Action Figures Spring to Life With 3D Printing
A reprint from DE247 Digital Engineering Formlabs 3D printers, materials, and processes are powering the Hasbro Selfie Series, a new family of custom action figures produced at scale. Imagine being able to cast your image as a fellow Ghostbuster or Power Ranger. Or even joining forces to battle for good with your favorite G.I. Joe character. Thanks to a partnership between Formlabs, a 3D printer maker, and toy giant Hasbro, devotees can indulge their fan-fic fantasies. The pair have collaborated to create the Hasbro Selfie Series, which enables consumers to create collector-grade, six-inch customized action figures in their likeness—the latest in the stream of projects that illustrate the power of 3D printing for mass customization at scale. The Hasbro Selfie Series exemplifies the power of 3D printing as a personalization platform. Image Courtesy of Hasbro. Slated to be available this fall, the Hasbro Selfie Series employs Formlabs 3D printers as the personalization platform. Fans simply download the Hasbro Pulse mobile app, available for both Android and iOS, log into an account, scan their face, and then customize their character and hairstyle. The resulting custom action figure, which can draw from characters from the above-mentioned popular action TV series and comics, will [...]
Desktop Metal Nickel Alloy Inconel 625
Desktop Metal Qualifies Nickel Alloy Inconel 625 for Additive Manufacturing on the Studio System 2 Recently Desktop Metal announced that they qualified the use of IN625 for the Studio System, a turnkey metal 3D printing platform that offers customers the easiest way to print high-performance metal parts in low volumes for pre-production and end-use applications. The Desktop Metal Studio System platform now offers more materials than any other metal extrusion 3D printing system on the market, a total of eight in all. In addition to IN625, Studio System users can now print titanium alloy Ti6Al4V (Ti64), copper, 4140, two tool steels (H13 and D2), and two stainless steels (17-4PH and 316L). Shipments of IN625 are available now. “The Studio System 2, which features our streamlined and easy-to-use two-step process, remains the most flexible metal 3D printer in its class,” said Ric Fulop, Founder and CEO of Desktop Metal. “It’s never been more important for manufacturers to have the agility of on-site, on-demand metal production, and the Studio System is a perfect gateway into metal 3D printing for production. Adding IN625 to the portfolio only amplifies the flexibility of this proven system.” IN625 for High-Strength, High-Performance Flexibility IN625 is a high-performance nickel alloy known [...]
Mastercam 2023 Solid Position Model Prep Tool
There is a new model prep tool in Mastercam 2023 called Solid Position and it is used to assemble parts in a fixture. In previous versions of Mastercam, assembling fixtures was a tedious process that required using the Transform tools to specifically position each piece of the fixture without any awareness of the neighboring solids. Now, in Mastercam 2023, you can use the new Solid Position tool to simply drag the target solid until it makes contact with the intended solid. To use it, launch the new Solid Position tool, select the face of the clamp you wish to move, and position the gnomon in the center of the stud. Then, select the stud and workpiece as contact bodies. Once the selection is completed, you can use the gnomon to position the part. Once you do this, you can freely rotate the clamp until it makes contact with the workpiece. The clamp will highlight and lock into position whenever it makes contact with a selected contact body, and it can freely pass through any other solids. This makes it very easy to move the clamp into the proper position on the workpiece. You might notice that your gnomon is limited to rotation about [...]
More Math Calculations Available with Control X
There are many analytical tools available in Control X under the Measure command that are extremely useful. This edition of Metrology Minute will explore common measurements that could prove useful to metrologists. Measure Distance is a quick way of determining the approximate length of a blade, in this example, without going through the trouble of creating a 2D or 3D dimension. Just a quick vertex selection of opposing ends quickly returns an approximate distance. Measure Volume calculates the volume of material within a fully enclosed (sometimes called “a water-tight”) mesh file. This can be a very handy tool to explore the volume of material required to produce a 3D Printed model. Volume would be provided in cubic units (i.e., in^3, mm^3, etc.). Surface Area can be a useful tool when measuring the individual blade surfaces. It can come in handy to determine the surface area of a blade on a turbine. Units here would be in^2, mm^2, etc. Lastly, Virtual Calipers can also prove very useful by simulating actual calipers on the model and taking random measurements. The image below illustrates measuring the width of the blade at the very edge of the model. The actual nominal value is .06” so this is [...]
Introducing the New Freescan UE Pro Laser Scanner
The Freescan UE Pro is our latest and most impressive handheld laser scanner. Similar to the UE11 and UE7, the UE Pro also has settings for reflective and black parts, making it a very durable option to scan multiple part textures without the need to spray the surface. Developed by Shining 3D, this scanner’s accuracy specification is +/- 20 microns or +/-.00079”. More importantly, the Pro’s resolution can be dialed into an incredible 10 microns or .00039”. Resolution is a scanner’s ability to capture fine detail. Many scanner manufacturers refer to resolution as “point spacing” or “point density.” So when set to 10 microns, this scanner can essentially capture sharp edges on parts. While the UE Pro has an incredible resolution for capturing tiny details, it also has built-in Photogrammetry for error reduction when scanning very large objects. Unlike many scanners that deploy photogrammetry, the UE Pro doesn’t require serialized targets to be placed onto the object. Two scale bars that come with the scanner are all that are needed to tie photogrammetry into your scanning sessions. Finally, through a USB3.0 connection, the 26 crossing lasers can scan at an incredible rate of 1.85 million points/second, making the scanning of very large objects [...]