New projects….
The past week we have been planning projects for this summer. Besides finishing the ceilings, hull lining and replacing our jib furler and forestays, we also want to make modifications to our cabin soles and our pilothouse. These modifications are difficult, requiring probably weeks of making patterns and templates for which I simply cannot find enough time.
The problem is that nothing is level, nor straight, anywhere. I want to modify the pilothouse windows and the pilothouse back side which is currently closed with just canvas. I don’t even know how to start with templates there.
And then I found that today’s generations of 3D scanners allow me to move the problem to CAD software, which I now feel comfortable with. The pilothouse is the size of a car so nothing like a small engine part that people scan on a turntable… we need to be able to scan large objects and with high precision so that I can create geometric shapes in CAD that are of correct dimensions and in the correct orientation.
Most scanners must be linked to a computer, which is very inconvenient when working around the deck, adding more requirements. I have selected the Revopoint Miraco Plus scanner as what I think is the best candidate. It is rated for large objects, can operate stand alone and videos I watched seem to confirm suitability. The Plus version has so called Photogrammetric Metrology. It has encoded markers including calibrated dimensional scales that you attach to the object to scan so that it is able to keep tracking large objects and stay accurate to less than 0.2mm, which would be plenty enough.
Another issue is that I need to cut windows and panels in very difficult shapes. I could print paper templates from CAD but have decided to enter CAM using a CNC, which leads to a Shaper Origin system. Here, the videos from RAN Sailing have been very convincing. You move this machine by hand much like a traditional router, but you follow a line in augmented reality on its display and servo motors keep the bit following the path exactly even when you stray from the line on the display. Magic from the Festool family of tools so with a high price tag, making it more expensive than the scanner… and that’s before adding accessories including the required dust extraction system.
If anyone has any experience with these tools, I would love to hear from you, either in comments on my Facebook page or on the cruisersforum. Here are the specific tools I am looking at:
- Revopoint Miraco Plus: https://www.revopoint3d.com/products/all-in-one-3d-scanner-miracoplus
- Shaper Origin: https://www.shapertools.com/en-us/origin including the plate and station accessories
- Festool CT MIDI I HEPA: https://www.festoolusa.com/products/dust-extractors/compact-dust-extractors/578512—ct-midi-i-hepa-us
