Konica Minolta and SensAble Technologies Partner to Provide Scanner and 3D Modeling Bundle for Reverse Engineering and Medical Markets
Addresses Growing Market Demand for Design and Manufacturing of
Custom Orthotic Devices
RAMSEY, NJ and WOBURN, MA February 6, 2008 - Konica Minolta, the makers of the VIVID line of precision 3D laser scanners, and SensAble Technologies, Inc., a leading developer of touch-enabled systems for 3D modeling applications, today announced a new offering that combines SensAble's FreeForm Modeling software with Konica Minolta's VIVID 910 3D digitizer. VIVID's scan data can be seamlessly imported into the SensAble 3D modeling system, where the models can be refined and modified, adding incredible detail where needed. Applications include reverse engineering for product design, or body scans to produce patient-specific orthotic devices. This highly affordable advanced 3D scanning technology is now available for as low as $2700 a month through a special offer from Konica Minolta.
The bundling of these world-class products means that creating and modifying 3D models, often an arduous, manual process, has been automated, allowing high productivity, excellent fidelity and intelligence of the model. FreeForm's intuitive 3D modeling tools allow 3D files to be easily recreated and modified, for example, creating a premium toy from a licensed character model, an orthotic device to correct a spinal deformation or even a museum reproduction to be sold in a gift shop. FreeForm files can be output to a wide range of CAD packages, prototyping, mold-making and milling machines, for design review or manufacturing.
"The combination of the VIVID and FreeForm Modeling allows users to generate manufacturable 3D models in record time," comments James Clark, 3D Business Unit Manager, Konica Minolta Sensing. "Whether someone needs to recreate a part for which there is no tooling, or creating a torso model used to manufacture a body brace, this solution brings all the necessary scanning and design tools together to make the process simple."
Konica Minolta's versatile laser digitizers scan real 3D objects in a matter of seconds, exporting a polygonal mesh describing the shape of the scanned object with typical accuracy of 0.04 - 0.10 millimeters. This data is easily manipulated within the SensAble FreeForm 3D modeling environment.
"Customers have been successfully incorporating these two products, and this partnership makes acquiring and integrating the combined solution simpler, said Mark Tatkow, SensAble's vice president of business development. "One of our mutual customers, Kallisto, located in Toulouse, France, has built a very successful tightly integrated solution for creating orthopedic appliances and other orthotics, simplifying a manually intensive process that did not consistently yield an accurate fit. This is one of many applications that can benefit from the adoption of these complementary products."
The package is available to customers in North and South America for purchase from Konica Minolta at a special low price, and is also available for a 24-month lease. The most accurate and convenient 3D reverse modeling technology in the world can be had for as little as $2975 per month.
"Digital scanning is cheaper and faster than the alternative - having a CAD engineer physically measure and remodel the object," explains Clark. "Complex forms could take weeks to model by hand, an expensive approach that may not capture all the wanted details accurately. With the new Konica Minolta/SensAble package, 3D models can be produced in much less time, speeding the design process and freeing modelers and engineers to concentrate on new development."
About Konica Minolta
A wholly-owned subsidiary of Konica Minolta Holdings USA, Inc., Konica Minolta Sensing Americas, Inc. is a top-tier company in the measurement of shape, light and color. The company developed and introduced the first portable color 3D digitizers, spectrophotometers and colorimeters, adding new dimensions of convenience and functionality and dramatically changing the way light, color and appearance, and shape dimension is measured. Products include 3D digitizers, colorimeters, spectrophotometers, spectroradiometers, display products and more. The thousands of companies that use KMSA instruments range from automotive, plastics, consumer products, paints and coatings, to cosmetics and pharmaceuticals. 3D digitizers are used in medical, surgical and dental applications as well as in industrial design, industrial inspection, game software development, animation, virtual reality, architectural and fashion applications, to name just a few.
About SensAble Technologies, Inc.
SensAble Technologies is a privately-held company headquartered in Woburn, Massachusetts that provides software and devices that add the sense of touch to the digital world, including the FreeForm® 3D touch-enabled modeling systems and the PHANTOM® line of haptic devices and OpenHaptics® toolkit. SensAble modeling systems are used for product design, medical and dental modeling, digital content creation, and fine arts. The PHANTOM force-feedback (haptic) devices, which enable users to touch and manipulate virtual objects, and the developer toolkit, are used for simulation and training, robotics and third-party development. In addition to off-the-shelf solutions, SensAble offers contract development to OEMs for new and customized software applications and haptic devices. SensAble products are available through direct and reseller channels worldwide. www.sensable.com
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© 2008 SensAble Technologies, Inc. All rights reserved. 3D Touch, ClayTools, FreeForm, FreeForm Concept, FreeForm
Modeling, FreeForm Modeling Plus, GHOST, HapticExtender, NetTouch, OpenHaptics, PHANTOM, PHANTOM Desktop,
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