The development of 3D technology brought increased automation in machine shops and manufacturing plants around the world. It has also significantly improved process efficiency by cutting down on overhead and lost time. Even more importantly, rapid prototyping and quick part manufacturing turnaround expanded business opportunities for most companies that adopted this technology. It can also be successfully implemented in recreation of the old parts which no longer have documentation, or in reverse engineering projects where information about the part in question is incomplete.
Key Takeaways:
- 3-D scanning, according to one scanning arm specialist, from the Florida-based, Faro Technologies Inc, is a simple way to build a CAD model of just about anything.
- A scanner resembles a camera in its ability to capture the visual data placed in its sphere of capture.
- Yet a scanner is very different too. It captures a dense point cloud in three dimensional space. With scanner data, as distinct from camera data, it is possible to reverse engineer items.
“As proof, anybody with access to CAD software and a 3D printer—which, given the prevalence of cloud-enabled design tools and online service bureaus, is almost everyone—can dream up a new product today and hold a physical version of it in his or her hand tomorrow.”
