3d digitizing

Dean Lewis" <dean___lewis@...> wrote:
Subject: 3D Digitizing

Hello to all!

I am new to the list and would like to ask for some help and
guidance.

I am looking at purchasing a Shoptask 2000 with the CNC stepper
option and ball screws. I am well versed in working with CAD and I
have a strong need for digitizing several parts for reverse
engineering.
[What sort of parts, and to what kind of tolerances? Do these have to fit
other parts? How are you planning on building them?]

I noticed that Maxnc offers a digitizer(RS232 probe)
and mill setup, but is too small.

[It's inadequate in other ways as well.]

The ST 2000 is an ideal size and
capacity for what I need.

[I was impressed too. Nice-looking machines- has anybody here got one?
They're at: <www.shoptask.com> They seem to have a fairly reasonably-priced
servo conversion as well as a range of CNC options. (hint- dig deeply in
"options". ]

The question I have is that can EMC be set
up for digitizing? I have already installed EMC on my Linux PC and
been messing with it a little. If it cannot do digitizing, is there
another reasonable software package available for doing this?

[I'd like to know this too.]

Renishaw offer a probe and an additional controller for it that
allows for non-voltage switching that could be adapted for RS232, but
they do not offer software.

[It's awfully expensive as well- $1500 just for the probe?.]

I ran across Centroid and their products. I recently attended a
local machine trade show and saw their setup first hand. Although it
is a PC console setup with servo, it comes with a hefty price of
12.5K for the servos/controller alone. Their non-conductive surface
probe and digitizing software would run an additional 5K. I have
exausted my resources looking for alternatives. I would appreciate
any help. Thank you in advance!!

Regards,

Dean Lewis

[I just got a Roland MDX-15, and I think it does an excellent job of
touch-probe scanning for flattish highly detailed objects. It has a
needle-like probe with a piezo-electric sensor at the base, and an
intelligent, simple,configurable probing routine. The problem is, that it
has such a limited size range, especially in the z-axis: 2.4 inches max,
even in their largest machines. I was wondering (along with a few others)
if it were possible to use these probe units on a bigger machine- with EMC
or any other control software. I haven't yet got a price on the probes
alone, but it shouldn't be a whole lot. Their software is written for their
machines, though- and I don't know how easily it could be applied to
another one. Is a probing routine a big deal for a programmer to write? Can
they be found? It's better if you end up with surfaces, like the Roland
does, instead of just points, or tiny line segments, like MaxNC.

If it's a relatively simple object, you can digitize it with a Microscribe
arm, and generate a surface in Rhino. If you just have a few of these parts
to do, you might consider getting your scanning done by a service bureau,
using a laser or structured-light 3d scanner, instead of investing in
equipment.]

Andrew Werby
http://www.computersculpture.com


Andrew Werby - United Artworks
Sculpture, Jewelry, and Other Art Stuff
http://unitedartworks.com