2. Digital bodies¶
This week’s lecture had me thinking a lot about bodies, namely physical bodies and how for some people, bodies are politicized and policed. It got me thinking about my relationship to my own body and how often one must combat the harmful narratives imposed by society about our bodies for merely existing. I won’t delve too much into this so for now I’ll just leave ya’ll with some Serena Williams, one of the greatest athletes of our time, a person I admire deeply recently referred to her body as a “weapon and machine.”
Assignment¶
I knew from the beginning that I wanted to scan some kind of body that was inanimate, large in scale and ideally a piece of art. It was also important to me that it was art that was readily available to me so I knew it had to be public in some way. I decided to scan a sculpture of a head made by the artist John Wilson. This sculpture is located in Roxbury, MA at the National Center for Afro-American Art (NCAAA). While I explored two methods for 3D scanning, using a scanning app available on my iphone ultimately the best choice.
Workflow¶
This is a general workflow that I used for the assignment: - Use scanning equipment (iphone XR) and app Capture 3D to scan an object. Use app to clean up data/mesh and to isolate the area of interest.
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Export raw data in appropriate file format (.obj, .ply are only supported) to a 3D modeling software Meshlab. If necessary, make repairs to the mesh and simplify the model. I had to use Meshlab because Capture 3D doesn’t export as meshes only point cloud representation of the scan. I had to recreate the mesh using Screened Poisson Reconstruction and then simplify the mesh afterwards
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Export file to a Slicer for Fusion 360 to create a 3D models by converting the file generated in the previous step into 2D plans for fabrication/manufacture.
3D Scanning¶
This week I explored two different scanning techniques: -3D scanning using the Sense, a handheld 3D scanner that uses real time data to create a polygon mesh. This was mostly for playing as ultimately I wanted to use something more portable to scan a sculpture in the wild -3D scanning using Capture 3D, a 3D scanning app available for the iphone XR. This method employs photogammetry- a process of creating a 3D shape using 2D photos.
Programs¶
Capture 3D¶
I found this app really easy to use as it had a simple interface and platform where one can view and download scans on a computer. Pros: portable, easy to use, Cons: only exports two file tips, doesn’t export meshes only point cloud representation of object, awkward to use as you can only use the front facing camera (this app relies on the TrueDepth technology found in the front facing camera on the iphone XR)
Meshlab¶
I had some issues with MeshLab mainly trying to merge my scans together. It did not work when I tried to do this operation in the program with the .obj file. In the future I will explore using the .ply format to merge scans. Because I could not merge my scans I decided to focus and fabricate one area of the sculpture, an ear. I was able to create a mesh using the .ply file (it did not work for .obj), then simplify the mesh and finally export to Slicer for Fusion 360
Slicer for Fusion 360¶
Using the Slicer for Fusion 360 program I was able to take my newly created mesh to make a 2D plans for fabrication. I used a 3mm birch plywood as my material. My final 3D object measured 22.9 cm L x 4.2 cm W x 22.9 cm H with a total of 58 parts.All of my pieces fit on one board that measured 30.5 cm x 61 cm.
Laser Cutting¶
I used an Epilog Fusion M2 (CO2, 75 Watts). I cut my plywood at 100% power, 13% speed, 50% frequency.
Assembly¶
Assembly was relatively easy and straightforward. I used super glue as the adhesive to glue the parts together. Some laser cut pieces ended up being too small to assemble so they were omitted.
