3D imaging to play a role in federally funded American manufacturing collaboration

As part of the recently launched Digital Lab for Manufacturing—which is a collaboration between the White House, UI Labs, the Department of Defense, and various other industrial and academic organizations aiming to transform the American manufacturing chain—3D Systems will provide its 3D imaging technology.

The Chicago-based Digital Lab won a $70 million grant from the Department of Defense to become a research center chartered with the development, demonstration, and deployment of digital manufacturing technologies across key manufacturing industries. The White House-based initiative includes more than 40 industry partners, 30 academic, government, and community partners, and more than 500 supporting companies. Industry partner companies include National Instruments, Autodesk, Boeing, General Electric, and Microsoft.

With the inclusion of 3D Systems’ 3D scanning technology, Geomagic Capture, the company will provide the lab with access to the advanced design to manufacturing digital thread, according to the press release.

"Perceptual design and manufacturing tools enable digital manufacturing technologies to catch up with advancements in design, "said Ping Fu, Chief Strategy Officer, 3D Systems in the press release. "For America to lead in manufacturing, seamless digital threading needs to be readily democratized, localized and accessible; and the Digital Lab for Manufacturing is exactly what we needed to pave the way."

3D Systems’ Geomagic Capture is a family of integrated scanner and software systems designed for professional scan-based design and quality inspection. It is available in six applications-specific configurations and features a blue light LED scanner with a scan speed of 0.3 seconds per scan, a field of view of 172 to 260 mm (diagonal), and 124 x 120 mm – 192 x 175 mm (X-Y). In addition, the scanner has a clearance distance of 300 mm, a depth of field of 18 mm, and an accuracy of 60 µm to 118 µm.

The ultimate goal of the Digital Lab for Manufacturing project is to significantly reduce development costs, while creating billions of dollars in value for the industrial marketplace, spurring long-term U.S. economic growth and job creation, according to project’s website.

View more information on the Digital Lab for Manufacturing.
View more information on Geomagic Capture.

Also check out:
Virtual reality environment enables user to instruct, collaborate with industrial robots
VISION CEO roundtable videos released
(Slideshow) 10 different ways 3D imaging techniques are being used

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