From a 3D Scan to a 3D Fitted Model (TfCD)

This instructable is created on behalf of the Technology for Concept Design course at Delft University of Technology regarding to emerging technologies. This instruction is to guide you through a process of making a 3D fitted model of a product.

Contact an organization/university that owns a 3D scanner and make an appointment and generate a scan of your head

Convert the 3D scan to a 3D surface file (in our case it was a .iges-file)

Import your work into the 3D CAD program (e.g. Solidworks) If the part is not correctly aligned to your XYZ-axes, use the body move/copy tool to get the desired orientation (Insert>Features>Move/Copy)

Print screenshots of the head and start making designs of how the headband should look like.

Back in Solidworks, generate a front plane and one that splits the face in two. (Insert>Reference Geometry>Plane)

Start sketching on the front plane to design the curvature of the back.

To project these curves on the back of the head in 3D, select the Curves-tool (Insert>Curves>Project). Select the sketch and the full surface of the head as surface.

Locate the spot for the bone conduction transducer and use the plane that splits the face in two to sketch the mark.

Use the Curves-tool in the previous step to project these marks on the side of your head.

Repeat this process until you have a full space of the band around your head.

Create a new assembly and open the 3D head file.

Create a new part for the band.

Start a 3D-sketch and use Spline to trace the curves you’ve projected on the head.

Create a profile for the 3D sketch.

Use the Swept Boss/Base tool (Insert>Boss/Base>Sweep) to make a sweep with the latest sketch as profile and the traced 3D sketch as path.

Now create transducers of about 10-15mm in diameter and 5mm in thickness and place them in the correct position.

Congratulations, you have the first part of your new your bone conduction headband. Once printed, this 3D model will exactly fit on your head.

To see if the part actually fits on your head, find a 3D printer and print this part.

If done correctly, it will fit on your head as shown.

Now that the placement and dimensions of the bone conducting transducers are correct, you can use this data to design the bone conducting headphones you wish to have. Here is a 3D render of our design.