Galvanometer

In manufacturing and especially additive manufacturing, a mirror galvanometer is used to point a laser beam onto the build service. This produces the scanning pattern used in vat photopolymerization and powder bed fusion processes that use a laser.

Galvanometerscanner

An electro-mechanical device that converts an electrical signal into a magnetic field that in turn moves a set of mirrors. This allows for very fast and precise pointing of the mirrors.

Most systems use two mirrors, one for the x-axis and one for the y-axis. Some systems will use multiple laser and mirror galvanometers to scan in parallel.