Week 4: 3D scanning and printing

For this week, we needed to scan and print 3D objects.

3D printing

Our task is to build a structure that would be impossible to build subtractively. The field of 3D printing is completely new to me, so I decided to start from something relatively simple. I used to work a lot with artificially grown diamonds, so I decided to build a small model of the diamond lattice. I sketched the coordinates and sizes of atoms and bonds dimensions,

Initial sketches

After that, I have designed the layout of the lattice in Rhino. Once the model was ready, I uploaded it into 3DWOX software, created the supports for the structure, and sent the file for a print.

Rhino modelling

4 hour-long 3d printing with Sindah DP200

The resulting printed structure looked as follows

In-situ result (with supports)

Removed supports

After removing the supports, I have ended up with a nicely looking diamond model:

Final result

(001) projection

(111) projection

3D scanning

The success of 3D scanning turned out to largely depend on the shape of the object and the color of the turntable. The scanner seemed to work poorly with sophisticated shapes, so I took another character of Moomin's story as an object of interest:

Scanning of Moomin troll

After scanning the model, I have sent it directly to a print with the following outcome:

Moomin troll is printed

Used/learned software tools

Issues

Files