Unlocking Potential


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3D Fuel Scanner Printer

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Ross Morrison McGill founded @TeacherToolkit in 2007, and today, he is one of the 'most followed educators'on social media in the world. In 2015, he was nominated as one of the '500 Most Influential People in Britain' by The Sunday Times as a result of...
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How can we make industry-standard technology readily available in all classrooms?

Technological Evolution:

For the past 20+ years, I have seen technology rapidly evolve in design technology classrooms. Recently, those who teach in the creative subjects will have seen this growth expand into 3D printing and scanning products, inspired from industry, starting to appear in classrooms.

Using this kind of technology can unlock learning potential!

Potential:

3D Fuel Scanner PrinterWe know 3D printing and 3D scanning can have a huge potential on students in the classroom, bringing everyday objects to life from a vast array of projects.

As part of ongoing work to push the boundaries of 3D printing, education ambassador Steve Cox from CREATE Education wanted to explore the possibility of scanning a living organic flower to create unique jewellery. As part of this exercise, he experimented with blending old and new techniques, including exploring gilding with 3D printing.

Just take a look at these examples.

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What is it? 

3D scanning is the process of creating a digital representation of an object in three dimensions. Fuel3D makes a handheld 3D scanner called SCANIFY that works in the same way as a camera; simply point and shoot and the image will be captured on your computer. The user can then view and manipulate the image in Fuel3D’s software. Teachers and students can edit and view the different layers of the image and export it for 3D printing or other applications like game design or computer-based art and design.

Watch this short video to see how it works.

There have been dramatic headlines about 3D technology, encompassing ideas to use 3D printers to make clothes, food … and the parts of a house. (BBC)

3D printing / 3D scanning:

3D printing is already hugely popular in some education institutions (see DfE report: Enriching the teaching of STEM and design subjects – October 2013) due to the advancement it brings in creating detailed, complex objects. 3D scanning is a technology which can help encourage creativity in the classroom and gives students the tools to create their own 3D print from start to finish. 

3D scanners make the 3D printing process even easier, enabling the user to capture the object they want, with exact replication of textures and colours.

Example Output:

Fuel3D is worth testing and is a leading 3D capture and imaging innovator.

In the images below, click the ‘play icon’ and then use your ‘mouse’ to control and rotate the image:

This is a 30,000 year old figurine from an exhibition in Brussels museum.

Venus of Galgenberg by Fuel3D on Sketchfab

.Here is another example of a (face scrunch) scan.

Scrunched Face by Fuel3D on Sketchfab

Visit Fuel3D’s YouTube channel for useful tutorials on how to use their software and 3D scanner.

The Benefits:

  1. SCANIFY offers fast capture and is able to capture a 3D model in less than 1/10th of a second. This makes it ideal for situations where an object may move or when students need to work quickly!
  2. Scans produced by SCANIFY are in the region of three times higher resolution and accuracy compared to others.
  3. Being handheld, the device can be taken anywhere and can be used for multiple, portable applications.
  4. The device uses a simple point-and-shoot capture method which is easy to use than a conventional camera. 

The scanning device is shown below. The scanner is very good at scanning faces, so it is encouraged that this be the first scan which is easy to export for printing or design purposes.

3D Fuel Scanner Printer

Image: Scanify

What to know more?

Read this external review and get in touch with the team.
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