scan/import into SW?

[luke1201]

I have a gasket that I'm trying to use to create a flange from. It is kind of a complex shape (for me anyway) and doesn't really have any straight sections, its all curves. Is there a way to trace this gasket or maybe scan it on a document scanner, then be able to import this image into SW? Or even sections of the gasket? Is there any type of utility that will allow me to import this shape or outlines of the holes (not round) and then be something I can manipulate/change once inside SW. I need to get the port shapes imported so I can cut/extrude the holes in the flange that I already have created. If I could scan the shapes a hole, import those into SW as a 2D object, move it onto the flange, into the correct position, then extrude/cut that shape out of the flange.

Its just so hard to measure and I don't feel like it's going to be accurate.



SW newb (2004)

 

[ctopher]

I usually would take something like that to inspection and measure it on a comparator (not sure of spelling) or something. I don't know of a fast/easy/inexpensive way to scan it into SW.

Chris
Sr. Mechanical Designer, CAD
SolidWorks 05 SP2.0 / PDMWorks 05
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[CADGemini]

You can scan the image on a document scanner and save it as a .bmp file. Once that is created, you can then insert the picture onto a sketch plane and use it as a guide to sketch from.

One thing to keep in mind is to make sure the scale of the image is correct before you start sketching. What I typically do is create a seperate sketch that is the extreme limits of the object in X and Y. Then I resize the image until it touches those lines.

There are some third party programs out there that will create sketch lines from an image also.

Best Regards,
Jon

Challenges are what makes life interesting; overcoming them is what makes life meaningful.

Solidworks 2005 SP3.0

 

[Theophilus]

If you know how many pixels you have total, and how many pixels per inch you scan in the image, you should be able to size a bitmap image (TIFF, JPEG, whatever) properly within a sketch and then carefully trace that image to get your final shape, as jksolid indicated.

Make sure your scale is accurate by a pixel count (Photoshop or other image editor) or all this will be a waste of time.

I do this all the time when having to convert an image or logo to a molded-in feature.


Jeff Mowry

http://www.industrialdesignhaus.com

Reality is no respecter of good intentions.

 

[Beggar]

The way I'd go at it would be to:

1) Make a high-resolution scan into a bitmap file
2) Use raster-to-vector conversion software (e.g. Wintopo) to make a DXF
3) Open the DXF file in SWX and use it as the basis of the sketch. Might prove helpful to process it through ACAD to clean it up first.

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[CorBlimeyLimey]

Check out the freeware from

http://wintopo.com/

I haven't used it much, but it seems to do a fair job, & once it has been vectorized & cleaned up, it is easy to tweak.


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[Jabberwocky]

There are many sorts of reverse engineering tech. The methods described above are quite clever and could indeed work. I have seen a car body modeled by slicing a scale model, scanning the slices, then using those scans to create sections in CAD.

There are also other ways, such as laser-scanning the entire piece, or using a CMM to take points in your area of interest. I believe this thread has some information on those technologies. For instance, with the FARO arm you can plot shapes in 3D space and save the sketches for importing into SWx.

Speaking from experience in that area, the costs and troubles can be quite high - perhaps it would be worth it to send your part to a prototyping house and let them worry about the best way to produce 3D data?