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The possibility to realize highly customized orthoses is receiving boost thanks to the widespread diffusion of low-cost 3D printing technologies. However, rapid prototyping (RP) with 3D printers is only the final stage of patient personalized orthotics processes. A reverse engineering (RE) process is in fact essential before RP, to digitize the 3D anatomy of interest and to process the obtained surface with suitable modeling software, in order to produce the virtual solid model of the orthosis to be printed. In this paper, we focus on the specific and demanding case of the customized production of hand orthosis. We design and test the essential steps of the entire production process with particular emphasis on the accurate acquisition of the forearm geometry and on the subsequent production of a printable model of the orthosis. The choice of the various hardware and software tools (3D scanner, modeling software, and FDM printer) is aimed at the mitigation of the design and production costs while guaranteeing suitable levels of data accuracy, process efficiency, and design versatility. Eventually, the proposed method is critically analyzed so that the residual issues and critical aspects are highlighted in order to discuss possible alternative approaches and to derive insightful observations that could guide future research activities.

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This work presents an interactive self-learning tool named Technical Drawing Learning Tool-Level 2—TDLT-L2—for teaching manufacturing dimensioning to engineering students. The tool was designed for the students enrolled in the first year of the Bachelor in Management and Mechanical Engineering of the Universities of Brescia and Udine. It consists of a simple interactive tool, based on video and drawing animations, aimed at demonstrating the connection between real and simple machining processes and workpiece dimensions on technical drawing. TDLT-L2 is currently available in two versions: as a standalone application for Windows or Android based operating systems and as a set of interactive PDF documents. It was conceived as the first module of a package of tools that will be developed, based on the learning levels proposed in the Technical Drawing Evaluation Grid—TDEG. A preliminary evaluation of TDLT-L2 effectiveness was done involving the Management and Mechanical engineering students of Udine in some dimensioning exercises. The statistically considerations done on the obtained results confirmed the validity of the tool as a self-learning instrument with an average increase of marks of about 8.8%. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Comput Appl Eng Educ 24:519–528, 2016; View this article online at wileyonlinelibrary.com/journal/cae; DOI 10.1002/cae.21728. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc