Streaming in metal additive manufacturing: a catalyst for secure distributed manufacturing
提出一种流式传输协议，将制造信息从云端安全分发到增材制造机器，通过逐层流式传输保护知识产权，并在金属粉末床熔融案例中验证了可行性。
Distributed Manufacturing (DM) involves decentralised production facilities to increase flexibility, reduce costs, and enhance efficiency by bringing production closer to customers. Additive Manufacturing (AM) is a toolless production approach that promises to support DM by enabling the dispersion of production in decentralised facilities without relying on economies of scale. However, transferring manufacturing information, such as 3D models and parameters, across multiple local facilities exposes intellectual property (IP) to various threats, including manipulation and unauthorised production. To address these challenges, this work introduces a streaming protocol that securely distributes manufacturing information from the cloud to AM machines. The protocol defines a state machine that enables synchronisation between the cloud and an AM machine and a layerwise streaming sequence that protects the transmitted information. Additionally, the protocol controls how often a part can be printed. The feasibility of the protocol is demonstrated in a case study using Powder Bed Fusion of Metals as an exemplary AM technology. The case study shows that manufacturing information can be streamed parallel to the printing process while meeting hard real-time requirements. Finally, the contribution of the layerwise streaming concept to securing IP is discussed by four potential attack vectors, such as eavesdropping or data interception.