#Electro-optical Mesher
11 messages in this thread
We're in latter design stages of an electro-optical Object Mesh Maker. It can
digitize Large Scale Objects (from 1 square inch to 100 square feet) in ten
seconds. If interested, respond.
Hi,
>> If interested, respond<<
I'm interested. Could one digitize a car or truck with your technology? We
currently do this quite often using a Faro Metrecom digitizer and would like to
find a faster – easier way.
Thanks,
Mark
Yes, you could. I am not familiar with that particular digitizer though. What
are the specs on it and how does it work (i.e. resolution, maximum object size,
electrical operation, mechanical operation, and etc.)?
I am not certain how much ours will cost. We have yet to finish final stages
of design. Then we have to form a partnership with someone who wants to mass
produce it for us!
I will keep your e-mail address and send you furthur info.
Hi,
>> What are the specs on it and how does it work<<
It has 5 joints between aluminum arms with a pointing tip at one end. The
total reach of the arms is about 6'. Its portable (like a 1'x2'x3.5' box – 80
lbs). I don't know the accuracy – but its okay because we only need 1/32" or
so for a car.
We use it to digitize cars/trucks involved in accidents. We then digitize a
similar vehicle which is undamaged and can compare what went where… We've
got a case now which involved a car hauler and 6 other vehicles. We have
digitized all of them and exemplar vehicles for each (2 trucks and 12 cars).
We can then move the individual cars around inside AutoCAD. It is very helpful
to figure out what happened.
It created 3DPOLY entities in AutoCAD which we must then surface. This is
where it gets more difficult. It is a big help to have digitized sections but
it is still quitte difficult to create accurate surfaces (no odd bumps/odd
highlights…).
We got ours very early and it cost about $9K. I think they go for about $17K
now. We could not afford anything more expensive than this!
I'm looking forward to getting your info.
Mark
PS: You can see a picture of it in the latest CGW magazine. There is an
article on our work (C.J. Griswold, Inc.).
Great Response. Thank you. It is very representative of what a potential
customer may be looking for.
We have two designs on the developement bench right now. One is extremely
accurate (resolution of about 1/100 cm) but limits the user in the size of the
object (1 m X 1 m). The other is probably more in the line of what you're
looking for. It will do objects up to (7 m X 7m) and can be used on virtually
any size bigger by simply moving it and using a superposition function in the
software. Its accuracy, however, will not be close to the other. We are
working on making it more accurate, but in order to keep its cost down below
the $5,000 mark, accuracy will probably be limited to 1/4 cm. In my
experience, though, this is more than sufficient for large objects such as
cars.
I will keep in touch. Thanks for the response.
>> electro-optical Object Mesh Maker… <<
Its got a great name to start. <g> You might consider uploading a text file in
the hardware section on its specifications, features, and cost. That's about
the best way to give something good exposure… and alot of us keep track of
this kinda stuff even if we don't need it, because sooner or later somebody
does, and its handy to be able to say "check out EOOMM in the hardware
section.."
I'm just generally interested and I'm sure others would find it interesting as
well… so please do…
John
Dear Sir:
Frankly, as the project leader, I can't give out a lot of information about how
it works. The reason for that is that it is nothing like any of the digitizers
currently in the market. It uses a more complex mathematical theory and a much
simpler circuitry hardware design.
It is in the final stages of design. The patents are yet to be completed.
The company that I work for is a small R&D company. As often happens to such
companies, we seemed to have hit a few financial snags. Presently, we are
contemplating forming a partnership with another company for mass production.
I am sorry the information is so incomplete. Mainly, I wanted to know how much
people would pay for this. I will be sending you more information on the
specs. I am keeping a list of interested parties whom I will e-mail in about
two weeks.
Thank you for your response!
Reza B'Far
Lead Systems Engineer
Dear Sir:
>> It uses a more complex mathematical theory and a much simpler circuitry
hardware design. <<
Sounds very promising.
>> I am sorry the information is so incomplete. Mainly, I wanted to know how
much people would pay for this. <<
Well obviously there are a variety of factors which would have a bearing on
this question. Ease of use, what capability the software has to "clean up" the
resulting mesh, how automatic that facility is, what resolution meshes can be
digitized at, what format the resulting mesh is in, etc. Size and portability
would also work in your favor…
If a smaller unit can be produced economically I think you'd find quite a bit
of interest in the broader sector of the animation market. If hardware size is
really not a factor then that works in your favor as well…
Thanks, I'm looking forward to whatever information you can provide.
John Ellis Anigrafix, inc.
Dear John:
One of the advantages that our digitizer will have is that instead of using
traditional methods used to correct the errors in the mesh, it uses digital
signal processing (DSP) techniques to sweep the object hundreds of times in
about 10 seconds and uses ARMA and other filters to clean up the data.
Frankly, the software end is not much. The data is pretty clean before it is
recorded into the computer. After that, the rest is left to other software the
user may want to purchase. All data will be written into a file as 3-D
vertecies and faces in standard 3-D studio ascii format.
I will be sending you more information periodically.
>> One of the advantages that our digitizer will have is that instead of using
traditional methods used to correct the errors in the mesh <<
Have you considered uploading a sample digitized mesh file and a text
description of the technique and equipment used so that we could see just how
well and efficient the resulting meshes you can make are?
– Ernie Jackson, Written 20-Jun-1995 @ 23:53:01
Using: Windows NavCIS PRO 1.62
We will definitely consider uploading a sample mesh. However, we can't really
explain how it works yet because not all of the patents have been placed.
Right now, we are still working on perfecting the prototype.
Thanks for the response!