Toolpath is the bridge between Cura and the SEAM (High-Speed Extrusion) 3-D printing test rig of the
Institute of Lightweight Structures at TU Chemnitz (Omron NJ motion controller). It was developed as an Applied
Engineering Project in the Advanced Manufacturing programme, supervised by Prof. Dr.-Ing. habil. Daisy Nestler,
Dipl.-Ing. (BA) Stefan Uhlmann and Gokul Varadharajan M.Sc. Cura produces Marlin G-code with thousands of tiny segments, continuously rising Z in vase mode and its own
start/end sequences; the machine wants a short program of G01 lines and G02/G03 … R arcs with
one Z per layer, a defined park position and a strict text format.
The converter flattens each layer to its correct height, fits arcs the way the ArcWelder project does, guarantees that every arc is geometrically valid for the controller, routes the head in and out beside the part (the extruder cannot stop its flow), can split long prints into several files with a clean exit and re-entry, and checks the exported bytes against programs that are known to run. It warns before a move would run into the rig's end stops and can centre the part on the rig, and it can add a solid one-layer bottom as a single continuous path. The per-layer plots and the 3-D simulator, which follows the program line by line, let you verify everything before the file touches the SD card.
See the documentation for a walkthrough of every feature. Results of the project may only be passed on to third parties with the permission of the supervising professorship.