Interactive Freeform Clay Modeling Supported by 3D Scanning and Robot Machining

Effective and efficient prototyping is always a challenging topic in design and prototyping. For this purpose, an interactive prototyping center is developed in this paper. The proposed technique is based on a synthesis of clay modeling, 3-Dimensional (3-D) scanning, robot machining and advanced geometric tools. Using 3-D scanning and reverse engineering techniques, a physical clay model is digitized to a Computer Aided Design (CAD) model by mesh representation. By advanced geometric tools, the mesh model can be changed easily following the user’s ideas. Those changes can be reflected to the clay model by robot machining. Furthermore, manual modifications on the existing clay model also can be added to the CAD model by 3-D scanning. For robot machining, a method based on 3-D scanning is used to calibrate the workpiece coordinate and the fixtures. Based on this system, virtual prototyping and physical prototyping can be achieved simultaneously. Solid or surface CAD models can be constructed directly from the mesh model after the prototyping stage. Experiments were made to demonstrate the effectiveness of the prototyping system. The possible applications in industrial product design are described as well.