COIMBATORE, INDIA, October 13, 2011 (cadalyst.com): This may be a first: a Nandi created with laser scanning and a computer-aided design (CAD) model. Nandi is Lord Siva’s mount, a great bull who is installed in front of every Siva temple, gaze fixed unwaveringly on the image of God in the inner sanctum, one leg extended as if just rising to his feet to serve his Lord.
In 2008, VectraFORM Engineering and Solutions (a Coimbatore-based distributor for a laser-scanning product) was requested to help create a unique Nandi — one that would last over 500 years, but different in design from those in existence across India. The purchasers (not identified) had given up on the use of stone, the traditional material; in three attempts to create a stone Siva murti, the sculptors had been unable to fulfill the original design intent.
The company took pictures of live bulls of various ages and studied their characteristics, combining details from various photographs to create an ideal specimen. Working from the pictures, the team created a small plaster of paris model, which they scanned to obtain a CAD model. Fine-tuning the image using CAD proved unsatisfactory, so they also made a wax replica which could be corrected by hand.
The final wax model was then scanned and the data processed with a series of software products, eventually creating many two-dimensional drawings representing 100-mm layers. From these was designed a rebar framework for the sculpture. The exterior was manufactured of mild steel. The head, cast in seven pieces and later welded together, was CNC-milled from polystyrene foam. Supporting bars were used to help compensate for the deformation or warping of the castings. This high-tech Nandi was inaugurated before 250,000 people in February 2009.
The full article, at Source, describes the creation of this Nandi in greater detail, naming the various software products used in the process.
[HPI note: Kauai Aadheenam, where Hinduism Today’s offices are located, had to search long and hard for the craftsmen (silpis) who are carving the all-granite Iraivan Temple by hand and its Nandi; few workers remain who are proficient in this ancient art.]