Secure .gcode files

[kingkang]

Hey guys,

 

I'am currently working on a project for school where I look at the possibility of 3D printing. One aspect is intellectual propery. Currently the idea is that a company can send a file for the 3D model to the costumer. The costumer then can print this model. However the file then can be spreaded. Is there a way to secure .gcode in such a way that it's not possible to be readable on computers or someway to secure the file?

[SCHISCHKA]

This is an area of computer science research that is currently AFAIK new and has not produced a consumer product. My university calls it data provenance which is about knowing who has seen your data and where it is; link here.

 

Theres also a new buzzword in the industry called smart contracts which uses block chain technology (bitcoin/dogecoin) but I don't know if there is a consumer product for that yet. Google scholar has a ton of stuff but i can't recommend anything as I have not yet read up a lot about it.

 

Pretty sure all we have right now in practice is old style paper contracts/agreements with appropriate clauses that specify you can fine and punish the other party for not complying.

[kingkang]

There is suprisingly little information about securing 3D files. At this moment old school contracts seem the only solution. Hopefully someone else knows a solution?

 

[SCHISCHKA]

3D files are just like any other file on a file system in terms of read & write access and meta data. They can be non-proprietary or open but theres nothing that dictates how you can transfer them unless you want to get into some high level research

[Hackentosher]

It's not wise for a company to sell a gcode file as every printer is different. An stl would be better, but I still don't know how you would secure it to a single computer unless you create a new file type and or software that has those safeguards built in. 

[kingkang]

The idea is that the company will test with different 3D printers to see what settings are needed to create a part that satisfies the quality standards. When you send out a STL file then the settings can be changed, not that it can't be done with gcode but it is a extra step.