Iowa State Geologists Develop App to Print 3-D Terrain Models of any Place on Earth

Geospatial Information Use

Date posted: 03/14/17

The web application is open source and free for private use through Iowa State GeoFabLab. It allows anybody with a 3-D printer to easily and quickly print terrain models of any place on the planet, including the ocean floor. To demonstrate, Franek Hasiuk, an Iowa State assistant professor of geology and David Morehouse Faculty Fellow, placed four tiles of 3-D-printed plastic, each about 4 inches square, on the desk in front of him. Put them together, and there is a scale model of Sheep Mountain and its central ridge rising out of the Bighorn Basin. That is a teaching tool that can help students see and touch an anticline, potentially a more powerful experience than studying a flat map or computer screen. This could be a key element in improving how geoscience students connect with the surface structure of the Earth, said Chris Harding, an associate professor of geology and a member of Iowa State program in human computer interaction. But, said Hasiuk, to be really useful, there had to be a fast, easy and reliable way for people to make the terrain models. It is challenging to make 3-D terrain models that consistently print well on any commercial 3-D printer. These are two TouchTerrain models of the Grand Canyon. It requires an understanding of geographic information systems, computational geometry, design and manufacturing software and 3-D printing technology. The TouchTerrrain development team includes Harding, with expertise in geographic information systems. Hasiuk, with expertise in 3-D printing of geological samples. Alex Renner, a doctoral student in mechanical engineering with expertise in simulations for 3-D printing. Levi Baber, a College of Liberal Arts and Sciences information technology manager with expertise in server technology. Even if a teacher had experience with geographic information systems, computer aided design software and 3-D printing.