The Modela has two functional attachments, one for cutting, and one for
scanning. They are color coded- yellow is the scanner, purple is the
cutter.
If the scanner isn't already in place, you will have to detach the cutter and reattach the scanner. If it is, proceed to Loading the Object.
First, turn off the Modela. Press the green button in the front and hold
if for a second, then release. The LED should go out. If you tap the
button, the Modela remains on.
Next, unplug the spindle from the base.
Unscrew the two screws, located at the top right and bottom left on the
back face of the unit, using the 3mm allen key. Make sure you hold on to
them -- they will hold the scanner in place.
Remove the cutting unit, and put it in its box.
Locate the scanner unit. It should have a protective black steel cover over the needle. This cover prevents the needle from getting bent when not being used and when being installed and removed from the base. If it isn't on when you find the unit, find it and put it on. It has two hooks on the bottom and a finger screw on the top that attach it to the unit.
Now, reverse the process used to detach the spindle: mount the unit on the
bracket. Two studs on the bracket go into two cutouts in the back of the
scanner unit.
Replace the screws, again through the holes in the top right and bottom left. Tighten them down so they won't come loose, but don't make them so tight that it will require stripping the screw to get them out- they are inserted and removed frequently, and any decrease in the amount of wear will prolong their life.
Plug the unit into the base. The arrow in the plastic of the plug
actually points toward the back of the machine, but there are two black
marker arrows, one on the plug, and one on the base, that match up.
Remove the cover by loosening the finger screw at the top until the hooks
at the bottom disengage, and you can pull it straight off, toward the
front of the machine.
Loading the object you are going to scan consists of attaching the object to the Modela's bed, so that it won't shift when the bed moves during scanning. There are two ways to do this: double sided tape and clay. Use double sided tape if the object has large flat surfaces, and use clay for everything else.
This segment will go through the process of setting up with clay. For how to set up with double-sided tape, please refer to the Modeling section, under "Loading the Stock."
First, locate the clay. It should be green and in the box labeled "MODELA
PARTS/TOOLS ONLY: Foam, Clay, and Scrap."
Make pea-sized lumps, and
stick
them to the bottom of your object. Use enough clay so that
the object will be supported and won't wobble. Not much more than that is
necessary.
Next, attach the object to the bed. Make sure all of the object is
within the grid, as this is roughly the extent of the scanning capability.
Remember, the Modela only scans the object from straight down, so it can't
detect overhangs. Position the object so that the most critical surface
is facing upward.
Now that the machine is set up, press the green button to turn it on, and go back to the computer. Open up Dr. Picza, and you'll see this display.
Click on Scanning Area, which brings up this box.
The left side of the dialog sets the area (X and Y) that machine will scan, and the right side sets the detail and the height of the scan (Z).
Technically speaking, there is no need to set the area of the scan: the scan at all points that don't contain the object will return nothing, so the result of the scan will only be the object. However, the length of time of the scan is dependent on the area that is scanned. It will take a lot longer to scan the whole area then to only scan the area of the object. For this reason, you usually reduce the area to the minimum values that contain your object.
To set the area that will be scanned, either click and drag the edges of the blue region in the display box, or input the values in the value boxes. The values are from a reference point in the Scanning Head's travel, rather than from a reference point on the bed, so measure first to get an approximate value. Check to see if the area is correct, by either double clicking on one of the grey squares, or by selecting Begin Area Test. In both, the probe goes to the location represented by the grey box, and it descends to the Z Bottom value. If it hits anything before that, it stops descending, pauses, and then goes back up. The difference between the Area Test and the individual squares is that in the latter, the probe only does this at the box that you selected, and in the Area Test, the probe goes to all eight boxes.
On the right side are the Pitch, Z Bottom, and Z Upper Limit settings.
The Scan Pitch is the distance between the scanning points. This is where the real trade off occurs: The greater the resolution, the longer the time it takes to complete the scan, and the larger the file that is generated. Pick a resolution that is high enough to meet your needs, but not much higher. Generally, both the X Scan Pitch and the Y Scan Pitch are set to the same value, but they can also be manipulated independently.
The Z Bottom value is the distance above the Modela's Bed that the scan begins to scan at. This value is here if the object is supported by clay, or if you only want to scan a top layer of the object. Like the Area settings, this one should be verified by sending the probe to the values and seeing if it goes to the depth you want it to.
Z Upper Limit is another option that you can set, but it is not vital to the success of the scan. It is used to specify an upper limit to the scan, but as it requires finding the absolute maximum height on the object, which can be hard to do exactly, it is usually easier to leave this box unselected.
When you are done adjusting the values in the dialog, hit Okay.
The last thing to do before starting the scan is selecting Draft or Fine, and then whether or not to Smart Scan.
The difference between a Draft and a Fine Scan is the direction of the scan. To save time in a Draft Scan, the object is scanned in both directions, both from the left and from the right, whereas in a Fine Scan, the object is only Scanned in one direction. The distinction may be very small between the two completed scans, but the time is a lot greater for the Fine Scan. Remember, the resolution of the scan is set by the pitch, not by the Draft/Fine selection.
The Smart Scan does what you may have already done. Before the actual scanning begins, the Smart Scan traverses the area of the bed, searching for the object, within the area that you specified. This makes it easier to set up the scan, as you don't have to find the object yourself, but it takes longer to complete the scan. Use at your discretion.
All that's left is to start the scan. Hit SCAN, and you're on your way. A dialog will come up indicating that the Modela is scanning, and eventually, it will give a time estimate to complete the scan.
A few hours later, the scan will finish, and it will look something like this:
You can manipulate the object, view it in wireframe or shaded, or a number of other things. Refer to the Dr.Picza help file for the full info.
That's all!