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5. 3D printing and scanning

3D Printing

In this week, we were introduced to 3D printing. 3D-printed objects are created through an additive process, where the printer places layer after layer of material until the desired thing is ‘printed’. The 3D printing machine has to have filament which is certain type of material directed through a heated nozzle by means of an extruder. As the material get heated and melt, the extruded plastic is then used to build up a 3D printed part, layer by layer. There are many types of filaments that can be used to print which are:

  • PLA

  • ABS

  • Carbon Fiber

  • Nylon

  • Flex

  • HIPS

  • PVA

  • PETG

  • TPE

  • PC

Assignment

We were asked to choose any two ready 3D object from the website thingiverse. My collegues and I chose a spiral cup and a flexible octupus. We downloaded the files and opened them in Prusa G-Code Viewer Software.

We were given a website to choose a design from to 3D print. We used www.thingiverse.com and downloaded two designs. We started by:

• Upload both designs in PursaSlicer (drag and drop)

• Adjusted their positions and scale

• Apply filament type as PLA

• Click Slice Now

• Total time needed to will appear in a box

• Click on Export G-Code

• Save the file and transfer to an SD card

• Insert SD in the 3D machine

• Search for the file

• Click on Start

Indiviual

After we got fimiliar with 3D designing and printing, we were asked to make our own 3D design. I already had a ready design which was my graduation project but it was going to take a lot of time to print, so I created a new simple design since I had limited time to make it ready and print it. The design I made was a void sphere and I used Revit software to design it.

I designed the shpere using Model in Place option in revit and then used the arc option to draw the shpere. For the lines in the shpere I chose the option void extrusion. I drew three horizental lines and one verticle, I then rotated them to increase the number of lines. I made the sphere void by selecting dthe inner mass of the shpere and deleted it.

Scanning

We were introduced to the scanning device. It records your biometrics, such as your facial features and body shape. This can also be used in video games where you can make a character thath looks exactly like you.

We first started by sitting on a chair. My collegue helped me record the scanning from the computer. With the help of my collegue, I started rotating 360 with a slow pace. The computer recorded my facial expressions but there were few spots that were void so we filled them in by clicking on:

  • Process

  • Fill Holes

  • Opened Hull

  • Medium

  • Run

To make sharp edges smoother:

  • Process

  • Waterlight

  • Medium

  • Run

  • Save file as STL

Last update: July 17, 2024