For the 3d scanning part of the assignment I decided to do a body scan using the kinect [xbox360]. With the help of my colleagues I managed to get a good scan of the upper part of my body.

We used the Skanect professional software for the first time and found it very easy. Skanect has got options for Object scan, Body scan, room scan etc depending on the size of the area to be scanned. Body scan was my case

One needs to be careful when holding the kinect and moving around the object: The red parts that are shown live on the screen are the parts that the camera did not get a good enough scan. These will end up being holes unless we either fill them in Kinect or pass the Kinect from that area again to make sure the parts are fully scanned.

The Body scan is now done, and Skanect gives me the chance to improve the scan before I export it as an /stl file. I therefore filled any holes to make sure there are no gaps in the scan.

For the 3d printing assignment I had started working on a project with my colleague Olivia Kotsifa on the reproduction of a Turkish traditional instrument and its customisation for educational purposes.

Olivia measured and drew the mouthpiece of this wind instrument and I measured/drew the body in Rhino.

The body had to be drawn in pieces so that it could fit in the makerbots - Each piece has a max heignt of 150mm and there are 7 pieces in total for the body.

The body parts were 3d printed out of PLA at first, using the Replicator 2. I have made two versions: one more dense than the other [parameter that I have changed in the makerware software] to check whether the material density would have an impact on the sound. It did, it wasn't a uge difference though.. - I went with the more dense one. I later 3d printed the instrument in ABS using the Makerbot 2. The performer tried both the Neys 3D printing the parts was rather easy, as they are small tubes that do not need any support. The body and mouthpiece were then put together, we had to glue the tubes to make sure no air would be lost from the joints, and here is a photo of the whole thing:

The drawing can be found here.