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3D scanning and printing

Week 5

3D . scanning



For the 3D scan I use as a model a small living plant.


I decided to use a plant because it is part of my project, and I thought it would be interesting to scan an organic and delicate object.


I used to do 3D scanning - a Sense 3D Scanner and Sense software that reads the object.

You can find more about this kind of scan at: 3D System


To scan, it is quite simple, just turn the Sense instrument with your hand around the object.


A rotary table can be used to facilitate the capture of the object.




After scanning the plant I tried to scan my face.


The scan captures shape and structure and also captures the object's colors and shadows.

My eyes got a little weird, but 3D did not look too bad.


From the scan of my face I clicked on "solidify" which allowed me to make my bust in 3D.


Then I decided to print on a 3D printer.

3D. printing. Group Assignment





Here at fablab there are three different printers:

  • Blocks
  • Ultimaker
  • Prusa i3



  • The Prusa i3 and Blocks 3D printer uses a 1.75mm filament and the Ultimaker impaser uses a thicker filament of 3mm.

    Filaments of the PLA type were used.

    The three printers work in the same way, with filament suberposition.



    The file to read on the printer must have the format G-code which is a format with indications of the x, y, z axes that the printer must do at the same time that it deposits the filament.



    To obtain the G-code file, there are several programs that convert a 3D STL file to G-code. The program used was CURA, more information here: CURA software




    I had already worked with 3D printer, so this was not my first experience.


    3D printers sometimes give some problems when the model is printed. One of the problems is that the model does not sit tightly to the platform and lift. For this you can put UHU glue or tape. Some impasors have a heated bed which makes it easy for the model to be attached to the platform.





    With an example model, we tested the three printers with the same STL model and G-code configurations, in order to understand the quality of each printer.







    The results can be seen below:


  • The Blocks printer was the one that presented the best print quality.
  • And Prusa i3 was the one that presented worse results.

  • INDIVIDUAL ASSIGNMENT .

    3D. printing .Me



    The model of my head was printed from the previous 3D scan.

    The model was printed in medium quality, 7 centimeters high in the 3D Blocks printer.

    You can see more about the printer at: Blocks 3D printer


    Although the model is not perfect, 3D blocks have performed well.


    3D. printing . Ring

    In addition to the 3D model of my profile, which was generated by the scanner, I decided to make a small 3D model of a ring with enough detail to see the capabilities of the 3D BLOCKS printer.

    First I drew the ring model in 3D Rhinoceros.

    My idea was to make a ring based on the technique and art of filigree, which is famous in the city of Viana do Castelo in Portugal.

    The filigree is an ornamental work made of very fine yarns, welded in order to compose a drawing.

    In the next photos we can see some examples of objects in filigrama.

    Rhino design workflow




    The Rhino 3D program is easy to work with.

    Rhino works from shapes and lines that form geometric surfaces and solids.




    To draw my ring I started by drawing two circles with the diameter with the measurement of a finger.

    Then I used the rotate tool so the two circles do not get symmetrical, and the visible top part of the ring gets bigger.




    After that I used the loft tool to join the two circles to a surface.


    To make the surface a solid with 1mm thick, I used the "Offset Surface" tool and gave it the indications to make the thickness 1mm out.




    After having the base of my ring drawn in 3D, I started giving personality to the ring.

    My goal is for the ring to have several circles together cut out to look like the filigree technique that I explained earlier.





    I drew several strange shapes over the ring with the "control points curve" tool. And moved and resized the forms of siege until they had the appearance that I desired.


    Then with the "project" tool I designed the lines drawn on the surface of the ring, as we can see in the images below.


    The lines stayed on the shape of the ring and with the tool "trim" and "split" I started to cut out the circular zones I did not want in the ring.



    After that some of the more irregular circles that I cut in the ring lost their thickness, and so I used the "Blend surface" tool to join them.



    Finally I clicked on "join" and my ring closed all the surfaces getting in a so polysurface ready to print on the printer.





    3d model for 3D printer

    The pattern of the ring is not symmetrical and none of the ring holes are identical.

    The shape of my ring is circular and with several holes with different shapes, so it would be difficult to reproduce the ring through techniques of subtraction.



    After design the 3D model, it was exported in STL and generated a G-code from the Cura software. In the Cura software it was necessary to define supports to print the ring.

    The process took about 2 hours.



    In the end, the model did not look great, but since it's a small object I was already expecting. This was just the first experience of many :)



    VIDEO.printing

    Find the files used and download here:


  • week5_ring.3dm

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