Using the printer as a mapping device.

[Whiteshadow]

Hi,

I’ve got a Duplicator 4, and I’m very happy with it. The thing is that I have the worlds flattest feet, and hence wear corrective insoles in my shoes. The insoles i have at the mo are cnc’d plastic and cost +£120/pair (no discount for multiple orders!!). So I have to move these from one pair of shoes to another, but it seems to me if I could map them accurately they actually would be quite easy to 3d print.

This has lead me to think of a project where i would mount a modified pair of digital calipers (or touch probe) on the head of the 3d printer and use the machine to move in a matrix to touch the part to be measured, where by the value would be pulled off the output from the caliper before measuring the next position.
In this way i would hope to get a grid of heights where I could use some form of magic to produce a model.

I’m good with engineering but have little knowledge of the firmware (sailfish) etc....Any ideas how I could get the machine to do my bidding without resorting to developing my own control system to drive the mechanics???......A little coffee time problem for you!

[iDig3Dprinting]

OK, This is a bit above our pay grade but our initial thoughts are that in principal you could write a g-code file that moves the probe through the xy plane, and at each point moves the head down until the touch sensor is triggered, move back up and then move to the next point.

The problem we are not too sure about is:

1. whether you can write the xyz data points to a file so that you have a surface map?
2. you would need to think about the grid resolution as well as the circumference of the probe.

You could write a code generator simply enough to build all the commands because it is very repetitive.

We don't know much about writing g-code though so this may be all rubbish.

what were you thinking of?

[Whiteshadow]

I did think that I could use gcode, but from what the internet told me (!) the printer uses a simplified instruction set so didn’t have commands to feed back it’s position/pause/wait for an input (?) if I was using an external controller to take masurements from the height measurement system?,?

Then I thought that maybe I could control the printer using the jogs etc in the manual control panel, but this seemed like I would have to mimic the keyboard/mouse to take control.

It all seemed overly complicated, I wondered if there was just a simple way....

[iDig3Dprinting]

The simplest solution may be a 3D scanner. The best option would probably be a bed scanner rather than a hand held as it is a simple solid object. so you could try something like that. the Da Vinci pro 3 in 1 comes with a bed scanner.

Obviously the issue switches from costs being time to costs be monetary. But a 3D scanner may be the simplest solution that does not require a build.

[deepcut]

You could try a simple SONAR using an arduino and ultrasonic sensor, but i'm not sure of the resolution, it's probably entimetres rather than mils:

https://www.youtube.com/results?search_ ... ultrasonic

[steve3dprinters]

You can always use a good-quality 3D scanner for your purpose, or try a simple SONAR with an ultrasonic sensor.

https://www.3dprintersbay.com/creatbot- ... 3d-printer