Who doesn't marvel at the wonders of Egypt's Great Pyramids or want a deeper understanding of their local community's rich architectural history?
In addition to serving as an aid for efficient and innovative product development, 3D technologies are playing a critical role in recreating historic sites, long-lost artifacts, and even prehistoric entities like dinosaurs. Museums, universities, and devoted hobbyists are turning to CAD programs, visualization tools, and 3D scanners and printers to painstakingly recreate historical structures and entire ancient civilizations, giving everyday folks a more interactive and hands-on introduction to our past.
Click on the image below to view a slideshow of 11 of the more notable 3D digital reconstruction projects.
The William L. Gould Company created a full-color 3D CAD model of the 1879 Mason Bogie steam locomotive (rendered in SolidWorks and PhotoWorks) as part of its effort to "virtually reconstruct" objects to document history for museums and educational purposes. (Source: William L. Gould Company)
Beth, this is a good idea. One thing that you cannot get from a model or 3D display is the scale of things. Take, for example, the locomotive in the first slide. We have a railway museum here in Illinois. To stand next to, or go into, one of these locomotives is a real experience you cannot have in 3D. Of course, being able to see things like the pyramids in their original form is great. The virtual reality devices might be able to give a good feel for the scale of the structures. That will be interesting to watch.
I like the museum-quality art reproductions. I'm a fan of those, especially the stuff from classical Greece and ancient Europe. Lately, the majority of statues are made from "resin", which makes them seem like Barbie dolls. It would be great if this technology, plus higher-quality materials, could make some better-quality reproductions.
I think the 3D printed reproductions are cool, but the 3D immersive experiences are really pushing the envelope in terms of recreating architecture and historical environments that couldn't otherwise be replicated with the same sense of realism. Just like advances in the technology have given birth to these historical 3D projects, the 3D projects will in turn spark innovation that will better position the technology to be applied to engineering applications we still haven't thought of.
Intellectually, we all know the capabilities of 3D printing, but it's altogether different to see the actual results. The dinosaur bone is amazing in its intricacy. It looks like something that actually came from a paleontological dig. Seeing is believing.
I know, isn't that bone amazing. The idea that 3D printers can be used to create really delicate and intricate works really showcases their potential. A high level of detail and precise levels of tolerance are critical if they are to gain widespread prominence in engineering applications beyond where they are today. Projects like these do a lot to show off their capabilities.
I think there has been a mistake here. It looked to me like that was the original bone being scanned, not the plastic copy. There were laser scanner lines in the picture. There would be no reason to scan the copy, unless they wanted to do a verification of accuracy.
Having said that, I have seen some very good copies. You could always tell that they were copies, but very good, none the less.
This is really amazing.The capability of all "additative manufacturing" processes seems to expand exponentially ever month.To date, there seems to be in "operational mode" the following methods or rapid prototyping:
·(SLS) Selective Laser Sintering
·(FDM) Fused Deposition Modeling
·(3DP) Three Dimensional Printing
·Laminated Object Manufacturing
3D printing has risen ( I think ) to the forefront as the method most used by manufacturers.At any rate,it's fascinating to see uses other than manufacturing and medical and recreating history is a solid demonstration of what's possible with this technology.Well done Beth.
Virtual Reality (VR) headsets are getting ready to explode onto the market and it appears all the heavy tech companies are trying to out-develop one another with better features than their competition. Fledgling start-up Vrvana has joined the fray.
A Tokyo company, Miraisens Inc., has unveiled a device that allows users to move virtual 3D objects around and "feel" them via a vibration sensor. The device has many applications within the gaming, medical, and 3D-printing industries.
While every company might have their own solution for PLM, Aras Innovator 10 intends to make PLM easier for all company sizes through its customization. The program is also not resource intensive, which allows it to be appropriated for any use. Some have even linked it to the Raspberry Pi.
solidThinking updated its Inspire program with a multitude of features to expedite the conception and prototype process. The latest version lets users blend design with engineering and manufacturing constraints to produce the cheapest, most efficient design before production.
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