[x3d-public] ANNOUNCE: new report "Remote Collaborative 3D Printing - Process Investigation" (corrected url)

[Don Brutzman]

Am happy to announce public availability of the following valuable reference:

Reese, Cody M., /Remote Collaborative 3D Printing - Process Investigation/, Technical Report TR-NAVFAC-EXWC-EX-1601, NAVFAC Engineering and Expeditionary Warfare Center (EXWC), Port Hueneme California, April 2016.

(Corrected url follows)

	http://x3dGraphics.com/examples/X3dForAdvancedModeling//3DPrinting/TR-NAVFAC-EXWC-EX-1601-distribution-A.pdf

(From the abstract) "The intent of the project was to investigate the end-to-end process of transferring, receiving, manipulating, and printing a digital 3D model into an additively manufactured component. Several digital models were exchanged, and the steps, barriers, workarounds, and results have been documented."

Numerous helpful images and photographs are included for producing X3D-based examples.  Cover image attached, excerpts follow.

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12. CONCLUSIONS
Additive Manufacturing is a rapidly evolving field, with diverse applications, which will change the field of manufacturing as we know it. It will allow for the rapid production of items ranging from models to full-strength parts, offering the ability to rebuild one-off legacy components, while simultaneously enabling the creation of previously un-producible items. Through this investigation of workflow from digital model to printed part, we have validated the potential to  produce usable, relatively inexpensive models and parts, with readily available low-cost tools. There are multiple paths from model to part, with a multitude of file formats and software options at every step. There are also a wide variety of printing processes and materials available to suit any application. The variety of file formats, programs, tools, and materials allow for multiple points to influence the end product at every step of the process. This provides tremendous opportunity for product customization; however it also provides myriad opportunities to "get it wrong." Though 3D printing is a new field, as with any production process, an experienced operator is critical to ensuring the output of a quality product that meets user requirements and expectations.

13. RECOMMENDATIONS
Due to the relative infancy of Additive Manufacturing as a field, there are numerous and varied opportunities for follow-on investigation as outlined in section 10. An overarching development that would facilitate these investigations is the creation of a Navy digital model exchange library similar to the National Institute of Health model exchange (http://3dprint.nih.gov). Such a model exchange would serve as collaborative hub for users in Government, Industry, and Academia (with the right partnering agreements and access rights) to investigate both physical and cyber-security aspects of AM, and would serve as a working reference library for future AM applications. Additionally, it would be beneficial to investigate the feasibility of embedding printable model files in existing virtual environments (such as SPIDERS 3D) and Product Lifecycle Management databases (such as Autodesk Vault and ePLM IDE) currently used by the Navy.
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Recommended reading, the images are amazing!  Thank you Cody for your stellar efforts, lessons learned, and truly helpful report.

This is an important contribution that really helps us prepare for the Web3D 2016 Conference, especially the lead-off morning workshop on Friday 22 July (only 12 days away) in Anaheim.  The X3D CAD working group is building on progress like this to determine requirements for a combined X3D Profile supporting CAD, 3D Printing and 3D Scanning.  Attendance is open, thanks to Web3D Consortium sponsorship.  All workshop contributions and subsequent reviews are welcome.

	http://web3d2016.web3d.org/program

Having fun printing X3D!

all the best, Don
-- 
Don Brutzman  Naval Postgraduate School, Code USW/Br       brutzman at nps.edu
Watkins 270,  MOVES Institute, Monterey CA 93943-5000 USA   +1.831.656.2149
X3D graphics, virtual worlds, navy robotics http://faculty.nps.edu/brutzman
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