3D Printed Dryosaurus
The largest dinosaur to ever be 3D printed has been created at GoEngineer. The 50 inch model proves the sheer scale of possibilities 3D printing has to offer to palaeontology with another set of dinosaur models to follow.
In a collaboration from palaeontologist Jeffrie Parker, of Western Paleo Labs and Kirk Brown of GoEngineer, a Stratasys reseller, a museum quality 3D printed model of a Dryosaurus unearthed in central Wyoming has been born.
Created on a Stratasys uPrint SE Plus Printer, the model is made up of 20 STL files that were printed in five batches in ivory ABSplus material.
“I like having a project like this to work on because it’s nice when we work on living history and open up our eyes to the endless possibilities of 3D printing,” explained Brown on the Stratasys blog.
The dinosaur itself is believed to have been a herbivore and originally stood at five feet tall with a long tail for balance allowing it to achieve high speeds.
Projects like this show the benefits 3D printing holds for the future of our history by simplifying the process of model making and digitizing files that can be accessed by a global audience. Projects such as the Smithsonian Digitization Program has ambitions to scan every artefact in the Smithsonian Institutes collection and present them on a virtual platform, completely evolving the way we interact with history.
“The 3D printing of an object adds to our understanding of the things and makes it real,” explained Parker. “Having a 3D printer is like having your own little robot factory.”
Two Dryosaurus skeletons have been produced with one on display at GoEngineer’s office whilst the other will remain with the man who unearthed the original skeleton, Parker. He plans on creating three more carnivorous models including two Allosaurs and a Ceratosaur. Parker said: “This will show the museum world what 3D printing can do.”
