INFRARED TECHNOLOGIES

On April 29, 2026, a workshop on the OPTHERM project will be held in České Budějovice at the Faculty of Education. The presentations will introduce the OPTHERM project itself, its goals and the results achieved during its solution. The workshop will focus on additive technologies, especially 3D printing of plastics, thermodiagnostics in 3D printing and optical properties of filament materials and printed parts. During the workshop, an educational demonstrator of thermal diagnostics in 3D printing will be presented, including a practical demonstration on a prepared print job.

We will present the mini IR cameras we are developing, which are designed to monitor the 3D printing process using FDM technology, i.e. printing from filaments. These are not just separate IR cameras, but a complex system including a mini computer to which multiple mini IR cameras can be connected simultaneously. We are also introducing a special mini IR camera located close to the nozzle (firmly connected to the print head), which constantly monitors the temperature directly in the printing zone. It is the view from this special mini IR camera that allows you to check the printing in terms of achieving the correct printing temperature, when the thermographic software we have developed displays a warning message to the user or even pauses printing in the event of a significant deviation from the recommended temperatures.

You can see for yourself what 3D printing looks like through the view of an IR camera. What is the actual temperature of the printed material? How quickly does the currently printed layer and the entire product cool down? You may be surprised by the speed of temperature changes.

On March 21, 2026, we participated in the Maker Faire exhibition in Karlovy Vary held in the premises of the Hotel Thermal. We presented the possibilities of thermography in 3D printing using mini IR cameras and mini computers with our own software for thermodiagnostics of 3D printing of plastics. Visitors had the opportunity to see live demonstrations of 3D printing of plastic parts through the view of IR cameras, including a special mini IR camera located directly at the hotend of the print head. It is the view from this special mini IR camera that allows you to check the printing in terms of achieving the correct temperature, when the thermographic software displays a warning message to the user in the event of a significant deviation from the recommended temperatures or even pauses printing. Part of the presentation was focused on introducing the basic principles of non-contact temperature measurement and the difficulties that can cause disturbing environmental influences. Our exhibition was part of the solution of the Czech-Bavarian OPTHERM project.