This project is solving the 3D Printing Contest challenge.
Using topographic data from ESA's Mars Express, and interpolating the gaps where there is no topographic information (still), we created a synthetic image of heights. We enhanced the heights, and smoothed the resulting image (as too much tactile information is confusing to blind people), specially the lowlands, and highlighted the main features, such as the Mariner Valley and the main mountains, to be easily recognizable by touching.
Then we projected these heights onto a sphere to create our 3D model, we added the 0º meridian, and a cap in both poles to mark them. We added a T on the north cap that will be the starting point for the tactile recognition. The two caps are at the same distance from the center, thus enhancing the fact that northern lowlands are really lower.
The goal is to make a tactile model of Mars for everybody, both with normal vision or blind, easy to be understood by touching. The model has been created by Fernando Ballesteros, Alberto Fernández-Soto and Amelia Ortiz-Gil.
Index of files:
-tactile_mars_20cm.stl : a complete version of the tactile globe of nearly 20cm in diameter
-tactile_mars_10cm.stl : a rescaled version of tactile_mars_20cm.stl but only 10cm in diameter
Project Information
License: Creative Commons BY-NC 3.0Source Code/Project URL: http://observatori.uv.es/tactile_mars/