3D scanner characterisation for Open Design

Abstract

The 3D laser scanning technology has been reached by more and more users in the last years, thanks to a new market of low cost devices, more affordable for simple, non-professional use. The educational use is one of such environments, and its didactics purposes gives the opportunity to test new technology from a variety of different point of views. 3D laser scanning, for example, is very promising in environments like Design university education, where the control of the shape of an object is one of the topics discussed in courses, and one of the main focuses of the product design profession. This paper describes the use of this technology in students and research lab, and its metrological characterization, especially on the relationship between performances and object optical characteristics (like gloss and color), object position and ambient lighting. It is to keep in mind that, in a student lab, geometry reverse acquisition is one of the activities done to understand products layout: the knowledge of influences of surrounding and material characteristics on scanner performances is a key factor to improve the performance when low cost scanner are involved. The characterization performed gave the opportunity to students to test how such devices work, the output reliability, which are the inherent issues and what kind of strategies should be introduced to enhance the scanning quality, indeed one of the main problems of these low cost devices. The Working EnvironmentThe lab involved in this research is the virtuaLABPolitecnico di Torino Design Center, ITALY: it is a lab where students and researchers join to share their skills, in order to develop new strategies for industrial product design, environmental issues related to their production and new approaches to improve this Design and field. Open Source tools, open hardware, content production sharing and the connection with local FabLabs are some examples of the idea defining the activities developed in the lab [9].One of the main goals is to focus the attention on people, their connection with other people and with the local area Design and production professionals, artisans and facilities.The power of 3D printing is day by day spreading in everyday life and some new production approaches are growing and giving people new opportunities to get in touch with design production [1]. For this reasons virtuaLAB has adopted a low cost didactic/research strategy, not acquiring high-end technologies, preferring to test and use everyday devices, giving students and researchers the opportunity to create local activities related to the masses, thus choosing new development strategies for micro or even personal production assets.The laboratory is equipped with five FDM 3D printers and one 3D scanner for reverse geometry acquisition: with these devices, easy to use, to modify and to re-release in different layouts, people working in the lab are able to test and develop different new product making approaches. Because of their studies, Design students have too much c...