Model Render Print Box

Printable 3D models of the Earth rendered from the global elevation model (GDEM) data on the shared /datasets volume — a small desk globe that prints as two halves with a twist-lock cylinder joining them. The render source is ETOPO 2022, maintained by the model-elevation-earth project.

Status

• Status: active.
• Data source: ETOPO 2022 (land elevation + seafloor bathymetry), 15-arcsecond GeoTIFF tiles on /datasets/dataset-etopo-2022/.
• Goal: render the Earth's surface as three STL pieces that load into a slicer (OrcaSlicer, PrusaSlicer) and print on a 3D printer: the northern half, the southern half, and the twist-lock cylinder.
• Live dataset and piece state: see the dashboard.

How it works

The project reads the GDEM tiles from the shared datasets volume, renders the globe at 100 mm sea-level diameter as two hollow hemisphere shells divided at the equator, and adds a hollow twist-lock cylinder whose outer surface mates with the inner surface (socket) of the two halves. The ring is entirely inside, so the hemispheres' rims meet at the equator. Bayonet pins on the cylinder engage L-shaped grooves in each socket; twisting the two hemispheres in opposite directions locks both halves while the ring stays put, and the relief seam is aligned when locked. The approach is decided in documents/05-globe-box-approach.md.

Printing workflow

• make build renders the three pieces into dataflow.out/box/ with manifest.json.
• make check validates every piece (watertight, flat rim, expected bounds, mating geometry).
• Load the pieces into your slicer; millimeters, z = 0 is the rim plane of each half (the flat face that sits on the bed).
• Assembly: slide the twist-lock into one half's socket, fit the other half over the far end, twist the two hemispheres in opposite directions to lock (the ring stays put).

Assembled globe

• Interactive 3D view of the assembled globe (both halves + the twist-lock cylinder in place): assemble.html.
• Generated by make assemble into dataflow.out/box/ (a coarse-res web model).

Documentation

• Globe-box approach: documents/05-globe-box-approach.md
• Data source: /datasets/manifest.yml (etopo-2022)
• Records: records/