Patent ID: 11964431
Assignee: THE BOEING COMPANY
Field: Machine tools (Mechanical engineering)
Classification: CPC B | IPC B

Claim 14:
15. A system for forming an object from a material, the system comprising:
one or more laser devices configured to direct light toward a material to modify the material to define portions of an object;
an optical system coupled to the one or more laser devices and configured to perform optical correction of the light; and
a controller coupled to the optical system and configured to, after the one or more laser devices direct one or more first beams of light toward a first target location of the material to define a first portion of the object:
determine an estimated phase-front shape change that will be induced on a second beam of light within an atmospheric distortion region proximate the first target location;
determine an optical correction to be applied by the optical system, the optical correction based on an atmospheric change in the atmospheric distortion region due, at least in part, to interaction of the one or more first beams of light and the material, wherein the optical correction is based on the estimated phase-front shape change; and
cause the optical system to apply the optical correction to the second beam of light from the one or more laser devices, wherein the second beam of light is directed through at least a portion of the atmospheric distortion region toward a second target location on the material to define a second portion of the object.