Hi-Tech Hide
What do you get when you mix a turtle with 3D scanning and printing technology. Maybe not a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle, but you will get a high-tech shell. I am talking about one lucky turtle who was unfortunate to lose his shell, but some kind-hearted geeks made him a new one using a 3D printer. Right now you are probably scratching your head, beard, and belly, thinking that I am joking, but the truth is that somewhere out there is a happy turtle roaming the earth with a custom crafted 3D crib. And all of this was made possible by 3D scanning services and 3D printing services. Boom! High-five.
FOrtunate Fred
Now Freddy (that’s his name) is one of the most unusual animals I have ever heard of. I mean, I know people who have lost limbs and were never given prosthetics. How on earth did a turtle end getting to the front of the line for a handsome high-tech shell? Well, here is the story. Fred the turtle was caught in a Brazilian forest fire, and after the blaze he almost starved to death and faced pneumonia. The rescuers, then, immediately did the right thing, they didn’t bother calling 911, but instead got right on the horn and called some 3D scanning services and 3D printing services. Good job, guys! From there, the innovative 3D specialists put there heads together and came to the conclusion that Fred needs a new bed. They decided to print him out a brand new 3D printed hard shell (and no I don’t mean tacos).
The process
You probably want to know how they did it. Well, apparently they took a lot of selfies of Mr. Fred; almost a hundred, actually. From those pictures they were able to reconstruct Fred into a 3D model. From there, using a plastic material, they were able to create Fred’s shell. This was not a quick process either. It took about 50 hours to complete the whole thing. Once they were done printing it out on the 3D printer, they could then proceed to paint Mr. Fred’s roof. They did their best to give him a real fancy looking shell.
The group who took on the task of giving Fred a total makeover is called the Animal Avengers. The Animal Avengers did quite a fine job, and it is not the only thing that they have done for needy animals. They have actually ventured into the beak business by helping some birds. They helped a parrot, a goose, and some toucans. I am not sure what else they could do with their animal avenging skills. I bet there are some crocodiles out there who could use some false teeth. If you look hard enough, a few snails may be looking to upgrade into a better shell, and maybe a porcupine is running a little short on sticklers. It seems that 3D scanning services and 3D printing services, has found a friendship in the animal kingdom.
