Design By Capture 1st Place Winner: Dentist Melanie Tang's Drill
Autodesk ReMake and Autodesk Fusion 360 held the #DesignByCapture competition with 3D printing powerhouse My Mini Factory. In Stage 1, entrants were asked to scan a piece of equipment from their favorite hobby (a hiking boot, DJ headphones, video game accessory, etc) using photogrammetry and 3D model it using Autodesk ReMake software. Then, in Stage 2, that model was plugged into Autodesk Fusion 360 where the object was customized to the user's specs. The first place winner was Dr. Melanie Tang's drill bit holder, and the second place winner was Jonathan Spoerke's super cool guitar attachment. Read more about Melanie's story below.
Tell us about yourself. How did you become interested in design? In 3D modeling and printing?
I am a dentist by trade but I was always good with computers and had an interest in arts. As a hobby I enjoyed sculpting and painting. Eventually I took interest in sculpting digitally and one day decided to 3D print some of my sculptures.
I then started playing around with more functional prints and studied the principles of designing for 3D printing, such as tolerances for press/loose fits, overhang angles, joining techniques, print materials, and post-processing (sanding, painting, etc.).
What kind/s of hardware do you use?
At home I have now an Ultimaker 2+. I normally print with PLA, which by the way bonds amazingly well with SCIGRIP 4SC (formerly Weld-ON 4SC).
Tell me about the drill bit. What inspired you to create it?
I use very basic tools at home for small projects or simple renovations. One of my pet peeves was going back to my toolbox to find the right bit, or dropping them everywhere and searching all over the floor for them.
I have always had an idea to make a bit holder for my cordless drill, but it was a daunting task to get right. The shape of the drill was just too complex to work out with manual measurements. The 3D scanning available using ReMake was a clear solution to the shape complexity issue that made the design possible.
Had you used ReMake or Fusion before?
I have been using Fusion 360 since I got my 3D printer. I chose Fusion 360 because it was free for hobby usage and full-featured. ReMake was entirely new to me, but I enjoy learning new software, so I was up for the challenge.
Did you run into any challenges during the Design By Capture competition?
There were several challenges I faced in preparing the competition entry. The first was obtaining a clean scan of the drill. I first tried the method of rotating the drill in place with a stationary camera, but the results were not great.
My next attempt was to move the camera around the drill, which produced shockingly amazing results. I also faced challenges in importing the model into Fusion 360.
If the model had too many faces, then the performance in Fusion 360 would suffer. As a solution, I cropped the model to the head of the drill only, so that I was not wasting faces on parts of the drill I would not need for the design. That provided a good compromise.
What did you like about the competition?
I really liked devising the idea, producing the scan, designing the mount, and then bringing it to life with a 3D print. It is satisfying to hold a useful thing you made from concept to production all by yourself.
What did you like about using ReMake and/or Fusion?
ReMake is incredible - I can't say enough about it. It does what I thought was impossible - making a high quality 3D model of a real-world object without the benefit of an expensive 3D scanner.
How do you plan to use ReMake and Fusion next? What are your ideas?
I haven't thought ahead to my next project, but if it involves interfacing with a real-world object, you can be sure that I will be using ReMake to make a 3D model.
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Download Melanie's ready-to-3D-print drill bit attachment model here. Autodesk ReMake is available for both Mac and Windows. Download a free trial at remake.autodesk.com.