Fix Those Broken Things With 3D Laser Scanning
Oh Snap!
So there you are with your friends in the basement having a good time. You are all engaged in an intense foosball match. All of the sudden (snap!) one of the plastic guys on the foosball table breaks. Like a birthday cake that falls spat on the ground, the game comes to a pathetic party-pooping stop.
Who you gonna call?
What do you do when things break? The sad truth is that the fooseball table goes years in the corner without anyone playing it. It finally it gets buried in storage room since no one goes looking for a replacement part. It dies a sad death never to rise again. Another scenario might be that you are getting ready to head out the door to go to work. You grab your laptop case by the handle, and (snap!) one of the rings for the shoulder strap breaks. So much for that bag. It’s not long after that you find yourself dumping that bag off at the Goodwill for someone else to buy and fix. Both of these are examples of things that became useless by one small plastic part. Could they have been replaced? Of course, but most of us don’t know where to go for a replacement part. Fortunately, there is now a solution that can fix all small broken part problems. That solution is 3D laser scanning services.
3D Laser Scanning is your "Mr. Fix-it"
3D laser scanning services is the name, and fixing all of those Salvation Army bound item is its game. Scanning parts and printing them out is the solution to fixing any part. Generally, if you break a part, you have to find a place that sells that exact part. You need the company information, and hopefully they still sell it. If you are lucky, someone on Ebay may have one, but there is no guarantee. All you have to have is a part to scan and you can reproduce it exactly with 3D laser scanning. Take the plastic foosball guy for example. All you need to do is scan one of them since the table is full of exact replicable parts. You can then print it out using a 3D printer once you have you 3D scan . The computer bag would be no different. Shoulder straps have two identical rings that hold the straps. All you would need is a 3D scan of the unbroken one and voila! Your bag is back!
Hold your 3D laser scanning horses
Does this sound exciting? It should, but not everyone is jumping up and down yodeling “yippie!” Some are concerned about intellectual property rights. Especially those who manufacture those parts and sell them for a living. If everyone is printing out their own foosball parts, bag rings, or any other part that can be easily reproduced by 3D laser scanning services, then they will lose business. I suppose there is something to be considered about that. Until now, though, it is not really clear on what can be constituted as a copy in regards to objects made from data clouds. If there is a problem I suppose those questions will be answered when the needs arises, but for now it seems that the second-hand stores have no shortage of products.
So the next time something in your house breaks, don’t throw it in the garage or trash pile just yet. As long as no copyright laws are broken, fixing it may be as simple as giving a whistle to 3D laser scanning services.