FabLab specialists from the TSU Siberian Design Center printed the skeleton of a velociraptor on a 3D printer. Velociraptors are predatory dinosaurs that lived on Earth 83–70 million years ago. The drawings were provided by 3D technologists from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). The skeleton model will be used in teaching paleontology students.
The dinosaur skeleton is printed from plastic, and the exhibit is about 1.4 meters in length, 60-70 centimeters in height. For greater clarity, the skeleton was not fixed on supports but hung on threads. Plastic is resistant to impact and requires much less maintenance than real skeletons.
- In the classroom with paleontology students, we will be able to use a plastic skeleton as comparative material for research. Most likely, relatives of the velociraptor lived in Siberia - I am now talking about the dromaeosaurid family, which includes the velociraptor, - said Stepan Ivantsov, an associate professor at the Faculty of Geology and Geography.
Stepan Ivantsov also added that TSU has a skeleton of the psittacosaurus. Perhaps it will be scanned in the future and also printed on a 3D printer for educational purposes.
- It seems to me that it is right to restore things with the help of new technologies. Plastic is much easier to maintain than real bones, and in this case, technologies work correctly for science, - commented Ivan Volobuev, an employee of FabLab, on the creation of the model.
For the first time, the model of velociraptor was presented at Museum Night. A schoolgirl, Anastasia Shabanova, a volunteer at the Siberian Design Center, who will enter TSU, helped to assemble the dinosaur model.