Course Description

3D printing has gained a lot of awareness with the recent competition for bench top 3D printers. There are three ways to obtain a file that can be 3D printed; 1) Download an existing file, 2) Create a new file in a CAD system or 3) Laser scan an object and create a CAD file called 3D replication.

3D Replication is the process of accurately replicating a part using a laser scanner to gather a point cloud, then rendering that point cloud to usable files called STL and CAD files.


Audience

This course has been created for engineers, dentists, jewelers, artists, audiologists, educators, healthcare professionals, and basically anyone interested in learning the process of replicating an object for 3D printing.


Prerequisites

There are no prerequisites for this course. Students should be able to comfortably operate a computer.


Topics and Course Content

  • Laser scanning using a Faro Arm laser scanner
  • Gathering a point cloud with Verisurf
  • Rendering a point cloud to a useful CAD or STL file
  • Processing an STL file using a Form Lab 3D printer
  • Processing a CAD file using MasterCam 3D surface tools

Learning Goals and Results

At the conclusion of the course students will have gained the following skill sets:

  • Learn related terminology such as Point Cloud, Mesh and Surfaces
  • Learn filtering and editing techniques to conform a rough point cloud to an accurate surface
  • Hands-on experience using a laser scanner to gather point clouds
  • How to edit and render a point cloud to a usable STL or CAD file
  • How to prepare and print an STL 3D file
  • How to prepare and machine a CAD 3D file

Time Investment

This class is 40 hours of classroom time taken in ten 4-hour sessions over the course of 10 weeks.

Please Note: Course content and time investment can also be customized to an individual company’s needs.