Ball Mill Digital Twin & Reverse Engineering
Creating an accurate digital twin of complex, operating heavy machinery requires specialized spatial solutions. For this project, we deployed advanced terrestrial and handheld 3D laser scanning—utilizing FARO Focus Laser Scanners—to capture an industrial ball mill with millimeter-level precision. Our methodology not only supports the data-driven frameworks championed by the Infrastructure NSW Digitalisation Program, but also aligns with the rigorous professional standards maintained by Engineers Australia, ensuring our deliverables provide the confidence necessary for precise reverse engineering and asset management.
The Challenge
- Limited or outdated documentation for ageing plant equipment
- Complex geometry across the ball mill and associated platforms
- A requirement to minimise disruption to an operating site
- Millimetre-level accuracy needed for the engineering design to follow
- Restricted access around certain sections of the equipment
- A need to model both large-scale infrastructure and smaller detailed components
Our Approach
Terrestrial Laser Scanning:
A high-accuracy scanner captured the complete ball mill room, including the shell, drive system, steelwork, and pipework. Multiple scans were registered into a single high-density point cloud to provide full spatial context.
Handheld 3D Scanning:
Areas requiring finer detail were captured with a handheld scanner. This enabled high-resolution capture of complex surfaces and precise dimensional verification where terrestrial data was insufficient.
Data Registration & CAD Integration:
Both datasets were aligned and validated in Autodesk Inventor to produce a single, coordinated 3D model.
Deliverables
- Full ball mill room point cloud
- Cropped ball mill point cloud
- Handheld mesh model
- Integrated Autodesk Inventor assembly model
Results
- Reliable dimensional data before any design work began, removing reliance on manual measurement
- Engineers could design retrofit solutions directly against actual site conditions
- Fewer site visits, with much of the review done remotely using the scan data
- Future modifications could be checked against existing infrastructure before installation, catching clashes early
- A permanent digital record of the installation for future maintenance and upgrades
Project Gallery
