A 3D printed Stellenbosch University logo was designed and manufactured at the Stellenbosch Idea2Product lab, a division of the CT Scanner Facility which is located at the university’s Launchlab: http://blogs.sun.ac.za/idea2product
This logo which is roughly 30 x 30 x 14 mm is intended to be used for marketing purposes, but also provides a nice example for dimensional measurement using the metrology toolbox of VGStudioMax 2.2. Using sub-voxel accurate surface determinations and fitting functions, very accurate dimensional data can be provided.
A quick overview initially can be provided by a part-to-CAD comparison as shown below. Then, using best-fit planes and dimensional analysis, distances and angles can be measured much like a coordinate measurement machine. The CAD file (STL format) of the surface can be generated for use on other engineering software as well.
A high resolution scan plus basic part-to-CAD comparison and dimensional analysis using these software tools totals 3 hours per sample. For large batches, faster scan times can be used at reduced quality, bringing the time per sample down to 1 hr for >10 samples. Costs are R1300 per hour for commercial clients.
The logo in this example (or anything similar) of 30 x 30 x 14 mm can be made at a cost of R50 each, no minimum quantities and any customization possible.
See images below and videos by clicking the links:
Video of part to CAD comparison: rotate US logo
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