About

Stuart Norton set up in 2013 offering free-lance CAD services using Solidworks and discovered photogrammetry tools that helped capture the real-world digitally. Since then he has refined a tool chain of software products that have helped on a number of engineering projects mainly in the marine and heritage sector. The use of photogrammetry in combination with Solidworks has helped to give confidence to measurements, which has proved valuable when parts get CNC machined.

Software tools

Solidworks 2021 – 3D CAD, some limited FEA, output to CNC (including lasering, wood, 3d-print, general machining and casting), output of fabrication drawings for welding/assembly.

Photomodeler – Points-based photogrammetry software for capturing any size objects into CAD using digital photography (to an accuracy of around 1mm in 2 metres).

Agisoft Photoscan – Point-cloud/mesh based photogrammetry for capturing any size objects in CAD, or creating a photo-realistic digital representation of objects for 3D-archiving before deconstruction. These captures can be animated or included with CAD.

Rhino 3D CAD – General 3D CAD which acts as a bridge between other software, and is great for extracting measurements from point-clouds/meshes. (A swiss-army knife!)

Delftship Professional – Hull modelling software for creation of faired hulls. The photogrammetry scans can be carried into Delftship in order to re-create hullforms from existing hulls, or help with design of supports for boats. Delftship will also output reports for hydrostatics.

Hardware Tools

Leica 3D Disto – A points-based 3D laser scanner for capturing measurements. This proves useful to add confidence to measuring, and data can be carried straight into CAD in Rhino and Solidworks.

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