Assignment 05, Yabed Contreras - Fab Academy 2014

>> Week 05, Feb 26: 3D scanning and printing

>> Design and 3D print an object (small, few cm) that could not be made subtractively

>> 3D scan an object and print

Design and 3D print an object that could not be made subtractively

For this assignment, I explored the application of 3D design and printing in areas related to creative professions different from engineering; for this purpose, I managed to design a non structured object, product of my imagination, trying to use the most simple and natural creation process.

Materials:

- OSX laptop
- Sculptris Software
- NetFabb Software
- 3D Printer: MakerBot Replicator 2x
- 1.75mm thickness ABS thread

Some images of the design process are shown below:


	All begins with a sphere
	The sphere is modelled
	Alter some details, the design is ready, and it is exported in .OBJ format. The design is composed by 1521422 faces. The design should be optimized before the printing process.
	I tried to optimize the design with Meshlab software; however, I did not obtain good results and I used other software.
	Finally, thanks to Netfabb software, I optimized my design, and I adjusted the size and reduced the faces amount considerably. This software allows exporting in format .STL and .OBJ
	The printing process was performed with an ABS thread, 1.75mm thickness.
	Using MakerWare software, by MakerBot, I prepared the final file for printing. The file obtained by this process has a .x3g format.
	Quality parameters: Infill: 10% Number of Shells: 2 Layer Height: 0.20mm
	Temperature parameters: Right extruder: 230 C, Build Plate; 110 C
	Speed parameters: Extruding: 90mm/s Traveling 150mm/s
	Finally, the .x3g file is sent to the 3D printer and the printing process starts. The time elapsed between the printer warming and the final print is 1:30 hours.

See video

It was a great surprise when I showed my creation to my little 5 year old daughter: she adopted my creation immediately and started to customize it, she dressed it with doll clothes! Some pics here:

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3D scan an object and print

For this section, I researched 3 scanning and printing alternatives in a MakerBot Replicator 2x printer
- Scanning with Creaform EXAscan professional scanner and proprietary software
- Scanning with Xbox Kinetic and demo software: Skanec
- Scanning with Roland Modela and Dr. Picza software

	We obtained the samples from a professional scanner; the results were obtained very quickly. However, the high cost implies a great limitation. Therefore, I explored other alternative for scanning.
	I also made scanning tests with Xbox Kinetic, using the demo version of Skanect software. I obtained a satisfactory result in a short time. However, the software demo version limits the scanned object to 5000 faces, which reduces the final result quality.
	Finally, I scanned an object using Roland Modela printer and Dr. Picza software (this software only works in Windows XP)
	Fix the object tobe scanned adequately (with help from a doble contact strip). This is important, since the scanning is made by means of point scanning.
	Configure the area to be scanned. This is important, since the scanning process is extremely slow.
	The scanning process of the selected piece took almost an hour.