Using X carve to map a 3D surface

1

Ok i’ll start by saying i have no idea (what so ever) how this could be done, i’m bored at work and the idea came to me.

Would it be possible by mounting some form a touch sensor in to the x carve to use it to touch various points on a 3D surface (for example a rough bit of wood) and map that surface back on to the computer to then be carved?

as i say i have no idea how this could be done but i thought it might give someone who does the idea.

Cheers
Alex.

3

Estlcam can do this, but I don’t know exactly to what extent as I haven’t got my machine up and running yet.

Here is a video of the Estlcam creator mapping the surface of a computer mouse before engraving a logo onto it

4

Thanks for posting. This could be very interesting…

5

I have the TinyG on my x-carve (shapeoko2 upgrade), so i use Chilipeppr to run my g-code.
there is a feature in chilipeppr to ‘autolevel’ - for use on pcb. it takes touchpoints based upon your parameters, then alters the g-code to account for the minute differences.
I have not tried it - but I plan on it. I will use it to plot the surface of knives I make, so that I have a consistent engraving on the blade surface.