PLC as the Main Controller for Additive Manufacturing Machines

Additive manufacturing (AM) is the process of manufacturing a physical object, layer by layer, from a 3D digital model. Despite the advantages of using this technology, its adoption, especially by users with fewer resources, is still limited by the high cost of machines, raw materials, and the complexity of the process. To make this technology more accessible, increasing the cost-effectiveness of the machines, this work analyzes the feasibility of using a single programmable logic controller (PLC) as the main controller of an additive manufacturing machine, as an alternative to the CNC and PLC structure used in most of the applications of this type. Through a PLC programming structure, it was possible to load an instruction file in G code generated by a market slicer program, convert it into axis position commands, and verify that the deposition trajectory was executed.