The same portable, handheld 3D scanners used for reverse-engineering, and design recently had a hand in uncovering a new species of human relative and played a role in another important archaeological excavation.
Engineers and designers use the Eva, Spider, and Space Spider scanners from Artec 3D to scan a physical object part and visualized results digitally.
To bring those real-world dimensions into the computer, the scanners work by projecting a grid pattern on the object and calculating its deformation.
In January, Artec demonstrated its Space Spider at SolidWorks World 2016 in Dallas. The Space Spider was developed to allow astronauts at the International Space Station to capture the surfaces of objects with complex geometry. It requires almost no preparation before use and ensures longest-term data capture even in fluctuating temperatures.
The Artec scanners also play a part in archaeological discovery.
Last fall, researchers at the University of Witwatersrand in Johannesburg, South Africa, announced the discovery of a new species of human relative, which they named Homo Naledi.
They’d discovered remains in the Dinaledi chamber of the Rising Star cave system, near Johannesburg. But after learning about the site in 2013, researchers knew excavation would be a challenge because the specimens were located deep within the cave system comprised of shallow and narrow pathways, said Lee Berger, research professor in human evolution at the university, who led the excavation.
With fears about degradation due to rising water from recent rains, a team of below-ground explorers called upon the Artec Eva handheld scanner to scan an area within the caves and transmit that information researchers above ground who had more archaeological training. The team above ground used Artec’s Studio software to stitch together scanner-returned data to see the site as if they were there and provide the necessary direction and guidance to the team below.
With help from the scanners, the researchers were able to recover 1,550 specimens in five weeks, Berger said.
Similarly, in the fall of 2014, Louise Leakey and her team at Turkana Basin Institute in Kenya created close likenesses of 1.8-million-year-old fossilized remains found at Kenya’s Lake Turkana Basin. They also used 3D scanners from Artec along with 3D printers to create replicas of the fossils of crocodiles, a prehistoric elephant, and a giant tortoise that were found in the 1970s and 1980s by researchers (which included members of the Leakey family).
The team used two handheld scanners donated by Artec to scan the especially large fossil sets on the east side of Lake Turkana and provide a digital record, as these specimens had been damaged by wind and water where they are, Leakey said.
With the rise of portable scanners that need little if any training to operate, look for them to be used in settings beyond design and manufacturing. Like deep within a cave or behind the scenes at a museum.
