Week 5 Assignments - 3D Scanning and Printing

3D Printed Rattle

Group Assignment

The group assignment for this week was to:

Test the design rules for your 3D printer(s)
Document your work on the group work page and reflect on your individual page what you learned about characteristics of your printer(s)

Outcomes

Link to Group Site

The group assignment page for this week is on the 2025 Charlotte Super Fab Lab group site for Week 5 - 3D Scanning and Printing.

What Was Learned

In the group assignment, we considered different capabilities and design rules for our 3D printers. Testing included testing overhangs, minimum thickenss, dimensional accuracy, and press fit characteristics. This provided us experience on:

Design / print capabilities for overhang / support areas
Design / print capabilities for thickness and accuracy
Design / print capabilities for assembly / press fit

Individual Assignment

The individual assignment for this week was to:

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)

3D Printing

For the 3D printed object (not easliy made subtractively), I selected a rattle design. This consists of a hollow chamber to be filled with beads (halfway through the print) and a handle. Because the chamber for the rattle (with beads) is completely enclosed, it would not easily be made subtractively.

Modeling

I used Autodesk Fusion as the 3D modeling software. Modeling steps consisted of:

sketching a base circle for the bottom (10mm diameter)
creating a reference plane above the base circle (30mm above)
sketching a wider circle on the reference plane for the chamber middle (30mm diameter)
creating a second reference plane above the middle plane (another 30mm above)
sketching a narrower circle on the second reference plane for the chamber top (10mm diameter)
lofting a body from the bottom circle to middle circle to top circle
shelling the body to hollow it out (2mm thickness)
extruding the top circle upward (30mm) to form the handle
applying fillets to the end of the handle and handle-body connection

The result was a rattle shape with a hollow chamber and handle.

The design was checked using the Autodesk Fusion section analysis tool to show the interior of the model.

Printing

Once the model was complete, I started the printing process. From Fusion, a STL file was exported for the model. The STL file was imported into Prusa Slicer in order to slide the model in preparation for printing. Default settings for a Prusa MK4 3D printer with PLA filament were used for slicing, and a gcode file was exported for 3D printing the model.

Slicing the Rattle Model in Prusa Slicer

The gcode file was transfered to the Prusa MK4 3D printer, and the print job was started. Purple PLA filament was used for printing.

3D printing in progress

A quantity of small beads was sourced as the sounding elements inside the rattle.

The print process was paused halfway through at about the midpoint of the chamber. The small beads were added to the bottom half of the chamber, and the print was resumed.

Printing paused halfway - adding beads to inside of rattle

The rattle print continued and completed without issues, resulting in the finished rattle.

The finished rattle worked well, making a satisfying sound when shaken.

Finished rattle demonstration

3D Scanning

Our lab has a 3D scanner available for use - a Revopoint MIRACO Plus. The MIRACO is a handheld 3D scanner with optional mount that has 2 primary modes for scanning - close scanning and distance scanning. The scanner itself has built in processing functionality, and it can also be used with the associated Revo Scan 5 software. I used the MIRACO to get experience with scanning.

I selected a small cast bust in the lab as the object to scan - it has an interesting shape with some complex surfaces.

The MIRACO comes with a small turntable that can be used to rotate objects during scanning, in order to better capture the shape of the object from all sides.

Turntable for Object Rotation During Scanning

Scanning with the MIRACO can be done freehand, but for this scan I chose to put the MIRACO in a fixed position on a tripod. To begin scanning, I placed the object on the turntable, positioned the MIRACO to frame the object, and started the turntable.

Scanning Setup and Activating Turntable

There are a variety of options for scanning modes, but the most straightforward is continuous scanning. I activated the continuous scan mode, and allowed the object to rotate completely for multiple revolutions. Green areas represent data currently being captured and blue areas show previously captured data. I also turned the object at various points during the scan, in order to capture scan data on occluded elements, such as the bottom of the base and under the chin.

MIRACO Scanning - Continuous Scan

Once a reasonable amount of data has been captured, the scan can be ended. The MIRACO provides a one-touch editing mode in order to refine the model. Extraneous artifacts captured as part of the scan can be removed using rectangular or loop selection.

MIRACO One-Touch Editing - Removing Scan Artifacts

Once scanning and onboard editing are complete, the MIRACO can be connected to a computer for further processing using the Revo Scan 5 software. Data can be transfered as full point cloud, mesh, or all data together. I connected the MIRACO and imported the data for this scan.

Importing MIRACO Scan Data into Revo Scan 5

The Revo Scan 5 software provides a broad variety of tools for post-processing scanned models, such as smoothing, simplifying, and filling holes in mesh. I checked for holes in the mesh and for additional artifacts.

Once post-processing is complete, the mesh can be exported for use in a variety of formats for use, such as 3D printing. I exported a .stl file for this scan. I did not 3D print the model, but I did import the final .stl file into Prusa Slicer to see the potential for doing so.

Application / Design Files

The application / design files for this week are: