Oct 13, 2016 | By Benedict
A collaborative project between five 3D printing and 3D scanning companies has produced what could be the world’s tallest 3D printed person: a three-meter-tall statue of Polish soccer star Robert Lewandowski. FabLab Kielce, one of the companies involved, will apply for the official Guinness record.
Defenders in the Bundesliga, Germany’s premier soccer division, must have regular nightmares about Robert Lewandowski. The 28-year-old Polish striker is one of the most clinical finishers in the game, and last season scored a phenomenal 30 league goals for FC Bayern Munich, including a near-impossible five goals in nine minutes in a match against Wolfsburg. In truth, the only thing that could make Lewandowski more terrifying—especially given his fearsome heading ability—would be making him ten feet tall.
Unfortunately for traumatized German defenders, a team of five Polish 3D printing and scanning companies has made Robert Lewandowski ten feet tall, turning the world-class soccer ace into a three-meter-tall 3D printed statue in a bid to score a Guinness world record. The immense 3D printed statue, over a meter taller than the existing 3D printing world record set by UK-based company Backface, was unveiled at the end of September at the eighth edition of 3D Printing Days, part of Poland's Warsaw Expo XXI.
The massive 3D printed statue of the soccer star was made possible by five Polish 3D printing and 3D scanning institutions and companies, each with their own area of expertise. First, the team had to acquire a 3D model of Lewandowski, which was achieved by 3D scanning the man himself with SMARTTECH's scan3Dmed 3D body scanning system, which is capable of obtaining structured light scans with 1.3 million color points in just 0.7 seconds. While the Polish company’s 3D scanner is generally used for medical applications, the SMARTTECH team was keen to get on board with the project in order to immortalize its country’s premier sporting icon as a record-breaking 3D printed statue.
“By using a 3D scanner dedicated for the medical industry, we were able to very quickly obtain detailed information about the shape of the body of Robert,” said Anna Gębarska, Managing Director of SMARTTECH. “There was no room for mistakes, since even the smallest of details would be exposed during the process of enlargement and adjustment of the shape of the human in order to be able to 3D print it. Our medical 3D scanners enable us to scan the surface of the human body in just 0.7 seconds, providing not only information on the shape but also the color of the scanned surface.”
Once the 3D scan of Lewandowski was complete, Fab Lab Kielce began 3D printing the giant statue using PLA filament and a large-scale 3D printer, with the total print time amounting to over 350 hours. The giant model was then painted by a Polish artist, before being dragged to the 3D Printing Days exhibition hall. The world record was unofficially broken at 14:00 on September 29, and the colossal 3D printed statue has now been given to the real Lewandowski, who will auction it off for charity…unless Bayern Munich try acquire it on a free transfer, presumably.
Teamwork enabled the group of Polish 3D experts to achieve the world record, with SUPEREXPO managing the media side of the project and the Institute of Design Kielce also offering invaluable expertise.
Posted in 3D Printing Application
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