5. 3D Scanning and printing¶
What is 3D Scanning?¶
3D Laser Scanning is a non-contact, non-destructive technology that digitally captures the shape of physical objects using a line of laser light. 3D laser scanners create “point clouds” of data from the surface of an object. In other words, 3D laser scanning is a way to capture a physical object’s exact size and shape into the computer world as a digital 3-dimensional representation.
3D laser scanning is ideally suited to the measurement and inspection of contoured surfaces and complex geometries which require massive amounts of data for their accurate description and where doing this is impractical with the use of traditional measurement methods or a touch probe.
## Task in hand
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Design and 3D print an object (small, few cm3, limited by printer time) that could not be made subtractively.
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3D scan an object (and optionally print it)
## Group assignment link to group assignment
3D design that couldnt be made subtractively.¶
For this week I have to make a 3d object which cannot be made subtractively and for that I decided to make a name plate wherby the letters of the name are extruded in a curve shape thats’s more than 45°. I used Fusion 360 for designing that name plate.
First I made a center rectangle and gave dimensions of 200mm for length and 50mm for the width.
Next I extruded the rectangle to 5mm for making it a base. You can also directly choose the box and set the required dimensions and the extrude length.
Next up you insert the name text. To do so, select the plane>> create sketch>> text and write your name in capital letters.
After finishing the text sketch click finish sketch. Now to create an arc to extrude the name text you have to create a sketch perpendicular to the text and draw an arc. Now click to the left base of the rectangular box>> right click>> createsketch.
Next you have to create an arc and for doing so you should go to create>> arc>> 3 point arc.
Create the desired arc and finish sketch. We can re adjust the arc if you dont like arc that you just created.
Next I used the sweep command and selected the texts and gave a path of the arc which will make the texts to curve exactly as same as the arc.
After selecting the profile and the path, my name plate looked something like,
Next to finish up, I used the chamfer to make the edges look a little better than just being sharp edges.
3D printing¶
The 3D printer available in the lab is Makerbot. After finishing the designing, you save the file as .stl and send it to makerbot print and do some settings on filament density, size, position, orientation, scaling and others and then send it to the makerbot through wifi connection.
Importing the stl file to makerbot print
Scaling and orientation adjustments
After all the settings are done, you press the print button in the lower right corner side and the printer will start the printing.
It took around three hours for the 3D printing.
Revopoint 3D scanner¶
The scanner in Fablab Mandal is Revopoint 3D scanner.
3D scanners use laser technology to create exact digital models of a designated area. Using a non-harmful laser, the scanner rotates 360 degrees and connects its beam with the various surfaces and objects in the space. The scanner rotates in 360 degrees to pinpoint the layout and measurement of an area.
3D scan an object¶
For 3D scanning I choose the following object which was 3D printed in lab and since the Revopoint scanner cal only scan objects that are not black in color I chose the following white object. The scanner can scan white objects better than rest of the colors.
So to start the scanninc, firstly you have to connect the Revopoint to the computer through the USB port and after that open Revo Scaan software. When you open the Revo Scan you will be seeing the following window display through which we run commands of scanning.
After clicking the ‘new scan’ function, you will get the following window where you can alter scan modes and textures.
I have labelled the function buttons of the software below.
I started scanning the object. I placed the object on top of a black object which I rotated slowly so as to let the scanner get the best details. After few minutes I was done scanning a 360 round of the object. Next I scanned the top part so as to not have hollow parts on the top. After scanning the object came out to be something like given below:
Scan complete and meshing also done. Result.
To export the file, you can use the ‘Export’ command and then export it to the desired file location.The file can be exorted in 3 types namely, .ply, .obj and .stl.
I didnt print the scanned object. Just simply tried to learn how to use the 3D scanner and from my experience the Revopoint scanner is user friendly.