The moment when a 3D printer and a 3D scanner are combined into a single product… hasn’t happened, yet. But, we’re pretty sure there would be some positive returns for both the manufacturer and the consumer market. A great number of people would love to replicate the cups and spoons they already have instead of buying them. God knows what traditional manufacturers would think though. So, why haven’t we seen a scan-and-print 3d copier? And, what would it take to create it?
A Scan-and-print 3Dcopier?
Let’s say I was able to place an object on the scanning/printing bed, hit a button, remove the object and then hit another button to print the object right where it was before. Well… beam me up Scotty! Yet we’ve seen nothing of the sort.
Methinks there might be a few reasons why this is so.
- Software has to be specialized.
Such a printer would need special software to properly digitize the item. That’s a big project, although 3Dify and Matterport go a little bit of the way with the Kinect. - Scanning and Printing have different hardware needs
The printing hardware would have to provide as much space as possible for the scanning system. I don’t imagine this to be an insurmountable hurdle, but it could be if you relied on a structured light or laser-scanning system with a turntable as scanning bed. Especially if you have the scanning bed is stationary and the scanner moves. - Cost
Kinect, DAVID and the Maker-Scanner demonstrate how cheap and easy it is to scan an object. However, a rotating camera/laser or bed will drive up costs. Perfect coverage and high resolution of rather complex items are difficult. - Legal issues
Remember Napster? Providing a platform that may be used for illegal purposes doesn’t provide you with immunity. Such ‘3D copiers’ are a direct threat to product and design IP rights (and there wouldn’t be a damn thing they could do to stop it.)
How to make a scan-and-print device
So, what’s the least it would take to create such a device? If you want to make DIY 3D copier, you’d would need:
- RFID’s
- A camera
- A RepRap with a rotating bed
- A Kinect on a 360 degree turret
- An integrated software platform to receive, crunch and spit out a .stl file
Anything else? Two or three cameras would be optimal if you wanted to catch all the over-hangs and under cuts, erase noise and increase resolution.
My bet is that big 3D printing companies have a few prototypes sitting around, but have held back releasing it because of the legal issues. In addition, if 3D printing companies sell their products separately they can increase their sales and maintenance revenue. However, I do wonder if in a nearby basement or garage, there is a small yet dedicated group of 3D printistas working on such a 3D copier. Wherever you are, give us a call!
