Boring process…?

A colleague, a lover of older reliable cars, decided to make a hard-to-find towbar cover. He solved the problem quickly, using a simple procedure common in the field of reverse engineering: 3D scanning, modeling and 3D printing.

After scanning the bumper, a 3D model consisting of a polygon network (1,2) was created, which was then used as a basis for the creation and design of the cap itself of suitable dimensions and shape in the Solidworks program (3,4,5,6). The parametric model created in this way was again converted to a polygon model and printed on an ordinary 3D printer.

For many of us, a very uninteresting and boring process with nothing innovative about it. So why is such a thing even worth mentioning? The reason is simple.

When one sees the result of the project with real output and photos, then even a seemingly banal procedure tells, evokes and excites our imagination.

Here perhaps more than anywhere else, a picture is worth a thousand words. And so a procedure that seemed clear at first suddenly raises questions or makes us think about how we would do the same thing. Otherwise? Better? Faster? Who knows?

Therefore, I hope you will forgive me for presenting even such a simple example of reverse engineering with subsequent 3D printing with sincere joy and excitement.

By the way, the result is great! And the colleague is happy with him.

I believe that there will always be someone for whom a simple practical example is the best gateway to the world of practical use of 3D technologies.