Sound used to map 3D-printing process

Placing a smartphone next to a printer, the team was able to capture acoustic signals that carry information about the precise movements of the device’s nozzle. These signals can then be used to reverse engineer the object being printed, opening up the possibility of intellectual property being stolen in this way.

“In many manufacturing plants, people who work on a shift basis don’t get monitored for their smartphones, for example,” said Mohammad Al Faruque, director of UCI’s Advanced Integrated Cyber-Physical Systems Lab.

“If process and product information is stolen during the prototyping phases, companies stand to incur large financial losses. There’s no way to protect these systems from such an attack today, but possibly there will be in the future.”

3D printing systems convert digital information embedded in source code to build layer upon layer of material until an object takes shape. That source file - G-code - can be protected with encryption, but once the build process has begun, the printer emits sounds that reveal what's contained within the software.