Design to Manufacture of a Custom Gauge holder (Part 2 of 3)

In my previous blog post for this series, I covered how I used an Artec Eva 3D Scanner along with Artec Studio software to capture the vent area of my Toyota MR2 for the purpose of mounting an oil pressure gauge.

Finished Scan of Vent area from Artec Studio

With a fused mesh file created, trimmed, and imported into Geomagic Design X, I can start to leverage some of the unique features in Design X.

Editing the scan with Design X

To get started, I will auto segment the mesh file to recognize areas such as planes and cylinders. I can then use these areas to get the geometry lined up with the origin to start the design of my part.

Auto Segmented mesh file with an extracted plane

With the mesh positioned, I can now use the Mesh Sketch feature in Design X to extract the curves from the scanned geometry. This will ensure that the final part will fit perfectly. With Mesh Sketch, I extracted the profile of the vent opening, and the gauge bezel to then export these into SOLIDWORKS and finish the design.

Extracting Geometry using Mesh Sketch in Design X

Geomagic Design X includes a live transfer functionality which is key to being able to use it for extracting geometry and then passing to your familiar CAD software. The live transfer sends over solid bodies, surfaces, but more importantly the sketches and planes used to generate these.

Live transferred geometry from Design X in SOLIDWORKS

With the base for the design now in SOLIDWORKS including parametric sketches and features, it is time to use some surface modelling techniques to get the exact shape and style that I’m looking for. After a few quick sketches and lofts, the part is most of the way to being completed.

Partially complete SOLIDWORKS Model

The final touches to the vent / gauge holder model will be covered in my next post along with 3D printing and test fitting the piece!