Last year, the directors of a local print company looked on with interest and satisfaction at New Zealand’s yachting success duringthe Beijing Olympics. It was the culmination of years of planning and preparation, on and off the water
3D Print, based in Albany on Auckland’s North Shore, created a three-dimensional model of the land and undersea terrain at Qingdao, the 2008 Olympic sailing venue. Its model gave the Kiwi sailors knowledge of what to expect from wind and currents.The idea for a printed three-dimensional model germinated during a meeting between Peter Dawson and Martin Brewer, co-directors of 3D Print and Leslie Egnot, Olympic operations manager for Yachting New Zealand. Egnot, a silver medallist at the 1992 Olympics, also competed in the 1995 Americas Cup.
After seeing how CAD files could transform images into solid objects using ink-jet printer technology, Egnot recognised the benefit of creating a model for yachting, and in particular the area off Qingdao. She says, “We had a dilemma in that we were sailing at a venue we knew little about, with very different depths of water all around the course giving rise to strong and complicated currents. With the pollution, the sailors could often not see the land to give them reference points to know where they were on the course. Nor could they see the tall buildings or hills that would influence wind patterns.
“We felt a 3D model would be a very useful tool in giving the sailors a visual understanding of where the shallows and troughs were, which affect the currents and the hills and tall buildings for the wind. The sailors found they could interpret this easier than looking at charts.”
After accepting the challenge, Brewer and Dawson began the difficult task of assembling the data needed to create a 3D file that we could transform into a solid model. Brewer says, “The challenge was sourcing and accumulating data, and deciding what was accurate, relevant and worth putting into a model.”
Dawson agrees and adds, “It involved software modelling prepared by Dave Johnson, of Met Oceans Solutions in Raglan. Hydrographic and GIS data was obtained for the undersea and land terrain, and Google earth satellite data was used for overlaying the shore photography.
“The undersea terrain was colour-coded for depth showing the shallow sand banks and deeper channels so the sailors would know where the tidal flows were faster. Hillsides and buildings ashore that were useful as reference points were included. Then latitude and longitude were marked in a grid on the model to pre-determine where each sailor’s course would be on each day. All permanent buoys were part of the model.”
They printed the job on a ZCorp 510 3D colour printer, using a plaster-based powder for a medium. Brewer says, “Using a 3D model allowed us to present a lot of detail in a clear visual manner rather than traditional pieces of paper with photographs, figures and charts.” They completed the model in six months, in time for and Yachting New Zealand to use it in Qingdao, a year in advance for the Pre-Olympics.
Grant Beck, New Zealand’s most successful yachting coach, believes the model was a major help in preparing for the Olympic campaign, which ended with Tom Ashley’s board sailing gold medal and most Kiwi sailors gaining top ten finishes. Beck says, “When you can’t see the shore or reference points, and the currents are so difficult, you need all the help you can get. This model helped the sailors reconcile where they were on the course and know what was under them. It had a major impact on our planning, particularly at the Pre-Olympics where the sailors first came to grips with the course and the pollution.”
The possibilities for three-dimensional print expand daily. Dawson says, “Triathlon is another sport that may benefit from 3D Print. You can imagine how useful that would be for competitors and coaches to have the benefit of a bird’s eye topographical view on a coffee table. The colour printer capabilities come into their own on such a model, or for marketing purposes.
He concludes,”In terms of the future for 3D printing, as the technology develops, it will lead to rapid manufacturing where there is no requirement to hold parts and stock as you can build them on demand. That is some time away in a commercial sense,but perhaps closer than many think.”
