Build-preparation and slicer software (Materialise, Autodesk Netfabb, Oqton, Siemens NX AM and nTop class tools)
Geometry, orientation, supports and parameter sets in; validated recipes out
Integrations
It reads your floor. It does not replace it.
Powdrix connects to the slicers, printers, in-situ sensors, CT and metrology, ovens, robot cells and MES already on an additive floor and normalises their signals into one time-aligned record per build and layer. Writes go back through the same controllers, inside the envelope, guarded.
Illustrative scenario: PBF-2 · Ti-6Al-4V bracket family, 24-part build, 23 of 24 parts released, one held
Integrations
It speaks printer, not cloud
Powdrix reads and writes through the systems already on the floor. No rip and replace, no parallel historian, no new slicer to learn. Vendor names are examples of systems found on additive floors; connector availability is confirmed per site.
Laser and electron-beam PBF, DED and polymer SLS, MJF and FDM machines through OEM control APIs
Machine state and in-situ streams in; bounded parameter writes inside the envelope
Coaxial and off-axis melt-pool cameras, photodiodes, layer and recoater cameras, thermal sensors (EOS EOSTATE, Nikon SLM, Sigma Additive and Velo3D Assure class systems)
Frames and streams fused at the printer edge
CT scanners, surface vision and metrology (Zeiss, Nikon CT, Waygate and Volume Graphics class systems)
Volumes, images and scans in; grading, routing and packets out
Stress-relief and heat-treatment ovens, HIP units, depowdering and support removal (Solukon, AM Solutions and PostProcess class equipment)
Cycle data in; recipe parameters inside the qualified window out
Sieving, lot tracking and reuse records
Lot, reuse count and quality into genealogy
Jetson and Isaac driven handling cells, grippers, transfer rigs
Build-complete and oven signals in; handling tasks out
AM MES and build management (Oqton, Authentise, 3YOURMIND, AMFG and Materialise CO-AM class systems)
Jobs and orders in; genealogy, holds and dispositions back
Time-series store for in-situ, thermal and yield telemetry, pgvector for defect, CT and melt-pool images, geometry and parameters
Backfill, replay, retrieval
NVIDIA Jetson Orin at each printer and cell, on-prem GPU servers at inspection
Inference where the layer is fused
Compatibility
Systems and what we do with them
Vendor names are examples of the systems found on additive floors, not certified integrations or partnerships. Connector availability is confirmed during the shadow-mode weeks of a pilot.
| Category | Examples on the floor | What Powdrix does |
|---|---|---|
| Build prep and slicers | Build-preparation and slicer software (Materialise, Autodesk Netfabb, Oqton, Siemens NX AM and nTop class tools) | Geometry, orientation, supports and parameter sets in; validated recipes out |
| Printers | Laser and electron-beam PBF, DED and polymer SLS, MJF and FDM machines through OEM control APIs | Machine state and in-situ streams in; bounded parameter writes inside the envelope |
| In-situ monitoring | Coaxial and off-axis melt-pool cameras, photodiodes, layer and recoater cameras, thermal sensors (EOS EOSTATE, Nikon SLM, Sigma Additive and Velo3D Assure class systems) | Frames and streams fused at the printer edge |
| CT, vision and metrology | CT scanners, surface vision and metrology (Zeiss, Nikon CT, Waygate and Volume Graphics class systems) | Volumes, images and scans in; grading, routing and packets out |
| Post-processing | Stress-relief and heat-treatment ovens, HIP units, depowdering and support removal (Solukon, AM Solutions and PostProcess class equipment) | Cycle data in; recipe parameters inside the qualified window out |
| Powder management | Sieving, lot tracking and reuse records | Lot, reuse count and quality into genealogy |
| Robot cells | Jetson and Isaac driven handling cells, grippers, transfer rigs | Build-complete and oven signals in; handling tasks out |
| AM MES and ERP | AM MES and build management (Oqton, Authentise, 3YOURMIND, AMFG and Materialise CO-AM class systems) | Jobs and orders in; genealogy, holds and dispositions back |
| Historian and stores | Time-series store for in-situ, thermal and yield telemetry, pgvector for defect, CT and melt-pool images, geometry and parameters | Backfill, replay, retrieval |
| Edge | NVIDIA Jetson Orin at each printer and cell, on-prem GPU servers at inspection | Inference where the layer is fused |
Connection
How a machine gets connected
The shadow-mode weeks of a pilot.
- Inventory. List the slicer, printer, cameras, sensors, CT, ovens and MES on the wedge machine, with their interfaces.
- Read-only first. Connect every source read-only and build the time-aligned build and layer record. No writes exist yet.
- Baseline. Measure the agreed metric from the floor's own build records and CT outcomes for the baseline period.
- Declare the envelope. Agree the parameter allow-list, the qualified envelope, limits and approvers before any write is enabled.
- Assist, then bounded. Writes begin on approval, then inside the envelope, as the autonomy level is raised.
Boundaries
What Powdrix deliberately does not do
Scope limits in version one.
- Replace the printer controller, the slicer, the CT software or the MES. Powdrix is a supervisory layer on top of them.
- Write to any parameter that is not on the allow-list, or outside the qualified envelope.
- Run full multi-module autonomy across the whole floor in version one.
- Build long-tail integrations beyond the design partners' stacks before they are needed.
- Move parameter sets, geometry or process models across tenants.
Run timeline · scenario
One scenario run, step by step
Every Powdrix run is an ordered, inspectable sequence. This is run_7c2e4b on PBF-2 · Ti-6Al-4V bracket family, 24-part build. Scenario completes in 10 steps with one approval gate. Twin recipe #14 selected, one lack-of-fusion precursor at layer 1,872 cleared by a bounded power trim, CT triage in 11 minutes, 23 of 24 parts released with full genealogy and one held for review.
run_7c2e4b
PBF-2 · Ti-6Al-4V bracket family, 24-part build
illustrative scenario
SUCCEEDED
-
01
ingest.job
SUCCEEDED
0.7 s
Floor Orchestrator · Pulled the job from AM MES: 24 Ti-6Al-4V brackets, 60 µm layers, 3,140 layers, density target 99.7%, geometry tolerance ±0.10 mm, AS9100 evidence packet required. Locked the OEM-approved parameter envelope for PBF-2.
-
02
twin.simulate
SUCCEEDED
6 m 12 s
Part Twin · Simulated 40 candidate orientation, support and parameter recipes for thermal field, residual stress and distortion, ranked on predicted density, geometry deviation, takt and energy.
-
03
prep.release
SUCCEEDED
48 s
Prep-and-Parameter · Recipe #14 released: 32° orientation, lattice supports on two faces, laser power and speed inside the qualified envelope. Predicted distortion 0.06 mm, predicted density 99.8%.
-
04
recoat.check
SUCCEEDED
continuous
Recoat-and-Powder · Recoater image checked every layer. Powder lot L-2291 on its third reuse, humidity in window. One short-feed at layer 412 corrected with a dosing increase before the next layer fused.
-
05
melt.stabilise
SUCCEEDED
continuous
Melt-and-Layer · Melt-pool, photodiode and thermal streams fused at 120 fps. Lack-of-fusion risk rose to 0.61 on part 17 at layer 1,872 and was cleared by a 3% power trim inside the envelope within four layers.
-
06
thermal.compensate
SUCCEEDED
2 m 04 s
Thermal-and-Distortion · Interlayer temperature on the tall brackets ran 14 °C above the twin's prediction from layer 2,300. A 1.5 s interlayer dwell held the thermal field inside the predicted band through the top section.
-
07
approve.human
APPROVAL
4 m 30 s
Floor Orchestrator · Melt-and-Layer proposed a hatch-spacing change on part 17 beyond the qualified envelope. Held for the AM process engineer, who declined it and chose to flag part 17 for CT priority instead. Decision logged.
-
08
handle.depowder
SUCCEEDED
38 m
Robot-and-Handling · Plate unloaded by the handling cell on build complete, depowdered, and parts transferred to stress relief. Powder returned to the sieve with lot L-2291 reuse count incremented in genealogy.
-
09
inspect.ct
SUCCEEDED
11 m
Defect-and-Inspect · 24 CT volumes segmented for pores, cracks and lack of fusion in 11 minutes. 23 parts graded accept against the acceptance criteria. Part 17 shows a 180 µm indication at layer 1,870 and is routed to the inspector for disposition.
-
10
release.qualify
SUCCEEDED
1 m 20 s
Quality-and-Conformance · 23 parts released with the full genealogy: recipe, layer tags, melt-pool events, thermal trace, approvals, post-processing cycles and CT result. Part 17 held with a non-conformance opened. Evidence packet assembled for sign-off.
Tool calls · scenario
The agent shows its work
Every tool invocation, argument and result is written to an append-only, human-readable log, and every reasoning step is expandable. Nothing about a build is hidden from the floor or from the certification engineer.
- 05:10:04mes.read_job({ printer: "PBF-2", job: "J-4471" })
- 05:10:05ok 24 parts · Ti-6Al-4V · 3,140 layers · envelope locked
- 05:10:05twin.simulate({ candidates: 40, targets: ["density", "geometry", "takt"] })
- 05:16:17ok best recipe #14 · distortion 0.06 mm · density 99.8% · takt 31.2 h
- 05:16:18policy.evaluate({ recipe: 14, autonomy: "L3" })
- 05:16:18ok recipe inside envelope · 6 bounded writes permitted
- 05:16:19printer.release_recipe({ id: 14, orientation: 32, supports: "lattice" })
- 05:17:07ok build started · layer 1 of 3,140
- 06:02:40recoat: short feed at layer 412 · dosing +4% applied
- 13:48:11precursor: lack-of-fusion risk 0.61 · part 17 · layer 1,872
- 13:48:12printer.trim_power({ part: 17, delta: "-3%", layers: 4 })
- 13:49:03ok risk 0.61 → 0.08 · pool stable
- 13:49:04approval.request({ action: "hatch_change", part: 17 })
- 13:53:34ok declined by AM process engineer · part 17 flagged CT priority
- 18:21:50printer.set_dwell({ interlayer: "+1.5 s", from_layer: 2300 })
- 18:23:54ok thermal field inside predicted band
- 12:20:30isaac.plan_grasp({ task: "unload_plate", cell: "RC-1" })
- 12:58:30ok depowdered · 24 parts to stress relief · lot L-2291 reuse 4
- 14:05:02ct.segment({ volumes: 24, criteria: "BRK-TI-A" })
- 14:16:02ok 23 accept · 1 indication 180 µm · part 17 → inspector
- 14:16:03packet.sign({ job: "J-4471", parts: 23, hold: [17] })
- 14:17:23ok scenario complete · 23 released · 1 NCR opened
Reasoning trace
Plan, thought, action, observation, exactly as the orchestrator would record it.
GoalRun job J-4471, 24 Ti-6Al-4V brackets on PBF-2, to 99.7% densi…
Run job J-4471, 24 Ti-6Al-4V brackets on PBF-2, to 99.7% density and ±0.10 mm, with an AS9100 evidence packet on every released part.
PlanSimulate the recipe on the twin first. Release only inside the…
Simulate the recipe on the twin first. Release only inside the qualified envelope. Watch recoat and melt pool every layer, compensate thermally against the twin, and route anything outside the envelope to the process engineer. Triage every part by CT before release.
ThoughtThree candidate recipes beat #14 on takt but predicted distort…
Three candidate recipes beat #14 on takt but predicted distortion above 0.08 mm on the tall brackets. Takt is not worth a geometry failure on a qualified part family. Recipe #14 wins on the stated targets.
Actiontwin.simulate(candidates=40) returns recipe #14: 32° orientati…
twin.simulate(candidates=40) returns recipe #14: 32° orientation, lattice supports, power and speed inside the envelope, predicted distortion 0.06 mm.
ObservationLack-of-fusion risk 0.61 on part 17 at layer 1,872. A 3% power…
Lack-of-fusion risk 0.61 on part 17 at layer 1,872. A 3% power trim, inside the envelope, clears it in four layers. The proposed hatch change would leave the envelope, so it goes to a human and is declined.
ActionFlag part 17 for CT priority. Hold interlayer dwell at +1.5 s …
Flag part 17 for CT priority. Hold interlayer dwell at +1.5 s from layer 2,300 to keep the thermal field inside the twin's band.
ObservationCT confirms a 180 µm indication on part 17 at layer 1,870, two…
CT confirms a 180 µm indication on part 17 at layer 1,870, two layers below the precursor. The other 23 parts grade accept. The precursor, the action and the CT result are now one linked record.
OutcomeScenario complete. 23 parts released with full genealogy, part…
Scenario complete. 23 parts released with full genealogy, part 17 held with a non-conformance, CT triage in 11 minutes, no unapproved parameter left the envelope.
Accelerated computing
Physical AI, at the melt pool
A build is thousands of layers and a day of machine time. Perception has to be local, deterministic and fast, CT has to be triaged in minutes, and the twin has to run before the build. Powdrix runs GPU inference at the printer edge and keeps training, simulation and optimisation in the cloud or on-prem.
Edge perception
One Jetson node per printer for 30 to 240 fps melt-pool, layer and recoater streams with photodiode and thermal fusion. Sub-250 ms alerting and 1 to 2 s bounded recommendations are the design targets. Jetson Thor is planned for multi-laser machines.
CT and vision inference
2D and 3D segmentation models for porosity, cracks, lack of fusion, surface defects and metrology comparison, served per inspection cell. Sub-15-minute CT triage per build is the design target.
Training
Defect, melt-pool-instability, build-failure and AM reasoning models trained weekly over multimodal build data, with gated promotion from shadow to assist to bounded. Dedicated capacity is planned.
Part twin
Thermal, melt-pool-proxy, residual-stress and distortion simulation for recipe ranking, plus robot-cell and queue simulation. Modulus surrogates are planned so sweeps run at production cadence.
Synthetic data
Rare pore, lack-of-fusion, spatter, recoat-streak and distortion scenarios generated and validated against real CT and in-situ data before promotion. 1,000 to 10,000 per qualified part family is the initial target.
Optimisation and analytics
Build nesting, fleet scheduling across machines, ovens, HIP, inspection and robots, energy windows, and GPU analytics over genealogy tables.
Robot handling and serving
Plate, powder and part handling policies trained in simulation and run on Jetson in the cell. NIM packages perception, prediction and reasoning services behind the floor orchestrator.
Guardrails
An agent that can trim laser power needs a leash
Powdrix writes to production printers that make qualified parts. Every capability is scoped to the qualified envelope, every write is policy-checked, and every action is written to an append-only audit log the floor owns.
- Bounded action space. Each agent writes only to an explicit allow-list of printer, oven and cell parameters, inside the OEM-approved envelope and per-tag rate and magnitude limits.
- Policy engine before every write. Autonomy level, part family, qualification status, machine state and operator presence are evaluated before a parameter moves.
- Human approval for qualification-impacting actions. Anything that leaves the qualified envelope, changes a validated recipe or affects a part's disposition waits for a named approver. This stays mandatory until validation exists.
- Immutable audit log. Append-only and exportable. Every action records model version, data lineage, source signals, predicted impact, allowed range, approval status and qualification impact.
- Hard fallback. Loss of the edge node, the network or a model returns control to the printer's own controller and the standing recipe.
- Tenant and IP isolation. Parameter sets, part geometry, defect libraries and process memory never cross a customer boundary. On-prem deployment is available for sensitive producers.
Compliance posture
| Item | Scope | Status |
|---|---|---|
| SOC 2 Type I | Cloud control plane | QUEUED Planned, first 6 months |
| SOC 2 Type II | Cloud control plane | QUEUED Planned, 6 to 12 months |
| SSO and RBAC | Console and approvals | QUEUED Planned, 6 to 12 months |
| AS9100 and ISO 13485 assurance packages | Evidence packets and model change control | QUEUED Planned, 6 to 12 months; not a certification claim |
| Standards-cited reasoning | AS9100, ISO 13485, ASTM F42, ISO 52900 | RUNNING In the design, every answer cites its source |
| Per-tenant isolation and on-prem option | Recipes, geometry, models, memory | RUNNING In the design from day one |
FAQ
Straight answers
The questions operations directors, process engineers and certification engineers ask in the first meeting.
Only inside the OEM-approved parameter envelope, only on an explicit allow-list with per-tag limits, and only at the autonomy level your floor has set. Level 1 is advisory: Powdrix predicts and recommends and a human enters everything. Design partners start there, in shadow mode. Anything that leaves the envelope or affects qualification always waits for a named approver.
Control returns to the printer's own controller and the standing recipe. Powdrix is a supervisory layer on top of the machine controls, monitoring systems and MES you already run, never a replacement for them, so an outage degrades the floor to its current way of running, not to a stop.
Advisory recommendations start from the twin's physics and the part spec in the first weeks. Defect and build-failure prediction improve as layers, CT results and engineer corrections accumulate per part family. The first models are trained on existing in-situ camera data; synthetic rare-defect scenarios augment them only after validation against real CT.
Only if you choose cloud training. Parameter sets, geometry, defect libraries and process memory are isolated per tenant and never used to train another customer's models. Cross-customer learning is federated and IP-isolated and waits on written data agreements. A fully on-prem deployment is available for sensitive producers.
It is designed not to. Validated parameters never change without the sign-off your quality system requires, model changes go through change control, and every action carries model version, data lineage, approval status and qualification impact in the audit log. Powdrix does not claim AS9100 or ISO 13485 certification; assurance packages are planned for the 6 to 12 month release.
You are, as with any process change, which is why every write is policy-checked, bounded, logged and reversible, and why anything that affects qualification waits for a named approver. The audit log records the request, the reasoning, the limits applied and the human decision.
Get started
Check your stack
Start with one printer or one inspection cell and one measurable baseline. A paid pilot on melt-pool and build-failure prediction, CT porosity triage or pre-build recipe optimisation shows the number before you commit further.