Research centre
Communication and Computing Research Centre

Date
2012

3D scanning of the Man of Steel sculpture, a metallic work of art created by local artist Steve Mehdi

The Man of Steel is a metallic sculpture created by Steve Mehdi, a local Sheffield artist. To celebrate Sheffield's unique place in the world history of metal-making, a gigantic 30m tall stainless steel sculpture to be entirely sourced in Sheffield has been commissioned. The Man of Steel project aims to contribute to enhance knowledge and understanding of the region's contemporary and historical contribution to national economy and culture. In order to obtain planning permission, Axis Architects based in Sheffield required a 3D model of the sculpture to create a virtual environment to determine the location and other parameters necessary to the application. The Man of Steel is to be located in Kimberworth near the Meadowhall Shopping Centre, overlooking the M1 Motorway.

Professor Marcos Rodrigues and Mariza Kormann from the GMPR Research Group have completed the 3D scanning using state-of-the-art laser scanning technologies. A number of issues had to be resolved as metallic surfaces are highly reflective and difficult to scan. The final model contains 5 million vertices scanned at a density of 4 vertices per millimetre (a screenshot detail of the scanned model is shown above). The scanned model has played a key role in the successful planning application and has made the headlines. The model is being used to promote the project and is to be used to scale up the steel structure to its planned size. For more information on the Man of Steel project please visit the Man of Steel website.

See other projects of GMPR - Geometric Modelling and Pattern Recognition Research Group.

Researchers involved

Professor Marcos Rodrigues - Head of GMPR Geometric Modelling and Pattern Recognition Group

Mariza Kormann - Invited Research Associate, GMPR Research Group

Related projects

GMPR - Geometric Modelling and Pattern Recognition Research Group - The Geometric Modelling and Pattern Recognition (GMPR) Research Group is...