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Project Post-Mortem
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Looking back on our semester, we have done a lot of things right, we could have done many things differently, and we’ve gained a whole sack full of knowledge! For more information, check out our Post-Mortem!
Bringing it Together
Paper playtesting with our advisors!
So I can’t tell you a lot about what we are working on for HP, but I can tell you that we are concepting a set of tools that could be integrated with their current 3D printer. Since we are going to school for Entertainment Technology, the four of us wanted to find a fun and creative way to show off these tools, and what better way than to create a game! So we have created a physical board game out of 3D printed pieces that utilize the different tools we are developing. Having said that, I can’t really show you too many pictures of the game itself, in case you figure out all of our secrets! It is also important to note that the game is not the primary deliverable for our project and should not be judged as such.
The game is called Mind Your Manors (oh what a pun!) and is played with 2 teams of 2. Each team has their own Victorian manor house with 8 different rooms that they must put together how ever they want. The objective is to collect a complementary set of weapons (aka. gun, gunpowder, and bullets) and kill the head of the other house.There are 16 objects hidden around both of your manors: 12 are various weapons, 3 are detrimental to your progress, and 1 is a wild card. Teams wander in and out of rooms in both houses looking for these hidden objects. Once a team has collected a complete set of weapons, they must make their way to the bedroom of the opposing team’s house to carry out their sinful deed.
Emiliano going in for the kill!
And that’s about all I can tell you, without getting into details. The point is, it is a fun, creative way to show off our project and we hope to play with some representatives from HP next week during softs. Maybe someday Mind Your Manors will make it to market….
Look What’s Cooking Part 2
Take a look at what we’ve got running in the printer!
Interlocking puzzle pieces and pre-assembled hinges? Dani has put her new 3d modeling skills to use by prototyping different geometric patterns for assembly, and Matt has been busy testing printed hinges and locking systems. We can’t really say what we’re working on, but having the ability to test designs within hours is pretty sweet.
We have run into a couple of hard learned lessons along the way. The support material on one of the parts separated from the base and curled up towards the print head. The result was an interesting texture, but ultimately unwanted for consistency. We have also had some issue with removing support material with the supplied washer. It will take more tests to figure out the best dimensions and clearances of the pre-assembled parts.
3D Scanning Basics
In our quest to design a novel interface method for the 3d printer, we have tried incorporating a scanner into the mix. We have been exploring various hardware and software solutions to meet our needs. Here are some of the basic principles of 3d scanning, and some fun apps we tried for the iPhone.
Structured Light:
The system projects a known pattern of light onto a scene. A camera then interprets the deformation of the pattern to determine the depth of each point in the grid. This develops a 3d dimensional point cloud which can be used to create a mesh.
Laser Scanning:
There are two types of laser scanning available for use. Time of flight uses a laser rangefinder to determine depth of surfaces by emitting a pulse and recording the time it takes that pulse to return. This method is capable of working at large distances, and is best suited to large geometry like buildings.
Triangulation uses an active laser field as well. The laser projection can be a point or a line, and is swept across the desired geometry. An offset camera determines depth based on where the laser registers in its field of view. Triangulation is better suited for short distances, and capturing detail in smaller objects.
iPhone 3d Scanning:
There are two apps that currently provide a 3d scanning solution. Trimensional relies upon a structured light process to reconstruct your face as a 3d model. It only takes one view to create a mesh, and requires a dark room for the process to work. After turning the brightness on the iPhone all the way up and placing it close to your face, the app flashes a pattern on your face and uses the camera to record the deformation in the pattern. The process is not very robust, and breaks down when something reflects light back to it. This is most noticeable from the eyes, but can also be a result of oils on the skin.
The second app is iFace3d, which relies upon a video capture process to create the mesh. The process involves a tedious sweep around the subject´s face to capture the details. The movement is easy to fumble on, and requires an optimal set of lighting and contrast conditions for the algorithms to work correctly. The data is then sent to a server and available to download as a 3d model shortly after.
With both applications, there is no way to create a closed 360 degree mesh. While novel in application, there is no control over the point cloud or the capture process, and is unsuitable to our needs.
Learning How to Model
Some of us on the ¿Plástico? ¡Fantástico! team have never really touched a 3D modeling program before (cough….Dani….cough) so we´ve been looking into different digital modeling techniques to get an idea of what is intuitive and what´s not. Some people, who are more familiar with digital modeling, have gotten used to the interface and how to manipulate an object on a computer screen, but the learning curve is pretty steep. Since one of our project goals is to create something that would attract new audiences to the world of 3D printing, we wanted to do some testing with a naive user. How does a person who is unfamiliar with digital modeling interact with the interface? What do they expect to happen?
The image above is the beginning of a spaceship that I (Dani) have been modeling in 3ds Max, using the ever so helpful Digital Tutors tutorials. One of the things I had more trouble with is a good sense of depth. Sometimes in the digital realm it is difficult to tell where an object is being placed in relation to another object. Another challenge was creating internal parts to a 3D model– how deep does this hole go? Is the lip of the engine angled or warped? There were several times when I wanted to mold the spaceship out of clay or playdough, to control some of the finer details.
One of the great things about the 3D printer is that it allows you to touch the object that was at one point only digital. You can feel indentations and how pieces attach to each other. As someone that is new to digital modeling, being able to see and touch an object is not only a great step in not only the learning, but also in the general creation process. With the help of 3D printers, I can print out my object during different phases of the design process to get a better idea of what it looks like and how it is put together.
Coming soon: 3D printed spaceship!
Week 3 Newsletter
¡Este Semana!
¡Hola a todos!
As some of you may know, we got started a little late due to Hurricane Irene´s tirade throughout the north east. So we are about a week behind the normal ETC schedule, but our advisors Oscar and Emiliano have been nothing but supportive in trying to get us set up and back on track!
Last week we met with our client, the Hewlett-Packard Company and discussed the project that we would be working on this semester. Our general direction is to concept a way for architects or mechanical engineers to better show off their designs. We were all very excited to start the brainstorming process!
This week we finalized our logo, as well as completed the initial draft of our poster and half-sheet. We also got our website up and running and are currently in the process of filling it out a bit more.
We also continued the brainstorming process and met with our advisors as well as with our contact, Luis, at HP to start filtering and refining our ideas.
¡La Semana Proxima!
Next week we are meeting with HP at their Barcelona office to present our ideas and try to lock down a direction for our project. The rest of the week will be spent fleshing out ideas and coming up with a more concrete and refined semester schedule.
We will also be finalizing our poster and half-sheet design.
¡Challenges!
One of the big challenges we have faced this week was designing media, such as the poster and the half-sheet, without having a clear-cut project direction. Therefore a lot of our designs are a bit more abstract and focus on things such as the city of Barcelona.
We have also had to do a lot of running around to get situated, both at school and at home, so we have not had a lot of solid work time.