Does this Italian scanner also use the Open Technologies scan-head Terry? (Just testing you...)
If you have One, can you take a pic of the cameras inside the chamber for me?
How far are they apart? Can you choose to not close holes? (Datavoids) to actually see if it does indeed capture the data interprox?
Why do you feel the need to print a model? Certainly you did not scan that model, right?
In the US, most people poo-poo on the Objet made models.
I personally am not impressed at all by them.
I absolutly hated that POS scanner. Single axis rotary....not accurate, too many data voids due to cameras too far apart.
Don't know of anyone in the US happy with the Sinergia, or Open Tech, or EGS, or the Maestro scanner.
All have the same Italian scanhead. Crap for Dental use IMO. Don't buy One!! Over-rated POS!
Hi Scott,
The cameras in the Maestro scanner are ueye brand cameras, I believe they come from a German company but are Japanese lenses and are USB cameras.
http://en.ids-imaging.com/video_ueye.html The angle and distance between them, I don't know, I have never measured it. I do know it's very important, but other than that sorry I don't know. So if that is what you are referring to as a "scan head" then that is what is in it. Scanners are not too complex, cameras, USB or Ethernet interface and main board, mechanics and software. It's the engineers that work all the tricky stuff out and write the code so I leave it to them. When i go back to work (13th) I will take a pic for you...Summer holidays here at the moment... but you guys have some snow!
You cannot choose to leave datavoids open, but probably can in the admin setup program for inspection. They probably leave this out to make it more user friendly ...or cover things up...who knows..LOL...
I think the best person to talk to about the Maestro Scanner would be from the people who make it.
The person you need to talk to is Andrea Spinelli. He is the CEO, tell him i sent you,he knows far more about scanning technology than I would even pretend to know and he would be more than interested in your reasons for your "POS" opinion on his scanner, if you did include his. He can send you plenty of scans to test as well Im sure.
[email protected] is his email. He would more than happy to engage in the technicalities of scanning.
I am however looking forward to their new 4th Generation Scanner in the next month or so, similar mechanism to the Medit blue I believe, I saw the prototype, so similar in function of the mechanics anyway. You should have a talk with Andrea, the scanner may surprise you.
One thing we do agree on here... egs I don't find them a very useful or user freindly scanner at all, at least not for dental.
We get more and more digital impressions as the uptake of IOS increases, mainly 3Shape Trios and Itero, some Sirona, so we have a genuine reason to print models in a lot of cases.
We also accept scans of impressions and/or models from labs all over Oceania, ( anywhere in the world for that matter) If that's what people want to send us , so be it.. Im not going to argue with what they want to send. The more the merrier. Sure printing from someone else's scanned models may not be ideal, but Gypsum has never been the perfect material either.
I have had no issues with any of our Objet printers, or the models printed on. A correctly calibrated printer does a good job, as long as you don't expect the earth. I have been printing for nearly 4 years and when used in the correct context, printed models can be very helpful. I don't think there is a "perfect" printed model. I have seen some impressive 3d printed models but these come from fairly expensive machines probably beyond what we would invest in. I have no idea how accurate these "high end" ones are. We also do not just print models for other labs, we make a job and fit it to a printed model only , be it an IOS or impression/model scan thats just how we work, that way someone does not simply take a 3D printed model from us and take it back into their analogue world and use it for a substitute plaster model.. not a good idea in my opinion...but they do try..LOL.
I actually think printed models make a great pairing with the CAD CAM solution of dental, and that's what we do as long as its suitable.
Like lots of people I have examined many different brands of printed models, what they "look like" does not necessarily reflect their accuracy or other properties. I have seen some great "looking" models but when it comes to the crunch their other properties are less than adequate. Again..these were only samples so maybe not a fair evaluation.
A dental technician in Australia is financing a scientific study on 3D printed dental models at the moment, this will be a tricky one but he wants to do it, when I get the results I will pass it on. I think it will be interesting.
I think you always have to consider purchase price vs performance with 3D printers and if they are suitable for every laboratory, or even financially viable. Personally I would not be without them. They have been a great investment for us. That being said, I also think that different printers may suit different applications.. PolyJet, vs DLP for example.. DLP seem to be dropping in price quicker so this may be worth a look for some labs. I can see lots of labs trying to use sub 5k printers in the near future. I wonder if they will be satisfied?
The real test for any 3D printer, or any machine for that matter, is the day in day out use of it, not just a few sample prints, I'm sure you will agree with this.
Reliability, repeatability, general running costs, cost of servicing, material costs, yadda, yadda, yadda..you get the idea..are all really important factors.
I have tried the 3D Systems printers, DWS and Envisiontec as well, depending on what you want both do a good job as well. I'm not a big fan of FDM though, as you will also appreciate, but laser sintering (plastics) is an emerging technology, but again is expensive and finding the right materials is ongoing polymer science.
It's actually really difficult, unless blatantly obvious, without the complete dataset and an unbiased scientific comparison to say one product is better and the other is just crap. Mostly when people do this they actually have never had any real world long term experience with both, usually just one, and that's fair enough because usually time does not permit it, and in the real world everyone wants to think what they have, or what they sell "is the best". Why not.. as The Fonz said.. "The world runs on BS".
Anyhow now the
is on so looks like it will be Australia 5 England ZERO... Ahhh how nice.
p.s
Here are some of the release notes for the version 4 Maestro Easy Dental Scan... just released, you may be interested.
Release notes: - 50% scanning time reduction and improved scanning quality;
-- thanks to a better structured light algorithm that uses less images to perform acquisition, it is now possible to perform acquisition step in half time compared with the previous version;
- more scanning options: -- the rotary table can make up to 20 steps;
-- for the result of 3d scanned surface up to 2 millions points of triangles can be obtained;
-- a new postprocessing method has been added (slow but more accurate);
-- postprocessing time for stumps has been reduced (up to 8 elements in less than 2 minutes*);
- the quality of the 3D model has been increased-- thanks to a perfected acquisition algorithm, the capability to detect fine details of object surface has been improved;
-- thanks to the new postprocessing method and new calibration method, the difference between output 3d model and acquired point of clouds is now below 2 microns;
- accuracy and repeatability have been improved **
- calibration:
-- the scanner calibration procedure has been improved (new complex algorithms to remove optical aberrations and perform stereo camera calibration have been applied);-- scanning calibration module: Now there is a calibration module in Easy Dental Scan software. With few simple steps it is now possible to calibrate scanner in order to be sure to obtain maximum scanning quality. Scanning calibration module requires a separate calibration toolkit and a license that is now available for purchase. An extensive documentation about calibration procedure is available.