3D Scanner Training!

maybe drop a standard calibrator in there? something like playing dice, or a lego brick.

I did some more tests today and a few things I learned from the various experiments:

Mitchā€™s Mouse Cover - Came MUCH closer to achieving desirable results, however my alignment lump of clay was poorly designed and not quite up to the task. I like Ken_Schmittā€™s idea of using a LEGO block, probably with each stud and corner colored differently. I will see about scrounging a few that folk can add into a scan. Would also probably be easier if I could just paint it matte white and add some alignment markers to the surface, butā€¦not my mouse cover XD

Class Ring - A gentleman approached me while I was scanning last week, said he was interested in scanning a ring he had, and wondered if the scanner was up to the task. My reply then was, ā€œProbably?ā€ So I tried scanning my high school class ring to see what would happen. I can now answer that question with a definitive, ā€œYes. Yes it can.ā€ I took the white paint pen to the (I assume) glass ā€œgemā€ and dusted the metal in chalk powder. SD scan was readable and HD scan looked awesome. Didnā€™t have time to do a full 360 but will do so the next time Iā€™m out there and will post the results. For science.

HUMAN FLESH (with pictures!) - Hereā€™s my single shot HD scan of my Bod, with and without color applied:

Some things I learnedā€¦One, it is VERY difficult to not move AT ALL while doing this. You might notice that there is a rhythmic wavy pattern throughout (palm to tip, the model was turned sideways for the screen shot) which I am all but certain is my breathingā€“I could feel the expansion in my chest moving, ever so slightly, the lever/fulcrum system that was my arm and table. Two, I should have chalked my hand. I believe human skin is both translucent enough and shiny enough to need some prep work for a scan. Between that and the breathing the surface is very noisy. Third, this thing picks up a LOT of detail! Like, not just wrinkles in the palm or creases in the fingers, but likeā€¦ quite a bit of fingerprint level detail, which I was not really expecting,

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Iā€™m pretty sure I saw a small bag of Legos in the Creative Arts room. They are used for casting. Nicole might be talked into letting you have a couple.

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They are along the wall. Nicole plays well with others and is good about sharing toys as long as they are put up after play time.

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Wow I appreciate you trying to scan the mouse cover, Iā€™d like to try to do it with a lego. If you need to paint it with white you can, or I can try to scan it once you have your class.

I had tried 123D catch but the result was a mess of polygons, so Iā€™m betting on this.

someone needs to work out ā€˜replicationā€™
as plastic shrinkage changes with infill and object size. machinable parts make take some real tinkering.

you may attempt to scan someone asleep.

something i dont have a use for, but others might is micronization. scanning something designed big and then having a small one made from that, via shapeways or where ever elseā€¦ think of the big 5 inch coins that are lathe reduced to the stamps.

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Iā€™d say the class went very well. I think itā€™s one of those things youā€™ll have to try out to really figure out, itā€™s definitely not just point and click.

I want to thank @SRichardson3D for teaching the first class, I hope we can get more classes on it soon.

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Everyone is seeing the scanner as providing input for the 3D printers, but there is no reason some objects could not be scanned and reproduced using say a CNC mill.

If youā€™re planning on milling ā€œfunctional partsā€, you probably want to start with models based on something other than triangles, which will be the format you start with on scanned objects. CAM software typically sees all those triangles as important and not an approximation of another shape.

That said if youā€™re doing mostly artistic 3D stuff and doing surfacing, it would work great.

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The ScanStudio HD software does have an option to export to SolidWorks (which we donā€™t have) but it also has options to export NURBS and other surface CAD features from the scans, so it could be used for getting contours from objects for use in milling. Iā€™m not sure how well it works.

Thereā€™s also the ability to import STL files in V-carve IIRC, which might be good for cutting reliefs out of wood from a organic model (i.e. a leaf, or a hand print)

Even if it supports formats like SolidWorks and NURBs etc., it might not give you something particularly usable. Imagine just scanning a cylinder. If it puts it out in NURBs patches, whatā€™s to say theyā€™re the correct patches with the right normals and sizes everywhere? There are so many functional parts where it will always be easier to just CAD it up quickly and know you got it right (without worrying about trying to clean it up to get it in spec). If youā€™re scanning something like parts for the steam engine where you plan to machine it from a casting you scanned, then youā€™re making sure the important parts are machined to size properly and honestly anything youā€™re casting has a large amount of tolerance.

I agree there. If your goal is making something look good and not care that itā€™s within 1/10000th of a inch, this is would work awesome.

(BTW: Still havenā€™t really played with the STL in VCarve thing, which was mostly an Aspire thing before the last version :smile:)

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What about classes, did I miss them in the Events list?

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Shaun did more training with me, I just donā€™t have time yet to schedule more classes. If anyone else that was trained wants to schedule a class, itā€™s more than welcome!

If thereā€™s nobody to lead a class in the near future, is there at least someone vaguely familiar with the 3d scanner that could spend 10 mins showing me the ropes?

Thanks,
James