3d scanning opinions

[Anonymous]

If this is the wrong place to ask this, then please let me know.   I did search the forum and didn't see specific recommendations. 

I am interested in technology that interfaces, really well, with fusion 360, to scan parts for CAM.  Quality is important.  I am a serious hobbiest/professional with home based CNC Mills, CNC Lathes, CNC Plasma.  

[mickey.wakefield]

There's quite a lot of possible answers to this. The good news: it can be done....the bigger question is how much you want to spend, and, what kinds of objects do you want to scan?
I worked on projects with a scanner that cost 100 bucks that worked....all the way up to equipment that was upwards of 20,000 and took several days to scan well. Sizes from breadbrox-sized, all the way up to a car dashboard.
Its really the scanner that makes the difference....and Fusion handles the meshes well...of course....

[HughesTooling · Accepted solution]

I guess this was a double post.

http://forums.autodesk.com/t5/design-validate-document/3d-scanning-ideas/m-p/6568971#M73655

Mark

[MarioFrechette]

You might want to look at this https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/eora-3d-high-precision-3d-scanning-technology#/

The cost of a 3D scanner will depend on several factors. It depends on the size of the part or surface to cover and the quality of the data or resolution needed.

Yes, the price can get out of hand.

Many technologies are offered. If you explain your case I can give you my take on it.

Have a nice day!

[Anonymous · Accepted solution]

This is great

The link mentioned above shows a complete scanning solution for under $,1000 dollars:

EORA 3D - High-Precision 3D Scanning

I about to venture into my first 3D scanning steps, this invention seems to be the way to

go for me!

Thanks

[TrippyLighting]

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@mickey.wakefield wrote:
....and Fusion handles the meshes well...of course....

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Really, does it ?

Please do elaborate.

[mickey.wakefield]

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Those are some videos I made in German to show how to work with meshes....not all 100% Fusion, but mostly. In those cases I dealt with particularly difficult problems.
If you do a search in YouTube for Fusion 360 Mesh, you can see a lot of examples.
The most important point is this: many MCAD tools cannot even load a mesh file. Fusion can, and we even have some ability to manipulate them. This is unusual (for MCAD software). There are other tools which can do more, sure, but they can't really create manufacturable models or standard MCAD features.
Meshes are a file format that I dislike because they were never intended to be modified or used for manufacturing - but the reality is, that is what people are trying to use them for. The solution Fusion provides is not perfect - but its far better than most.

[TrippyLighting]

First of all these are definitely some of the better if not the best videos I've seen on the subject of how to properly handle .stl files or lets generalize  dense triangulated meshes in Fusion 360.

The OP indicated that he want's to scan for CAM and then mentioned quality. Does that indicate accuracy, precision ? How precise ?

There are two main differences between triangulated meshes and CAD data that I don't often see mentioned.

CAD data by its nature is mathematically precise and free of resolution. The responsible part of a CAD program for generation of that mathematically precise resolution free geometry is the geometric modeling kernel. ASM (Autodesk Shape manager) in case of Fusion 360 (and Inventor).

That is the same part of the program that also helps generating the tool paths for the CAM module. 

Meshes, on the other hand are of finite resolution, meaning they don't precisely reflect the geometry of a scanned part. Triangulated meshes also don't have topology in the mathematical sense, which can make it difficult to impossible to reverse engineer the original shape from a triangulated mesh.

There are challenges and limitations that arise from these differences and THAT is what I'd like to see covered in a tutorial.

I started writing a paper, perhaps another handout for another AU class (?)

If this was as simple as R.U.L.E #1 I'd quickly make another sticky, alas this is a much more complex topic and I don't currently have the time to proceed on it.