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Scanning Process
November 2018
The customization team is working towards getting a final scan of a hand in order to find precise parameters of a single finger. The scanning process was complex in the beginning, but after several scans became easier for the team. There have been a couple issues with scanning, however the team has been able to find simple solutions. Several scans have been conducted in this semester, and the team has been able to collect enough parameters in order to help the materials and design team with their calculations.
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The materials used in the scanning process came from a kit which was provided to us from the engineering department. The scanner is from the company Creaform and named the GO!SCAN 3D™. This scanner is Creaform’s easiest portable 3D scanner, which gives some of the quickest and reliable results in the industry. Along with the GO!SCAN the scanner kit comes with several stickers which helps the scanner collect its data to transmit to VXelement. With these three elements, the scanning process was able to be conducted and then transferred to Inventor to collect the data.
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The scanning process was difficult in the beginning, but as the team collected more scans the process became much easier. You start by applying the Creaform stickers along the object being scanned, which for us was a hand. The stickers are little gray marks and are used by the scanner for targeting purposes. There are specific spots on the hand that need stickers, which the team learned through experience. Once there are enough stickers, so that at the very least three can be targeted, the scanning can begin. A full range of motion around the hand is needed, and for more precise results the team always needed to keep the same distance from the hand. The images, which the scanner picks up, are then transmitted to an application called VXelement. From here you can see exactly what has been scanned and what areas need to be worked on. When the scanning is complete, the team saves the image and uploads it into Inventor in order to collect the numerical data.
Figure 1. Scanning set up.
Some problems that the team ran into were mainly because of the movements while scanning the hand. For one, keeping the same distance while rotating around the hand was difficult, and rotating the hand itself was not an option. Another problem was the fact that slight movements could mess up the scan in VXelement. The solution to these problems was rescanning and then meshing together the corrupt areas. The room that the scans were being conducted in had floors that reflected the overhead lighting, this caused problems in the initial scans. However, the team learned that putting down a foam pad was a great option to create an ideal environment for scanning.
Figure 2. GO!SCAN 3D™