Commercial Case Study: Your Trust Museum Rochdale

Yourtrust are a museum based in Rochdale, Manchester. The company is home to artefacts from various time periods, from Ancient Egyptian to Victorian. Their collection is made up of donations from the local area which continues to grow over time. In their archives, they have over 2500 parts which are either stored or showcased in their exhibition.

The museum came to PrintCity to gain advice around 3D scanning and 3D printing technologies to implement in house. Yourtrust had recently acquired funding to digitise their collection using new technologies but were ensure what objects could be scanned. During the project we explored using Structure Light and Laser based scanning. Our team scanned several parts onsite using the Artec Leo, this included Ancient Egyptian and Ancient Greek Artefacts. Once scanned, the data required post processing to refine the 3D model and texture data. Some of the artefacts were reproduced using the HP MJF 580 Colour 3D Printer, creating realistic copies which could be sent out to local schools.

During the project, the team consulted the museum around which 3D scanner would be most suitable for their applications. The museum went onto to purchase two 3D scanners which are currently being used to digitise the artefacts in their achieve. Both scanners can be used with a turntable which automates the scanning process and significantly increases the scanning throughput.