3D path planning of a laser manipulation robotic system for tooth preparing

In this paper, we proposed a 3D path planning method for a miniature robotic system, which can manipulate a beam of ultra-short pulse laser to cut a decayed tooth to formulate an expected 3D shape. Using high resolution STereo Lithography (STL) models of the original decayed tooth and the target preparing shape as the input, our method consists of a fast slicing algorithm and an optimized path generating algorithm, which realized a high efficient layer-by-layer cutting for laser ablation. Theoretical analysis on the geometric distortion and surface roughness was carried out to model the influence of the path planning algorithms on the accuracy of the prepared tooth. Experimental results on a real tooth indicate that the path planning method can maintain the accuracy for the laser ablation process.