Resurfacing a 16ft Diameter Half Dome
Full process of the 16ft diameter half-dome resurfacing our digital fabrication team recently completed. The original form was made from nine parts sculpted on the robot arm and glued together. After a month of hand sculpting and sanding, it proved difficult to achieve a uniform surface and we ended up with a dimpled golf ball-like surface. This was unacceptable as the massive shape had to be perfectly uniform so it could be used as a plug to create a mold for a projection-mapped surface in an HMNS exhibition. Thus the digital fabrication team was asked to attempt to resurface it. A strategy was created to resurface the majority of the shape in one orientation and then flip it on its side to sculpt the last section on top. As the robot arm sculpted, the imperfections began to show with some areas too low to be milled. Now the paint & finish team has a perfect surface map of where they need to add or remove material. This half dome was the largest object the robot arm has sculpted to date! Great work team!! 🦾🙌🏻🎉
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Est. 2014