Amazing Engineering Feats Require Amazing Technology
We are now entering a new era where one can buy a ticket for a ride into space. Two non-government entities, Amazon (or properly Blue Origin) and Virgin, have built their own spacecraft. Let’s not forget Tesla. But today we saw Jeff Bezos climb into his company’s new spacecraft, the New Shepard, and blast him right into space. Amazon is in fact a 3D laser scanning services customer of ours, and while we didn’t scan anything related to a spacecraft (our project involved their warehouse robots), we know that as a company, they use 3D laser scanning services to their advantage. But how, you might ask, does a space flight company utilize 3D laser scanning services in their program?
Product Development
While a spaceship is not a household item not something they will sell on Amazon.com, it is a product nonetheless. When developing a product, 3D laser scanning services can be used in a few ways to speed things along. Designers can use sculpting to create beautiful ergonomic forms which can then be digitized through 3D laser scanning services. During prototyping stages when design modifications are made manually, 3D scanning can capture the changes that can be later integrated into the CAD model.
Testing
3D laser scanning services are used during experiments and trials to make sure the designs are holding up. An example would be a heat shield. The heat shield is tested on the ground by applying a similar level of heat and pressure as it would see in space. 3D laser scanning services can compare the surface before and after to detect how well it withstood the test and to map out any damage that occurred. 3D laser scanning services have the capability to detect very minor differences from before and after, thus providing the engineers precise information on how the surface is wearing. 3D laser scanning services can also detect differences in the shape of vessels, tubes and the craft in general to quantify changes that occur from one flight to the next. This could potentially provide an early warning to an impending failure.
Inspection and Quality Control
Aviation has high standards for manufacturing parts, but space flight takes it to another level. High precision manufacturing is needed, and the manufactured parts must all be inspected to make sure they conform to design requirements. 3D laser scanning services permit inspection of highly complex shapes such as one may find inside that of a rocket engine or spacecraft controls. All parts have defects, to one degree or another. 3D laser scanning services allow us to understand the magnitude of the defect. When it comes to spaceships carrying people like Jeff Bezos, there is an especially high motivation for perfection at every level. we know Blue Origin uses 3D laser scanning services to help achieve this.
