[Case study] How Totalprint3d used Shining 3D Einscan Pro 2X Plus 3D Scanner

Updated Jun 13, 2020 2289

3D printing technologies are ever-evolving with machines and equipment continuously finding new applications in the most varied spheres, from small start-ups to enormous corporations. We at Top 3D Shop are on a mission to guide you through this technological jungle, letting you know more about 3D equipment, its applications, and the advantages it brings to businesses. Today, we are going to tell you about how our clients from the Totalprint3d company benefited from acquiring a professional 3D scanner SHINING EINSCAN PRO 2X PLUS.

A few words about Totalprint3d

Totalprint3d was established in 2010 when its founder, Denis Ilyin, first found out about 3D technology during his summer internship at the Moscow Aviation Institute. In 2018, Denis was appointed as the head of the Additive Technologies department of the Youth Scientific and Technical Council of the PJSC “Il” (Ilyushin Experimental Design Bureau), where he gained experience in using additive technologies in the aircraft construction.

Totalprint3d was established at the same time, in 2018, to meet the market’s demand for manufacturing functional parts for equipment and machines based on available models. Now 90% of Totalprint3d total orders revolve around using engineering plastics for the manufacturing of various replacements and products including frames, star wheels, pulleys, gear wheels, guides, rocking gears, pull rods, etc. for dedicated equipment, machine tools, and other unique hardware.

Criteria for choosing the right 3D scanner

At first, the incoming orders were something like “model me this” and “3D print me that”, but over time, the number of orders along the lines of “I have a broken part, please make the identical one” began to grow. But the desired details generally had complex geometries which made them very difficult to be correctly measured with a caliper gauge. The company quickly realized that they needed a professional 3D scanner to cope with such tasks.

The scanner was selected based on the following requirements:

Price – not more than $14,000;
Maximal mobility – the scanner should be rather small since the company does not have enough storage space to accommodate a large machine and the 3D scanner is also supposed to be able to work on-site;
The ability to scan using a tripod;
Precision from 0.05 mm.

The Shining Einscan pro 2Х 3D scanner turned out to meet all these demands. After consulting with the manager of Top 3D Shop, the client opted for the PLUS model that is notable for an increased scanning area and a greater speed of operation.

Technical specifications of SHINING EINSCAN PRO 2X PLUS

TECHNICAL FEATURES

Texture capture ability: yes (with a full-color scanning module)
Scanning time: < 0.5 sec
Depth of field, mm: ±100
Single scan area: 208 × 136 mm - 312 × 204 mm
File transfer: USB 3.0
Light source: LED
Minimum system requirements: video: NVIDIA GTX 770 and above; video memory >4G; CPU: i7 and above; RAM: 16G and above
Volumetric accuracy: 0.3 mm
Working distance: 510 mm
Point distance: 0.2-3 mm
Scan speed: 20-30 fps, 1,100,000 points/sec
Applications: research and education, reverse engineering, metrological monitoring; energy industry; human scanning; architecture
Scanning precision: up to 0.05 mm
Operating system: Win 7, Win 8, Win 10, 64 bit
Weight, kg 1.13
File formats: OBJ , STL , ASC , PLY , P3

How similar tasks were handled before

Before purchasing a professional 3D scanner, the company had to hire a qualified carpenter or a mechanic when copying complex details, who would manually reproduce the detail from a model.

If it was necessary to recreate bas-reliefs or statues, they also sometimes used milling machines, which have a probe on one side and a spindle with a cutting tool on the other. The probe moves along the model’s surface, and the cutter repeats the movements of the probe, thereby reproducing the geometry of the original object.

Back in the 20th century, programs for CNC machines were created in a similar way when manufacturing aircraft parts (and not only them): a designer developed a drawing of units based on which a wooden prototype model was then manufactured. Such a prototype was suited for adjusting all the elements of an object to-be. After that, the prototype model was disassembled into parts that were sent to a duplicator. The duplicator ran its probe along the detail’s surface, while the trajectory of its movements was recorded on punch cards or magnetic tape. The productivity of such a process was extremely low.

Equipment application

At Totalprint3d, the Shining Einscan pro 2X PLUS scanner is most often used to accomplish the following tasks:

Reconstruction of broken parts;
Scanning of handrails. The main part of the handrail does not always come out smooth, especially when it is built on-site and without templates. 3D scanning allows for creating a digital copy of the main part and constructing the correct turning geometry;
Scanning of vehicles for tuning or repair;
Scanning of art objects (for example, panel pictures, bas-reliefs, sculptures, religious objects) to create and edit a digital model. In the future, the model can be recreated with the help of a CNC machine;
Monitoring the geometry of parts (tooling or casting);
The production and customization of fashion dolls, for example, Blythe. To create such dolls, craftsmen make 3D models of individual body parts, clothes, and accessories. These models are used to manufacture silicone molds for plastic molding.

Thanks to the bleeding-edge Shining Einscan pro 2X PLUS 3D scanner, it takes no more than an hour to scan, for example, 1×1 m surface of an airplane’s fuselage or a car’s body element. The result is a ready-made polygonal 3D model that can be edited and customized in digital format.

Shortcomings

The scanner has some drawbacks:

The device does not always recognize black and white marks;
The cable shield is rather weak;
There is no tripod mount in the basic configuration, which forces one to use improvised options;
Lack of provided matting spray.

Suggestions

It would be great if the scanner came with the light spot function to set the optimal distance between the scanner and the object when scanning from a tripod.

It is also desirable that the scanner is delivered in a good protective suitcase with factory lodgments so that it can safely be used during filed works.

The use nuances and recommendations

1. Think about the required package. The range of application of additional modules is very limited, while the automatic rotating table is suitable only for small items.

2. Include the purchase of a good separate tripod in your cost sheet.

3. Buy a suitcase immediately after purchasing the scanner. It will securely protect the scanner from damage during transportation.

4. If some problems occur during FIX MODE scanning, then you should:

a) check the distance from the scanner to the object (the manufacturer’s recommendation is ~ 50 cm);

b) use the HDR tick.

Bottom line

Given outstanding accuracy, incredible reliability, and extreme versatility, the professional 3D scanner SHINING 3D EINSCAN PRO 2X PLUS is well suited for continuous use in business, which is perfectly illustrated by the use case of Totalprint3D. Working with such equipment is not without its delicacies, but it is still one of the best solutions in this price range – you get an amazing 3D scanning quality for less than $7000.