This was a UBC MECH 491 CAD/CAM System course project where each student was tasked to reverse engineer the exterior geometries of a complex-surface-based industrial or commercial product of own choice. Siemens NX 3D CAD was the only software allowed for the project; furthermore, students were prohibited from using any surface digitization technology, such as laser scanners or coordinate measurement machines. With my passion toward photography, I chose the first DSLR I used to own, Nikon D80, as my modelling target. I modelled the camera body using hybrid method utilizing both freeform surface and solid body. Complex overall form of the camera was created using the former method; while more primitive features, such as panels, buttons, and dials, were created by solid modelling technique. This hybrid technique should allow CAD users to facilitate strength of both techniques and maximize the modelling efficiency. Total procedures (including the ones used for provisional tests) used to create the model is 454. The camera model earned me a nearly perfect score from the course instructor.
DSLR Camera Exterior Modeling
Through this project, I acquired the modelling techniques to create complex CAD surfaces that are intended for superior product ergonomics.
From Photos to Sketches
The modelling started from placing product photos of various view orientations into the CAD environment. Reference sketch curves were then manually traced and extracted from these photos. This procedure is simple yet very crucial, as the chosen reference curves could influence the overall modelling strategies and could limit or open up techniques that can be applied in the later stages.
Freeform Surface Creation
Freeform surface modelling technique (e.g. NURBS surface) is useful in creating stylized surfaces that are commonly seen on consumer products, hand tools, or medical devices. Close attentions must be paid to the parameters in order to create smooth high quality surfaces (class A surfaces). Boundary conditions, such as tangency alignment, are also important to ensure the continuity between two connected surfaces is not disturbed.
If more time was given, fidelity of some details could have been better, but I believe the overall vibe of the camera was successfully re-created.