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Mining for precision and efficiency: EinScan HX paves the way

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Darkhangeomach LLC manufactures mining, heavy industry equipment and produce tools and spare parts of heavy machinery equipment – Their team was looking for a device that could assist them in creating 3D models of complex surfaces for reverse engineering of their mining equipment.

Darkhangeomach are also taking steps towards sustainable growth and efficient investment in the technical capacities of the company, they recently acquired the EinScan HX hybrid light 3D scanner.

They compared 3D scanners and CMM machines and found the EinScan HX an efficient, reliable and cost-efficient companion. Also, the EinScan HX was able to meet the rigid requirements of their industrial working procedures while being easy to handle. Due to the bundle with Solid Edge SHINING 3D Edition and Geomagic Essentials, Darkhangeomach can benefit from the full design and engineering capacities from one hand.

STEP 1 – 3D scanning with the EinScan HX

The impeller of the mining equipment has a shiny metal consistency and is thus hard to capture with structured light scanning technology. The laser module of the EinScan HX is ideal to acquire this type of object in 3D. After applying the reference points, one can directly get started with the data acquisition.

Step 2 – Data preparation in Geomagic Essentials

Geomagic Essentials is the ideal solution for scan-to print and downstream Reverse Engineering applications as it extracts all the necessary elements of a scanned part for immediate use in CAD software programs. Many currently available CAD software programs have limited capabilities in regards to processing scan data. Geomagic Essentials facilitates this process, making the scan data compatible with native CAD workflows. With the new bundle, the power of Geomagic scan-to-design solutions is now accessible to designers desiring to integrate 3D scan data and part design. The following steps can be carried out easily when importing the scan data from EXScan software to Geomagic Essentials: deleting redundant data, repairing mesh, filling holes, aligning to the world. Furthermore, references can be generated like curves on the data surface, to facilitate reverse operations or auto surface, generating surfaces that match the object exactly as it is constructed.

STEP 3 – Processing in Solid Edge SHINING 3D Edition

The final model for further processing in dedicated CAD software or for direct manufacturing can be prepared in Solid Edge SHINING 3D Edition by creating curves and surfaces, constructing the shapes and remaining parts.

“After the introduction of the 3D scanner, our work on modeling complex parts has been simplified by 2 times and accuracy of complex surface machining is increased.”- Erdenee Batbayar, CEO Darkhangeomach LLC

Don’t forget we stock the full range of Shining 3D Einscan 3D Scanners, including the HX which you can find more about here: Shining 3D EinScan HX | Hybrid LED and invisible infrared light| Dream 3D

To find out more about the Geomagic Reverse Engineering Bundle please click here: Shining 3D EinScan HX| Reverse Engineering Bundle | Dream 3D

If you have any other queries or are considering purchasing this 3D Scanner or any other, please do feel free to ask us any queries or request a bespoke quote: (info@dream3d.co.uk / 07789266163)

Thanks for reading 🙂

New Ultimaker CC print core just launched – built for high-strength applications

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New optimised design, the Ultimaker CC 0.4mm and 0.6mm Print Cores (an evolution of the Ultimaker print core CC Red 0.6) to enable you to print high-strength composite materials from the Ultimaker ecosystem and 3rd party materials, on your Ultimaker S5 and S3 3D Printer.

New, optimised design. An evolution of the Ultimaker print core CC Red 0.6, the new print cores feature an abrasion-resistant, hardened steel nozzle and titanium heat break – making them more reliable, robust, and ready to print composite materials including glass, metal, and carbon fibre.

The newest addition to our line of Ultimaker print cores suited to specific job types and applications, from manufacturing to prototyping. These print cores offer increased robustness, reliability, and much more. We can’t wait to see what you do with it.

The Ultimaker print core CC joins the Ultimaker ecosystem to stand alongside the Ultimaker print core AA and the Ultimaker print core BB. Each print core is designed to serve a purpose – giving you the freedom to design, create, and print, assured that you have the right tools for the job.

Here’s a rundown of its key features.

Multiple print cores, maximum flexibility

Two nozzle sizes – 0.4 mm, enabling you to print detailed parts, tools, or prototypes with higher visual quality, and 0.6 mm, for shorter print times and improved efficiency – will result in easier optimization of composite applications.

The Ultimaker print core CC 0.4’s smaller nozzle size means your prints will feature higher levels of detail, thinner line widths, and a smooth surface finish – enabling you to print parts or prototypes with the visual quality you need.

And by using the Ultimaker print core CC 0.6 to print with bigger line widths, your composite applications will be ready as quickly as possible – saving you time in a busy, hardworking environment that requires efficiency and speed.

Reliable, robust, ready for work

The Ultimaker print core CC features an all-new design with an abrasion-resistant, hardened steel nozzle and titanium heat break. Reliable, robust, and compatible with a wide range of composite 3D printing materials, you’ll unlock the power to print high-strength applications that are ready for work.

Quick swap – no tools necessary

With a quick-swap design, the Ultimaker print core CC – like all Ultimaker print cores – can be quickly and easily changed, tool-free, to meet the requirements of any print job, increasing your efficiency and decreasing downtime.

Plus, the print core’s EEPROM chip memorizes the size and type of your nozzle, meaning fewer printing errors and an increased chance of success.

Built for market-leading composites

The Ultimaker print core CC is ideal for printing with the wide range of composite materials available in the Ultimaker Marketplace. Here’s what some of the leading material brands say about the print core…

“The Ultimaker print core CC has been a workhorse for us here at Jabil. Our PA 4035 CF filament, which is a PA 12 with 35% carbon fiber by weight, is quite abrasive, so having a highly wear resistant nozzle is a must. We were excited to learn about the 0.4 mm offering, which gives us the flexibility to print finer feature detail than the 0.6 mm nozzle, while maintaining the same reliability and durability we’ve come to appreciate.” – Levi Loesch, Process Engineer at Jabil Additive Manufacturing

“The CC 0.4mm print core is very well constructed and provides the next level of accuracy when using composite materials. It allows to print smaller features with a greater level of details when compare with the 0.6mm one. In addition, the surface finishing of our CF reinforced materials get even better than before!” – Thiago Medeiros Araujo, LEHVOSS Group

“The high accuracy in printing carbon fiber or glass fiber filled parts with the print core CC 0.4mm is as good as unfilled printed parts and we did not need to adjust speed or other parameters. We printed with our Ensinger TECAFIL PA6 GF30 and there were no blobs, clogging effects or any other issue that influences the printing process or the quality of the part. Overall the print core CC works very well and as it should.” – Marius Graf, AM Development Engineer at Ensinger GmbH

The new Print Cores and all other Ultimaker Print Cores are available here at Dream 3D – please find link to each type here:

Ultimaker Print Core CC 0.4 | Dream 3D

Ultimaker Print Core CC 0.6 | Dream 3D

Ultimaker Print Core | Dream 3D

Don’t forget we stock the full range of Ultimaker 3D Printers, filaments, parts and accessories too which you can check out here:

Ultimaker 3D Printers | Open Source 3D Printers | Dream 3D

Ultimaker Filament | Dream 3D

Accessories, Upgrades & Spare Parts Archives | Dream 3D

If you have any other queries or are considering purchasing an Ultimaker 3D Printer or any other, please do feel free to ask us any queries or request a bespoke discount (info@dream3d.co.uk / 07789266163)

Thanks for reading 🙂

Revolutionizing package delivery – with Yasuhide Yokoi and Final Aim Inc + Ultimaker 3D Printers

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INTRODUCTION

Yasuhide “Yasu” Yokoi is the cofounder of design and technology firm Final Aim Inc., which works with laboratories, startups, and multinational companies to transform ideas into tangible solutions. There, he and his team use Ultimaker 3D printers to better enable rapid design iterations during the prototyping phase.

One of the company’s latest projects is the OSTAW Camello, an autonomous package delivery robot.

Revolutionizing package delivery

The Camello was designed to address issues in the delivery logistics chain in Singapore, which causes high shipment costs and operational complexities. Due to low loads and long waiting periods in loading and unloading bays, package deliveries are often inefficient – a fact exacerbated by high delivery volumes and tight delivery deadlines.

To tackle this challenge, Final Aim collaborated with a Singaporean robotics start-up OTSAW Digital PTE LTD, with the Camello being the final product.

The Camello is user friendly, featuring an ergonomic cargo space and sleek design – optimal for Singapore’s urban environment. Plans are currently underway for it to be used by various industrial key players, delivery companies, and retailers throughout Singapore, creating an improved ecosystem that provides smooth and efficient delivery to customers, while increasing profit margins for those businesses that use it.

The birth of the Camello

As with any product, several phases were involved in Camello’s design, with the Ultimaker S3, Ultimaker Cura, and CAD software acting as Yasu’s and Final Aim’s greatest companions throughout the process.

First came the robot’s concept development and evaluation. From the initiation to ideation, he used both hand-drawn design sketches and CAD software.

Industrial designer Yasuhide Yokoi with the Ultimaker S3 and Camello prototypes

Once he developed the idea, Yasu began the process of presenting it to the higher-level management, frontline members, and end-users. This divergent approach allowed Yasu to gain as much feedback as possible, which he could then use to refine, improve, and further flesh out his concept.

Early sketches of design ideas
A CAD design iteration, which can be 3D printed

Next came the prototyping phase. As Yasu now had numerous potential ideas, he needed to rapidly actualize them – often on tight deadlines. Luckily, this was a task that 3D printing was able to easily handle. Compared to other common prototyping methods such as sculpting or carving from Styrofoam, chemical wood, or industrial clay, 3D printing is much more efficient – freeing up time for Yasu to work on other design tasks.

“More than just cost-cutting, 3D printing has added value to my process,” Yasu said.

3D printed iterations of the robot, ready to be tested and compared

Finalizing an intuitive design

Yasu was also responsible for ensuring that the Camello’s final design was of excellent quality. As his works often incorporate organically curved surfaces and silhouettes, which are often difficult to implement, he needed to create numerous iterations. 3D printing technology utilizes the contour layers of printouts to analyze the curvature of surfaces – essentially an equivalent to the zebra mapping that CAD software performs.

“The Ultimaker S3’s double extrusion feature has [also] been essential to my everyday design applications,” Yasu said. “Together with Breakaway and PVA material, my printing experience has become exponentially more efficient. I am deeply satisfied with the resulting quality as it leaves behind no support structure remaining.”

Finished 3D printed prototype in the Ultimaker S3
Camello autonomously delivers groceries around Singapore

For the Camello to be a success, its design had to be intuitive and accessible at first glance. The design process, therefore, involved divergent ideation, exploring all possibilities, which were then carefully narrowed in focus. Development speed was also critical for stakeholders’ requests.

3D printing enabled these stakeholders to see and touch a physical product, deepening their understanding of the Camello’s concept and design – and streamlining the decision-making process.

Don’t forget we stock the full range of Ultimaker 3D Printers, filaments, parts and accessories too which you can check out here: Ultimaker 3D Printers | Open Source 3D Printers | Dream 3D

If you have any other queries or are considering purchasing an Ultimaker 3D Printer or any other, please do feel free to ask us any queries or request a bespoke discount (info@dream3d.co.uk / 07789266163)

Thanks for reading 🙂

Shining 3D Einscan 3D Scanners – Creating Spare Parts with 3D Scanning and 3D Printing

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A Reverse Engineering Case Study by Katsuya Tanabiki

INTRODUCTION

The shield notch of a motorcycle helmet is broken and the spare part for fixing it doesn´t seem to be readily available. The perfect occasion to use modern technology to produce the spare part fast and cost-efficiently

The notch is a small plastic part, so it’s a great part to replicate with the help of a 3D printer.

In the case of the helmet, two notches are needed. One to fix the shield at each side. Since only one notch is broken, the remaining notch is the key to designing and manufacturing a replica exactly fitting bespoke helmet.

An efficient option to successfully and precisely scanning objects of such a small size with the EinScan Pro 2X  is the use of the Fixed Mode in conjunction with the tripod from the Industrial Pack add-on.

The data results from the Fixed Scan came out as precise as expected. This data can now be used for Reverse Engineering in Fusion 360.

The first step is to import the scan data into Fusion 360 using mesh insertion.

First, a mesh cross-section sketch is created. The position of the cross-section is adjusted to an appropriate level and confirmed by clicking “OK”.

1. Right-click on the cross-sectional sketch and select Edit Sketch, as shown in the image.

2. Select Fit Surface to Mesh Section in Create Sketch.

3. Select Closed Spline as the type of curve to be fitted, select the cross section, and OK.

4. Although it not shown in the image, the step part is sketched in the same way. With this sketch curve that can be used for modeling, the sketch can be completed.

5. In the Solid tab, select Extrude, select the surface to be extruded, and specify the amount of extrusion to make it a solid body

6. Cut out the step part in the same way, using extrusion to create the step.

7. In the last step, the part needs to be filleted and chamfered to give it the same shape as the original part.

8. The solid body is now complete. By right-clicking on the body in the tab, the STL file can be created.

The Data is now ready to be 3d printed.

The part is so small that the printing process doesn´t take very long.

The one on the left is the 3D printed part.
Including the 3D printing time, fixing the helmet took about an hour.

Katsuya is all about bikes and cars. On his blog custom-auto-maruta.com he is sharing his projects using Fusion 360 and 3D printing in conjunction with his EinScan Pro 2X. He loves the power of 3D technology which enables him to make anything: original parts and 3D printed spare parts. The original article appeared in Japanese on https://custom-auto-maruta.com/goods/simpson-parts-reverseengineering/

Don’t forget we stock the full range of Einscan 3D Scanners too which you can check out here: Shining 3D EinScan 3D Scanners | Dream 3D

If you have any other queries please feel to contact us (info@dream3d.co.uk / 07789266163)

If you have any other queries or are considering purchasing an Ultimaker 3D Printer or any other, please do feel free to ask us any queries or request a bespoke discount (info@dream3d.co.uk / 07789266163)

Thanks for reading 🙂

Injection mould company looks to 3D printing to solve operational bottlenecks – Saving up to 90% on parts

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With the always-on productivity of the Ultimaker S5 Pro Bundle, Metro Plastics found a solution to their long lead times, while also saving up to 90% on parts.

INTRODUCTION

Solving the lead time problem

Metro Plastics was struggling to get end-of-arm tooling parts machined in a timely manner from their internal tool shop. If the tool shop wasn’t busy, it might only take a week or so – but if they were overloaded, it may take a few months.

Adams knew a better solution was out there and had been hearing about additive manufacturing for a long time. When he started wondering if this might be right for Metro Plastics, he reached out to his friend, Matt Torosian, who is a director for Jabil’s Additive Manufacturing Materials division. Matt immediately suggested Ultimaker. With the goal of a quicker turnaround time, and an added bonus of the endless amounts of material choices through Ultimaker’s open material platform, it was a no-brainer.

After deciding on Ultimaker, the next question was what printer? For a larger build plate, to maximize air quality in the office area, and to easily swap materials, the decision was clear: Metro Plastics went with the Ultimaker S5 Pro Bundle.

3D printed end-of-arm tooling solved Metro Plastics’ initial problem
Metro Plastics found many more 3D printing applications, like this quality control fixture

[The Ultimaker printer] runs every single day! We’re constantly thinking about 3D printing instead of outsourcing…

Custom 3D printed tool storage, demonstrating the lean manufacturing ‘poka yoke’ principle

Implementation

Once the Ultimaker 3D printer arrived, with the team’s 3D CAD skills, learning Ultimaker Cura software and the Ultimaker S5 Pro Bundle 3D printer was simple.

Adams was able to set up the printer and start printing parts the same day.

When Metro Plastics purchased their 3D printer, they had no idea the amount of applications that would be possible. Adams initially thought the Ultimaker S5 Pro Bundle would only be used for end-of-arm tooling, but quickly realized there were many different uses for their Ultimaker printer:

  • Fixtures: General and assembly fixtures as well as CMM
  • Automation: End-of-arm tooling
  • Equipment: Casings and brackets
  • Prototypes: Internal design and customer prototypes

“My original thought was that we’d be printing a fixture once a week,” divulged Adams, “but that thing runs every single day! We’re constantly thinking about 3D printing instead of outsourcing to the point that our production department now comes to us first to ask if a part is possible before going to our tool shop or an online catalogue to purchase.”

“With the Ultimaker S5 Pro Bundle, we can have the part printed same day at $5 a part”

The Results

Now, Adams’ department rarely outsources. Before their Ultimaker 3D printer, everything was done by their in-house machine shop, where they employ a handful of toolmakers. “We can’t create our injection molds with 3D printing,” Adam states, “but besides that, we utilize our Ultimaker printer for almost everything else.” Their favorite material to print with is Jabil’s PA4035 material, which is carbon-fiber filled nylon, and have yet to break a part as a result of its strength.

To give an example of the cost savings they found, Adams created sensor brackets, which are around $40 to $50 for the metal part and take a few days to arrive at the facility. “With the Ultimaker S5 Pro Bundle, we can have the part printed same day at $5 a part,” Adams declares.

With the use of their Ultimaker printer, Metro Plastics has minimized part turnaround time and cost, rapidly getting injection molded parts into their customers’ hands. A true engineer at heart, Adams has found a way to solve even more problems – this time not only for his customers, but also his team.

A 3D printed packaging nest to help organize parts

For a deeper dive and to view the full specs of the S5 Pro Bundle and/or request more information or a quote, please find link to the product page on our site here: https://www.dream3d.co.uk/product/ultimaker-s5-pro-bundle/

Don’t forget we stock the full Ultimaker range too which you can check out here: https://www.dream3d.co.uk/desktop-3d-printers/ultimaker-3d-printers/

If you have any other queries please feel to contact us (info@dream3d.co.uk / 07789266163)

If you have any other queries or are considering purchasing an Ultimaker 3D Printer or any other, please do feel free to ask us any queries or request a bespoke discount (info@dream3d.co.uk / 07789266163)

Thanks for reading 🙂