It’s quite hard to believe that I only have about two weeks left of the DTSF internship. It is a bittersweet thought indeed!
I am happy to say that I made a lot of progress with my project throughout the course of this past week! However, I first needed to gain administrator access on the computer in order to download programs such as Meshmixer that I needed to fix errors in my models. On Monday, I initially wanted to see how my Pix4D project files would look if they were printed with the 3D printer instead of the Carvey machine for comparison reasons. I exported the projects as .stl files and Tyler assisted me with printing my Stine Lake and West Quad model with the 3D printer. However, the triangle meshes did not mesh well together so I used Meshmixer to resolve all 47 defects in the composition of my model and tried to print the model again. I had to change the dimensions and scale of the project in order to decrease the size of the model, otherwise it would have been too large to print. I also exaggerated the z axis so that every subtle change of the elevation of the terrain would be very noticeable.
I then uploaded my fixed 3D model with completely connected triangle meshes to Fusion 360 and from there I uploaded the project to Easel. This allowed me to print the model on the Carvey 3D Carver machine. However, I was encountering many issues generating the toolpath of the model on Fusion 360 once I imported the project. Director Remy had an idea to work around this issue – I could also use a computer plugin program called Paint.net to edit exported photos of heat maps from my Pix4D models demonstrating different terrain levels. This allowed me to create photographic layers of each elevation level of the models that were individually carved by the Carvey machine. I executed this by adjusting the hue and saturation of the heat map demonstrating DTM which I then converted from .png files to .stl. Even though this method worked, Director Remy and I realized that it may not have produced models that were as scaled and accurate as they could have been. Because of this we approached a new tactic of exporting png files of the contour lines of each model into paint.net where I created individual photos of filled in portions, indicating where the Carvey needed to cut each elevation level layer.
I spent a hefty amount of time perfecting and fixing errors in the elevation images used to carve out different levels of the terrain. This task was difficult at times because if the photos were not perfectly sequential in regards to increasing elevation and filled in the exact location of the change in terrain height, the Carvey machine would not run its mission or the model would be carved inaccurately with incorrect dimensions and scales.
This past week I created carved wooden pine models of Quarry Pond, Stine Lake, and West Quad. Director Remy was even kind enough to drive me to Boyer Nurseries and Orchards so that I could use the Mavic Pro drone to take photographs of the open, hilly terrain. The model of the third area of the orchards that we visited was the most difficult to create due to its drastic and abundant amount of elevation levels. However, I was extremely satisfied and proud of the model that was carved of the orchard in the end!
This week Hoang, Orrin, Director Remy, R.C, Professor Oechler and I will be at Hamilton College in New York for an Immersive Technology Conference. I am excited to see what types of projects other students are working on as well as to expand my knowledge of various programs and types of technology!
Photogrammetry Model of Boyer Nurseries and Orchards Inc using Mavic Pro drone and Pix4D software.
Contour image of elevation level set to 10 foot increments, exported from Pix4D.
Aerial mosaic view of Boyers Orchards, DSM, and DTM (tree elevations not accounted for).
