As 3D scanning has continued to mature, tools for working with mesh data have improved. One example of this is Polyga’s new scan-to-CAD add-in for SOLIDWORKS, XTract3D.
Using the XTract3D toolbar, users can take advantage of powerful slicing, fitting and analysis tools that can transform a 3D mesh into an editable solid body or surface that can then be manipulated with traditional SOLIDWORKS tools. Polyga’s developers have prided themselves on the fact that their add-in is stripped bare of any extraneous features, making the scan-to-CAD process as simple as possible.
“We believe tools with fewer features, executed exceptionally well, create the best experience,” said Thomas Tong, president of Polyga Inc. “When creating XTract3D, we examined the entire reverse engineering workflow and reduced it down to its purest form. In the end, we created a reverse engineering solution that’s easy to use while giving users complete control as to how they want to sketch CAD models using 3D scan data as a reference.”
Aside from being a powerful and intuitive mesh interpreter, XTract3D can also handle the nuances of a design and can be toggled between either part or assembly mode. By giving users the option to transform a complete mesh—or only a small segment of the same data—designers can choose to completely reverse engineer a product, or use a portion of geometry as a reference for building new parts.