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3D Scanning and Printing

Group assignment:

  • Test the design rules for your 3D printer

  • Document your work on the group work page and reflect on your individual page what you learned about characteristics of your printer

Individual assignment:

  • Design and 3D print an object (small, few cm3, limited by printer time) that could not be easily made subtractively

  • 3D scan an object (and optionally print it)

Learning outcomes

  • Identify the advantages and limitations of 3D printing

  • Apply design methods and production processes to show your understanding of 3D printing.

  • Demonstrate how scanning technology can be used to digitize object(s)

As usual. here is my schedule:

3-d printing

3D printing is like building with virtual LEGO blocks, adding layers to create objects. Unlike carving away material in milling, 3D printing builds up, allowing for intricate designs with axles, nested parts, and overhangs.

Advantages and Disadvantages

Advantages:

  • Rapid prototyping

  • Customization flexibility

  • Complex design capabilities

  • Reduced waste

  • Innovates manufacturing

  • Enhances efficiency

Disadvantages

  • Limited material options

  • Post-processing may be required

  • Slower for mass production

  • Initial equipment cost

  • Technical expertise needed

  • Layer resolution limitations

Group Assignment

The Prusa i3 MK3

The Prusa i3 MK3 is a cool 3D printer. It’s easy to use, prints awesome stuff, and even calibrates itself. Perfect for making all sorts of creative projects!

Here is a labelled picture of the prusa i3 MK3 which I got from here

Output:

Conclusion

We came to the conclusion that the stability and quality of the printed object decline with height. We also came to the conclusion that it begins to fail gradually when the angle rises above 60 degrees (especially at 80degrees). As the length increases, the stability of the upper component of the bridging test reduces. Everything appears to be going rather well aside from these issues.

Click here to visit the group assigment

THAT’S IT FOR THE GROUP ASSIGNMENT!!

Individual Assignment

For this week, I decided to make a ball that is caged inside. I decided to do this because the ball cannot be caged with subtractive method.

NOW, let’s design!!

Firstly, create a sketch as usual:

Then, create the required parameters:

Now, start sketching the circles:

Then, excrude the outer circle:

And arrange it like this:

Here is how it should look:

Now, create a sphere:

Then, cage it like this:

If you want to create support for the sphere do this and excrude it:

Prusa Slicer

When I set up my prints in PrusaSlicer, I focused on key parameters like layer height, print speed, and cooling to ensure intricate details were captured with precision. Infill settings allowed me to balance interior solidity with material usage, adjusting density, pattern, and angle as needed. For supports, I chose the type, density, placement, and interface carefully to provide stability without sacrificing print quality. I always began with default settings and fine-tuned them based on the specific requirements of each model, allowing for optimal outcomes. PrusaSlicer’s intuitive interface and comprehensive settings made this process efficient and effective, empowering me to achieve high-quality prints consistently.

Now let’s slice it using Prusa Slicer.

So here is how you can set the settings according to your printer!

And here!!

Printing!!

FEW MOMENTS LATER.....

OH NO!! I SET THE SPEED A BIT TOO HIGH!

Resetting the speed and printing it again. (Hoping that it’ll work)

After waiting for a very long time, here is the output!

It turns out that something was wrong with the printer and because of that, I had to set the speed quite slow.

AFTER REMOVING THE SUPPORT:

CONCLUSION

I understood that making a caged ball by cutting away material doesn’t work. This is because the cage around the ball has a tricky structure inside that’s hard to reach with regular cutting tools. Trying to cut it out would be slow and not very effective. It’s much better to use 3D printing, where the object is built layer by layer. That way, you can make all the complex parts easily without dealing with the limitations of cutting stuff away. Hence my design can only be made additively!

3-d scanning

3D scanning is a technology that captures the physical shape and appearance of objects, creating a digital representation. It utilizes lasers, structured light, or photogrammetry to collect data for modeling and analysis.

For this week’s assignment, I used ploycam

Polycam

Polycam is a mobile app revolutionizing 3D scanning on iOS devices. It employs advanced computer vision algorithms to transform iPhones and iPads into powerful 3D scanners, capturing detailed digital replicas of real-world objects and environments. Users can effortlessly create precise 3D models with just their device’s camera, enabling a wide range of applications from product design and virtual reality to preservation and archaeology. Polycam’s intuitive interface simplifies the scanning process, offering users the ability to edit, share, and export their creations easily. With its accessibility and accuracy, Polycam empowers individuals and professionals alike to explore the possibilities of 3D scanning with unparalleled convenience.

Here is a picture of the setting fro polycam which I got it from my friend Yangtshel Wangyal with his permission:

Here is a picture of me scanning a model:

After scanning the object (via taking videos or photos), click done -> Upload and process -> Then wait for the app to do it’s magic!!

After exporting it, I uploaded it in sketchfab.

Here is the my model(FYI, IT’S NOT SO GOOD!!)

Conclusion

3-d scanning was pretty hard as it took a lot of concentation and patience. Using polycam was pretty okish as the results were quite good. But the sadly we only get limited amount of trials for scanning an object.

Ffmpeg

I used ffmpeg for video compression. Here are some commands I used:

  1. Basic Conversion:

Convert a video file to another format:

ffmpeg -i input.mp4 output.avi
  1. Changing Video Resolution:

Resize a video:

ffmpeg -i input.mp4 -vf scale=640:480 output.mp4
  1. Extracting Audio:

Extract audio from a video file:

ffmpeg -i input.mp4 -vn -c:a copy output.mp3

Imagemagick

I used image magick for image compression. Here are some commands I used for compression:

Files

Last update: April 16, 2024