3D Scanning

My uncle just sent me this link and it is absolutely amazing. It seems pretty cheep too.

http://widgets.nbc.com/o/47f1317f105123 ... 7d3bfd6c81

 

isn't technology great?

 

Wow, its like Star Trek! Its absolutely amazes me that it can print the parts fully functioning without assembly

 

Hey Chacal, this would make creating parts super easy!

 

My work does rapid prototyping and production using about the same technolgy. we have a bunch of 3D systems machines and a few scanners. We use it mostly for the hearing business, ear shells for hearing aids and monitors for singers. but we have done some random stuff for 3M etc.

its awesome technology for sure. The stuff he was showing is pretty afordable. but the machines my work has are 1/4million and up, and very acurate.

 

I wonder how that scanner would stand up against some of your equipment Blackout. That technology is advancing fast enough that that little device might be as good as some of your older equipment. I'm sure your newer stuff would blow it out of the water though.

 

That is about the coolest thing I've seen in a long time.

 

Yes, I saw one of those machines in action at a SEMA show about 6 years ago, pretty amazing.............but I made the mistake of leaving the booth rep my name & number, and they've called me about every 6 days since then to try and sell me one (or two, or three.......)

I read a long time ago that the Navy actually was the pioneers in the use of this technology, that they use them on aircraft carriers (or other major ships that are away from port for extended periods and need to be self-sufficient), but rather than just being able to create plastic prototypes, they can mold/machine/produce items from a variety of materials (plastics, metal, rubber, etc.) This is useful since you don't want to carry a huge supply of excess inventory on-board for a huge variety of different common or, especially, specialized items (such as is found on a huge boat), and it's much more cost effective to carry significant supplies of base, raw materials which can then be magically created "on the fly, on-the-spot" via the use of this (and similar) technology.........

 

Len, the last ship I was on in the Navy, from '86-'90, got a prototype stereo scanner...was HUGE and they used it for making pump housings they could then make molds from. One guy also figured out how to make ships bells with it...and a few other odds and ends.

I never got to see it work, but got to work with one of the 'blanks' for an electromechanical valve body....was a resin of some kind.

We got a lot of nifty things the Navy was trying out, we got an automated ATM system instead of checks we went to an onboard ATM to withdraw cash from our accounts...was really cool.

 

I saw one at an FETC conference that worked more like a dot matrix printer. The part would slowly retreat from the "print head" and then be covered up by a very small amount of raw material powder. The head would then scan over it heating or injecting a glue that held the whole thing togther. They had some very intricate parts made. Of course, Jay could have just molded a reverse, used that to mold a wax version and then use a lost wax process with molten metal. (no where near as cool but much cheaper in theory and equipment).

 

Thats wicked awesome! All those parts we cant order anymore?? Thing of the past

 

Chacal,

Are you going to get one of these to make parts to sell? If so, you rock! If not, you still rock!

 

Thanks Wesley. The real beauty of those machines like featured on the Leno segment is for prototyping, rather than for production (unless they are low-heat, low-strength plastic parts that you want to make!). And they are Very Expensive. So I don't see one in my future anytime soon.......but, hopefully, I can talk some of my suppliers into getting one!

 

I have three words - SECA side Covers! :wink:

whip up a big batch of those and the machine would pay for itself!

 

for larger parts that dont need to be super accurate that scanner/printer is better. The SLA Resin machines and 3D scanners we have are for smaller parts that need to be very accurate. Which makes even very small prototypes not too cheap.

http://www.3dsystems.com/

we have 6 of these
http://www.3dsystems.com/products/sla/v ... er_sla.asp

and 2 of these..but not ipro just pro
http://www.3dsystems.com/products/sla/i ... o_9000.asp