Model Fish & Model Brains!: Burt’s 3D Printing Adventure
Hello! It’s Burt again. Today, my researcher friends took me outside the lab for a photoshoot. My friends wanted to be able to look at us cichlids outside of the water (why anyone would want to go there, I don’t know). They told us they wanted to make a 3D model of our species, and they chose me to be their study template! We visited LSU’s Communication across the Curriculum (CxC) office and the LSU Engineering Department, where they had me waggle my tailfin for their 3D scanner, and I learned about the 3D scanning and printing process. 3D scanning is the process of using a laser and cameras to analyze an object’s shape, size, and color. As the laser moves over the object, the cameras record the change in distance of the laser. The computer then uses the data to make small triangles or squares in 3D space, in what is called a “point cloud” model. Information from one side isn’t enough, so the scientists asked me to spin around for them so they could take images from lots of angles! Aft