The Source Code Analysis Of Repetier Host And Secondary Development

The development of 3D printing is benefit from the software and hardware open source movement. At the same time, the Internet file sharing also pushes the development of 3D printing. Now, there are many types of open-source software. For example Cura Ki SSlicer Octo Print Make-me etc. In all these types of software, Repetier-Host is a popular type of software in China for its powerful usability. The main work of this paper is outlined as follows:1. Research Repetier-Host 0.90 version of the source. Overall build the environment, analyze the function of the code, the software architecture and namespaces. Then classify the code into print pretreatment, slicing and G-code processing, printer, other features of the four modules and then analyze their specific implementation details.2. Add the model file format conversion function. Although there are many kinds of 3D file formats, but Repetier-Host can only read stl, obj, 3ds formats. So Assimp.Net library has been used to convert other formats into stl format. By this way, Repetier-Host is powerful enough to work with other popular 3D file formats.3. Add the model repairing function. Before slicing and printing the 3D model, it’s necessary to check the model to avoid some unnecessary loss. Repetier-Host does some simple repairs by itself. In order to make it strong, slic3 r software has been used to do more work to repair the model.4. Integrate MeshLab into Repetier-Host. The laser scanning is a common way in 3d modeling. And Mesh Lab can reconstruct and edit the model which is scanned by the laser. In order to provide a more comprehensive tool chain, Mesh Lab is integrated into Repetier-Host.5. Add Cura Engine and analyze the source code of Cura Engine. Slicing technique is very import in 3D printing. Cura Engine is a powerful type of slicing software in Cura, but it can also be added into other 3D printing control software. Cura Engine is an open-source C++ console application which can slice stl model file into g-code file.Repetier-Host is written in C#. It can run in dot Net or Mono. In this paper, it runs in dot Net. Repetier-Host uses Open TK library to show the 3D model to the users and uses Slic3 r, Skeinforge software to slice the model. These details will be introduced in this paper.Open-source code can always reveal the software structure and architecture. Based on this study, Repetier-Host can be modified to become more powerful. If a new type of 3d printing control software is planned to writing from scratch, it can also get inspiration from this study.