3D Scanner

This week the group replaced the IR sensor and SD card shield and fortunately they could work properly. Therefore the scanner was set up and tested for the first time.  Firstly, a power adapter was scanned and it took about 20 minutes to finish the whole progress. The object (adapter) and the result is shown below. Power Adapter Scanning Result 1 Scanning Result 2  The group found that the contact terminals were not simulated accurately since the analog voltage varies against to different colors. The distance-voltage relationship graph below shows that gray paper only has 18% reflectance ratio. Then a white paper cube was tested and the progress took 30 minutes and the result is shown below. Although the whole process was not fast, the motor had reached its maximum speed for scanner to obtain sufficient points to simulate the model. Due to the limitation of time, the group was not able to design and apply for a PCB board. Therefore, a wooden case was buil...

This week the group tried to make two motors work together and install IR sensor. Firstly, the group tried to set the motor for rotatable plate (named motor A) to work at a certain angular velocity while the motor for lifting (named motor B) to raise the carriage when the plate turns a circle. After the discussion with AA, the group decided to make motor B work at a much slower velocity than motor A so that the IR sensor can obtain a more accurate and consecutive data which is shown below. Then the group attempt to install the IR sensor and set the voltage-distance relationship equation in Arduino showed below. Also the group intended to initialize the SD card for data storing as shown below.   Unfortunately, the group found IR sensor and SD card shield out of function after a series of tests. The group plan to replace the malfunctioning components and finish the building process next week.

This week the group received the components required and began to build the scanner. The lifting part of the scanner was successfully assembled. The motor was set to rotate and pause for certain time in clockwise direction and installed in the base. It was connected and fixed with the thread rod by a shaft coupler. Then two linear shafts were installed on the base and the carriage was zipped with bearing. The group tested the lifting components and the gif shows the details.   The motor was set to rotate in counterclockwise direction and the carriage began to descend. The plan for week 3 is installing the IR sensor, rotatable plate and the motor synchronized with lifting components.

A 3D scanner is designed to digitize the shape of a small object and duplicate it. In this project, an IR sensor will detect the distance to an objected on a rotating table from bottom to the top and the data will be record into the SD card which will later be transferred for programming to simulate the model of the object in softwares. The project requires the components showed below: Two motors and a base to place them. 2 plates attached to the base to cover the motors. A threaded rod with shaft coupler. Two linear shafts and a guided carrige with connecting components. A constraining plate to fix the shafts. An IR distance sensor. A rotatable plate to place the object. Arduino Uno Rev3. Two motor shield. An SD card. One motor is used to rotate the plate and another is used to lift the carriage with IR sensor in vertical direction. Some components need to be 3D printed and the model is shown below: The base to place the motor The plate to cover the motor...