3D Printed Scale for Verifying Model Accuracy
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Solution Overview
Problem
Three-dimensional printed models often suffer from distortions and inaccuracies due to gravitational sagging and software or hardware variations during the printing process, making it difficult to ensure precise spatial measurements and geometry, especially in medical and anatomical applications where accuracy is critical.
Innovation Solution
Incorporating a virtual scale into the three-dimensional virtual model that is resized proportionally with any changes to the model, allowing for a physical manifestation of the scale to be printed and compared with a reference for quality control, ensuring the printed model's accuracy and detecting distortions such as resizing, mirroring, or flipping.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Productivity
If three-dimensional printing is used to create physical models, then productivity and accessibility are improved, but manufacturing precision and measurement accuracy deteriorate due to gravitational sagging and software/hardware variations
Solution Approach 1:
A virtual scale is incorporated into the three-dimensional virtual model before printing, allowing for pre-established reference measurements that will be printed along with the model. This preliminary inclusion of measurement references enables post-printing accuracy verification without requiring perfect printing precision.
Solution Approach 2:
The virtual scale acts as an intermediary element between the digital model and physical printout. It provides a bridge for comparing the printed model against known reference measurements, enabling accuracy assessment despite variations in the printing process.
2Adaptability or versatility
If resizing or distortion is applied to the three-dimensional model, then adaptability is improved, but measurement precision deteriorates because it becomes difficult to verify accuracy
Solution Approach 1:
The printed virtual scale provides visual feedback about the actual dimensions of the printed model. By comparing the printed scale against its known virtual dimensions, users can detect any distortion, resizing, or mirroring that occurred during printing, enabling verification even when the model has been adapted.
Data Source
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AI summary
In various implementations, three-dimensional ("3D") data representing a physical structure may be received (402), e.g., from sensor(s) (101) or elsewhere. The 3D data may include an orientation of the physical structure and/or a spatial measurement of the physical structure. Based on the 3D data, a data structure may be generated (404) representing a virtual 3D model of the physical structure. A virtual scale may be incorporated (408) with the data structure representing the virtual 3D model of the physical structure that conveys one or both of the orientation and the spatial measurement. The virtual scale may be distorted directly in proportion with any distortion of the virtual 3D model of the physical structure. The data structure may be printable, using a 3D printer (110), to create a physical model (112, 212) of the physical structure that includes a physical manifestation (114, 214, 314) of the virtual scale.