This week in class we explored the technology of 3D scanning and the process of taking 3D scan from a raw scan to a finished product that is ready to print. To start off the class, Professor Vishal gave us a quick presentation about the technology involved with 3D scanning as well as the various applications that 3D scanning can be used in. He then showed us a cool video from Jay Leno’s Garage where they use a powerful 3D scanning tool to recreate a part for an engine on a 1920’s car that is impossible to find a part for. The video showed how they were able to scan the piece of the engine and print and exact replica. This was especially really cool for me to watch because one of the main reasons I’ve always wanted to learn how to use a 3D printer all along is so that I can print my own replacement parts for the cars I work on. I often run into the issue when I work on older cars where I cannot find OEM parts and typical replacement parts sold in stores don’t work. My dream is to eventually own my own 3D scanner (similar to the Ipad one in class) and printer so that I can scan and modify parts myself and don’t deal with a massive headache every time I can’t find a part I need.

https://uofi.box.com/s/ebetbvsowwyd6f9mequg7o8ye5jkwnjj

For the next part of class, we were able to play around with 3D scanning and make busts of our own heads. Unfortunately, I did not get to make one yet but it was really cool to see how some of the scans turned out.  Hopefully I get to make my own next week in class. We were also given time to work on our class projects in which we were extremely productive. I finalized all of the parts that I need for the electronics aspect of our vertical garden and was able to grab most of what I needed from the lab. We also began to design the vertical farm in Fusion and got almost half way done with the rough design just in that time. Overall it was a very productive week and I can’t wait to see how our class projects comes along.