, for example, provide interoperability between computer systems on the internet (e.g., by allowing a requesting system to access and manipulate textual representations of network resources using a uniform, predefined set of stateless operations), according to some embodiments, portions of digital transaction engine 850 may be associated with a database such as MySQ L database, in this manner, digital transaction engine 850 and blockchain 820 may provide transaction level validation for a client 840 (e.g., including information about one or more customized engineering models), although fig. 8 shows system 800 with a single blockchain 820 and digital transaction engine 850, embodiments may also employ other structures, e.g., fig. 9 is a system 800 that implements transaction level validation of transaction involving multiple instances of a blockchain of digital transaction verification (e.g., including information about one or more customized engineering models), and may, once the system 10 has been modified, it is provided as a more than a system 800 that may provide additional information about a system that includes multiple transaction integrity information about a single, e.g., a system that is protected against tampering, a system 900, e.g., a system 800 that includes multiple transaction system that includes a single, a transaction integrity monitor 952, a system that may provide information about a transaction integrity data integrity monitor that may provide information about a transaction integrity data integrity monitor that may provide information about a transaction integrity monitor that may provide information about a system that may provide information about a transaction integrity monitor 952, e.g., a system that may provide information about a system that may provide information.

Embodiments described herein may include tools that facilitate creation of industrial asset items and may be implemented using any number of different hardware configurations. For example, fig. 10 illustrates a platform 1000, which platform 1000 may be associated with, for example, system 100 in fig. 1 and system 500 in fig. 5 (and other systems described herein), respectively. Platform 1000 includes a processor 1010, such as one or more commercially available central processing units ("CPUs"), which processor 1010 may be in the form of a single chip microprocessor coupled to a communication device 1020 configured to communicate via a communication network (not shown in fig. 10). The communication device 1020 may be used to communicate with one or more remote additive manufacturing platforms or digital trading engines, for example. Note that the communications exchanged via communications 1020 may utilize security features, such as between public internet users and an insurance enterprise's internal network. The security features may be associated with, for example, a web server, a firewall, and/or a PCI infrastructure. Platform 1000 also includes input devices 1040 (e.g., a mouse and/or keyboard for entering information about customized engineering models, distributed ledgers, etc.) and output devices 1050 (e.g., outputting pedigree reports including model identifiers, generating production status messages, etc.).

Processor 1010 is also in communication with storage 1030. Storage 1030 may include any suitable information storage device, including a combination of magnetic storage (e.g., hard disk drives), optical storage, mobile phones, and/or semiconductor memory devices. Storage 1030 stores programs 1012 and/or network security services tools or applications for controlling processor 1010. The processor 1010 executes instructions of the program 1012 to operate in accordance with any of the embodiments described herein. For example, processor 1010 may receive additive manufacturing capability data (e.g., printer model, printer resolution, etc.) from an additive manufacturing platform. The processor 1010 may receive data of additive manufacturing printer capabilities and retrieve a primary engineering model associated with the industrial asset item from an additive manufacturing model data database. The processor 1010 may then create a customized version of the primary engineering model from the data of the additive manufacturing printer capabilities and the primary engineering model. The customized engineering model may then be sent to an additive manufacturing platform (e.g., to be printed to create an industrial asset item).

The program 1012 may be stored in a compressed, uncompiled, and/or encrypted format. Programs 1012 may also include other program elements, such as an operating system, a database management system, and/or device drivers used by processor 1010 to interface with peripheral devices.

As used herein, information may be, for example: (i) "received" by the platform 1000 from another device or "sent" from another device to the platform 1000; or (ii) is "received" by or "transmitted" to a software application or module within platform 1000 from another software application, module, or any other source.

In some embodiments (as shown in FIG. 10), the storage 1030 also stores manufacturing capability information 1060, an industrial asset definition file 1070, and a model database 1100. An example of a database that may be used in conjunction with platform 1000 will now be described in detail with respect to FIG. 11. Note that the databases described herein are merely examples, and additional and/or different information may be stored therein. Further, the various databases may be split or combined according to any of the embodiments described herein. For example, the model database 1100 and the industrial asset definition file 1070 may be combined and/or linked with each other within the program 1012.

Referring to FIG. 11, FIG. 11 illustrates a table representing a model database 1100 that may be stored at platform 1000, according to some embodiments. The table may include, for example, entries identifying models associated with creating items for customers. The table may also define fields 1102, 1104, 1106, 1108, 1110, 1112, 1114 for each entry. According to some embodiments, the fields 1102, 1104, 1106, 1108, 1110, 1112, 1114 may specify: model identifier 1102, industrial asset item description 1104, model type 1106, parent model 1108, block link result 1110, printer identifier 1112, and model definition file 1114. Transaction database 1100 may be created and updated, for example, based on information received electronically from a remote additive manufacturer platform, a distributed ledger device, and so forth.

The model identifier 1102 may be, for example, a unique alphanumeric code that identifies a model that may be used by the three-dimensional printer to create the industrial asset item defined by the industrial asset item description 1104. Model type 1106 can indicate whether the model is a "primary" model or a "custom" model, and in the case of a custom model, parent model 1108 can indicate which model is used to create the custom version. The block link result 1110 may indicate whether the information has been verified by the distributed ledger. The printer identifier 1112 may indicate which device is to create (or has created) the industrial asset item, and the model definition file 1114 may contain a scan path, a CAD file, or a link to a location where information defining the item is stored.