Proposed Capstone Project

The printing process with dry ink is similar to the copying process. First toner (dry ink) is transferred to a drum and then the drum is rolled against paper. The quality of the final print depends on how sharp the toner image forms on the drum and how well the drum image transfers to the paper.

The quality of the image on the paper can be determined by magnifiers and microscopes but it is not clear which sub-process is most responsible for the quality issues. To answer that question a camera with magnifying optics can be mounted on a printer to zoom on the drum and help determine the quality of the drum image. The existing system is awkward to use, does not allow precise positioning, and does not use the best camera and magnifying system.



Problem Statement

Design a motorized x-y-z frame that mounts on a printer and is capable of positioning an imaging system at a desired location relative to a printer drum. Some research is required to define quality measures for imaging and then select the best imaging system.