3D Scanners, Digitizers, and Software for making 3D Models and 3D Measurements

Over the past few years a number of 3D Scanner / measurement / tracking devices and techniques have been developed.

3D Models can be used in a large range of exciting applications areas: Animation, Archaeology, Architecture, Dentistry, Education, Fashion and Textiles, Foot Wear, Forensics, Games, Industrial Design, Manufacturing, Medical, Movies, Multimedia, Museums, As-built Plants Rapid Prototyping, Reverse Engineering, Sculpture, Toys, Mold Making, and Web Design.

Hopefully these pages will help you determine the best products for your applications (Frequently Asked Questions)

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Table of Contents:

Acoustic Position Trackers
Books
Close Range Photogrammetry
CNC Milling Machines and 3D Printers
Coordinate Measurement Machines
Dense Stereo Matching
Homemade Scanners
Holography
Industry Magazines
Laser Radar Scanners
Laser Scanners
Laser Trackers
Magnetic Position Trackers
Measurement Service Companies
Optical Fiber
Optical Position Trackers
Professional Organizations
Profilers
Structured Light
Software
Time of Flight Laser Scanners
Total Stations and Theodolites
Touch Probes

Laser Scanners

• 3D Digital (now own rights to RealScan 3D... which was previously owned by Intel, and before that Lockheed Martin). The Model 100 portable scanner has a USB interface for easy interfacing but no color texture. The Model 200 has color texture.
• 3D Scanner has two different products. ModelMaker is a hand-held line scanner that fits on the end of an articulated arm (such as Faro). It comes in several different sensor configurations. The user can choose where to spend more time gathering dense data. The weight of the head and the rigidness of the articulated arm can make scanning a bit tiring. Replica/Reversa is a complete Computer Numerically Controlled (CNC) Machine.
• 3Shape 3D scanners for hearing aid and footwear applications
• DataPixel has sensors for CMMs, robot based inspection, and manufacturing in-line inspection.
• Axila G-scan is an integrated articulated arm and laser line scanner.
• Canadian National Research Council
• C-Map Systems LazrLyne projects a bright red vertical stripe into the video camera field of view. This allows an operator to measure areas, distances, and angles on the screen. The device is typically used for remote controlled crawlers, undersea ROV's, borescopes, and video microscopes.
• Cyberware pioneered laser and video-based scanning technology. Their head and body scanners have been heavily used in the movie industry. The have scanners to address a full range of applications and they build custom scanners for special applications. The scanners color texture inaddition to geometry data.
• DCS incubator project uses projection of multiple laser lines to create 3D profiles.
• Diff Scan handheld 3D scanner uses a laser, camera, and diffraction to obtain range information
• Digibotics has several different size models that use a single laser dot to scan an entire object. The systems automatically scan an entire object in an intelligent fashion. Because of the order it scans the object, the point cloud is very easy to convert to a NURB model usings tools like Surfacer. The scanning is some what slow, but accurate.
• Hamar laser alignment systems
• Hymarc Hyscan 45C laser digitizer is designed to fit to any Coordinate Measuring Machine (CMM), Computer Numerically Controlled (CNC) Machine, or other translation device.
• Industrial Technology Research Institute has a 4-axis scanner, a portable 3D scanner, and a body scanner.
• 4DI (bought by Brooks Automation) system projects multiple laser lines to scan an object. It has two video cameras to calculate the 3D points and one camera to keep track of the multiple lines.
• INO has a line of high speed 3D laser profiling sensors
• IVP high speed 3D machine vision sensor calculates range information directly in the camera (10,000 profiles / sec). Combined with the Ranger software, it makes creating 3D profiling applications easy.
• Kreon3D has two different models. The laser line is projected from the center of the sensor. Two cameras are used on either side of the line projector. This allows data capture even if one of the cameras is obscured.
• Laser Design makes both portable and CMM based scanners for large and small applications.
• LMI Technologies Inc. has single point, multi-point, single-line and multi-line laser sensors
• Mensi offers two different models, one for long distances (2.5 - 25 Meters), and one for shorter distances (0.8 - 10 meters).
• Metris has several CMM non-contact scanners.
• Metron Systems MSG2 3D Scanning System is for reverse engineering, rapid prototyping, first article inspection, quality and process control or simply scanning services
• Konica Minolta Vivid (USA) (Europe) (Japan) has three models (Vivid 330, 700, 900) to provide different accuracies and working volumes. These systems operate like a conventional camera and are portable, fast, and reliable. The systems product color texture and geometry data.
• Nagoya Institute of Technology Handy 3-D Cam
• Nextec has the Wiz laser point probe that can be mounted on a CMM or they have the Hawk integrated scanning system
• New Features Measurement sells the M2D line of laser line scanner
• NextEngine Desktop 3D Scanner uses multi-stripe laser triangulation and sells for around $2500.
• OGIScanner laser line scanner for measuring rough diamonds for use in diamond planning and cutting.
• Origin Technology captures a two-dimensional digital profile of a surface.
• Perceptron provides laser line scanner and software for integrating with articulated arms
• Polhemus has come out with a new model of the FastScan handheld laser scanner. The FastScan Cobra is a single camera laser line scanner. It is much lighter and easier to handle than the original FastScan. The user "paints" the object of interest. The point cloud is displayed on the screen as the scan is being done. It uses a built-in magnetic tracker to obtain the position and orientation of the scanner. This puts the scanned points in the same coordinate system. The overlapping scans are processed into a single surface model. Optional software provides automatic hole filling and generates water tight meshes. The list price is around $20K and the accuracy is around 0.5mm. This product is not suited for working around metal because of the tracker. The scanner and FastRBF software are developed by Applied Research Associates NZ Ltd. and FarField Technology
• Roland Model LPX-250 Laser Scanner is a $10K laser dot scanner that has rotation and linear stages. The operating volume is 10" diameter, 16" height. The scanning resolution can be as small as 0.008". The unit is very nicely package, but large complex parts can take quite a bit of time to scan.
• Scantech produces 3D laser scanners and CAD/CAM for efficient and fast copy milling. They have a portable scanner and stationary 3D laser scanners for mounting on any CNC-controlled milling machine or CNC-turning lathe.
• ScanWorks from Perceptron can be mounted on an articulated arm
• Shapegrabber has tabletop, portable, and gantry scanning platforms.
• Steinbichler Comet T-scan hand-held laser scanner for 3D-digitizing of freeform surfaces
• Scantech portable or CNC mounted scanner for stone, wood, and metal industry
• Surphaser 3D Laser Scanner ($30k) scans 200,000/sec with an operating volume of 6' x 6' x 6' with 0.05mm RMS accuracy
• Wolf & Beck Optical Scanning sensors for CMMs
• Z+F UK Ltd LARA scanners and Light Form Modeller Software

Structured Light Scanners

• 3D Metrics
• 3D Shape GmbH
• BodySkanner models commercial patterns to a person's measurements within 1/16".
• Breuckmann Make a variety of scanners
• C 3D Imaging
• CalTech 3D photography
• Capture3D
• ComfORTAC acquires 360 degree trunk and limbs with +/- 1mm accuracy.
• Dimensional Photonics is back (new incarnation?). The have a nicely packaged accordian fringe system. Minolta now sells their system for high-end applications. The technology promises to be more tolerant of lighting and shinely parts.
• EOIS makes the mini-moire non-contact probe for portable measurement arms. They also have 'The Handy' handheld digitizer that uses a digital camera for data capture and storage. EOIS technology sold to Opton Co Ltd of Japan in 2001.
• Eyetronics sells the ShapeCam and the SnapeSnatcher Suite Software. ShapeCam consists of a digital camera and a specially designed flash device mounted on a lightweight frame. Photos captured with the portable ShapeCam are processed and assembled in 3D with the SnapeSnatcher Suite. The suite handles alignment and stitching of scans, polygon reduction, texturemapping, and surface extrusion.
• Genextech Rainbow
• GOM Atos working volume is 100 x 80 x 80 mm up to 350 x 280 x 280 mm, scan time is 8 seconds.
• Inspeck 3D Capturor ($13K) can be used alone or combined into large object scanners
• Intelligent Quality Systems moire system
• Minolta 3D1500 Camera
• MonTech
• Nub3D
• Opton Moire System
• RSI Digiscan 2000 use a combination of a standard LCD projector, video camera, and software to objects
• Solutionix
• Steinbichler Comet
• Vitronic
• VXTechnologies (formerly VX Optronics) StarCam Uses a pair of cameras to triangulate the dot pattern projected by an inexpensive LCD projector. The system is available with an internal optical reference to help with thermal calibration issues.
• Wicks and Wilson Triform have several different body scanners (full body, torso, head).

Holography

• Optimet point probe uses Conoscopic Holography
• Coherix uses a tunable laser with multiple wavelengths and phase shifting to make measurements in a 12x12x16" working volume. The measurement time is 2-3 minutes. Works well on flat reflective surfaces. Applications have primarily been in the automotive (brake pads, pumps, engine blocks) and semiconductor areas (silicon wafers). Systems are high-end ($200K)

Software

• 3D Reshaper
• Cortona VRML plugin can be used to view VRML files in your web browser
• CosmoPlayer VRML plugin can be used to view VRML files in your web browser
• Cyberware CySlice
• Delcam provides a free translator that converts Unigraphics, SolidWorks, Pro/E 2000i, Parasolid and CATIA files to IGES.
• Deskproto Converts STL files into machining paths for CNC machines
• Easy3DScan is a package for automating the scan process using Minolta VIVID scanners and a turntable
• FarField Technology provides advanced techniques for modeling scattered 2D and 3D data.
• Imageware Surfacer allows you to manipulate point clouds and convert them into useful objects such as points, lines, planes
• Innovmetric Polyworks accepts scan data from most scanner manufacturers and aligns them into one model. It is very good at handling the extremely large datasets. It processes both the points and the texture. The point clouds and models can be exported or compared against CAD models.
• MatchGraph integrates 3d scan data processing technology in one package. It handles the creation and modification of triangulated meshes, NURB curves, and surfaces with inspection and analysis
• MayaMetrix Real-time inspection and tool building help Link Digital CAD Models to Manufacturing
• Metris provides data preparation, registration, comparison, and reporting software for dimensional inspection.
• Okino Polytrans does a great job of converting 3D models between formats.
• Paraform surface reconstruction software
• PRISM 3D Software software for managing, sharing, and extracting information from as-built laser scan point clouds.
• Raindrop Geomagic has a product that converts point clouds into polygonal and NURB models. The Qualify product aligns point cloud data to CAD models and inspects it.
• RapidForm can create parametric models from point clouds. They also have software for inspecting products against their CAD definitions.
• Rhino3D Nurb modeling for Windows.
• RevWorks
• SpatialAnalyzer SpatialAnalyzer can simultaneously acquire data from any combination of metrology instruments - Theodolites, Total Station Theodolites, Laser Trackers, Laser Scanner, Coordinate Measurement Machines.
• UZR 3D Professional creates a 3D model from a series of object images.
• Visualization Toolkit (VTK) is an open source, freely available software system for 3D computer graphics, image processing, and visualization.
• Verisurf

Laser Radar Scanners

• Metricvision technology is based on Frequency Modulated Coherent Laser Radar, which gives it great precision (repeatability is in the sub-10 micron range at over 10m). Since it is a focused system is has good spatial resolution ( absolute precision in the range of 100 microns at 10 meters). The technology is very good at capturing reflective surfaces and can be used with mirrors to reduce line-of-sight problems.

Time-of-flight Laser Scanners

• 3rdTech DeltaSphere 3000 Laser 3D Scene Digitizer
• Cyra Cyrax 2500 scanner is suited for capturing large "as-built" structures and turning them into CAD representations. They have been used in applications from retrofitting power plants to digitizing movie sets. The accuracy is +/-6mm at 1.5m to 50m 1 sigma. The operating volume is approximately 20,000M^3. Approximate system pricing is $150K.
• Quantapoint measures 125,000 points per second and covers a 70 degree by 360 degree field of view
• Riegl Laser Measurement Systems for 3D imaging of buildings and structures

Laser Trackers

• Automated Precision sells the Laser Tracker II system which is a lightweight, precise, compact and portable CMM tool designed for industrial applications.
• Faro (formerly SMX) produces a portable CMM system that precisely measure objects in the 0-100' range.
• Leica Geosystems sells a range of industrial measurements systems including laser trackers.

Touch Probes

• Axila claims to have invented the first six-axis portable CMM in 1986. The ORBITAL is their eight-axis arm.
• Faro Three families of digitizers (sterling, silver, and gold). Working volumes from 4-12', accuracies of 0.001" to 0.007" 2 sigma.
• Garda Inspector
• Immersion Microscribe Several different models with varying working volumes (50" - 66" sphere) and accuracy (0.009 - 0.015").
• Roland makes several small volume piezo scanners. The low price makes them great for scanning coins, jewelry, and other small parts.
• Romer Six axis articulation, 6 - 12' diameter measuring, accuracy to +/- 0.008"
• ZettMess Portable 6 Axes Measuring System

Optical Position Trackers

• 3rdTech HiBall-3100 Based on the UNC Wide-Area Tracking Research Project
• ArcSecond sells what they call an indoor GPS system. The system consist of 2-4 transmitters that are similar to rotating construction laser levels. Receivers are connected to wireless PDAs and display x,y,z location. The interesting part about this product is that you can many independent receivers. The systems are fairly accurate over a large working volume.
• Image Guided Technologies
• Krypton is a precalibrated mobile metrology system. There are no mechanical arms and the setup is fast and straight forward.
• Northern Digital makes the Polaris and Optotrak system. They track active and passive markers. ND focuses on the medical areas, and is common in image guided surgery.
• PhoeniX Technologies Real-Time 3D Motion Capture for research, biomechanics, VR, and gaming.

Magnetic Position Trackers

• Ascension Technology
• Polhemus developed the technology and sells the FasTrak and Liberty systems.
• Mednetix AG
• Northern Digital has a new Aurora system that uses small sensors. It has a measurement volume approximately 500mm x 500mm x500mm. The 1 sigma accuracies are 1-3mm and 1-2 degrees orientation. This product will help ND in the image guide surgery arena where optical systems can have their views blocked.

Acoustic Position Trackers

• GTCO CalComp Freepoint 3D Sonic" Several models listed, one with a large 16 x 8 x 8 ft working volume with a 0.004" resolution.
• Pegasus Technologies Ltd

Optical Fiber

• Measurand

Dense Stereo Matching

• Geometrix FaceVision uses multiple low-cost digital cameras to create textured face models from ear to ear.

Profilers

• CamSys ShadowBox has 16" diameter, 16" high cylindrical working volume. Two models with different accuracy. Scan times range from 15 - 120 seconds.
• Solarius Development LaserScan is a 3D profilometer for laser measurement and analysis of surfaces

Coordinate Measurement Machines (CMMs)

• CMMtalk On-line Community for CMM Professionals
• Brown & Sharpe
• LK Metrology
• Mahr Federal Inc.
• Mitutoyo
• Renishaw
• Starrett
• Werth America Inc.
• Zeiss

Close-Range Photogrammetry

• Apollo Photo3D creates 3D textured models from photographs
• Australis is from the University of Melbourne. Professor Clive Fraser has written many papers about using photogrammetry on industrial applications.
• DPA-Pro is from AICON 3D Systems. The software has a heritage from the older Rollei DPA-WIN software. Coded targets and automatic camera calibration greatly improve your productivity.
• Brunson Instrument Company sells Invar components and accessories useful for creating photogrammetry scale bars.
• Cognitens 3D vision measurement systems is targeted at the automotive and the aerospace applications.
• GSI Inca2 camera and V-Stars are top-of-the-line cameras and software. They are geared towards automatically measuring coded, circular retro-reflective targets, and scale bars. This is a true metric camera, not just a professional grade digital camera.
• Hubbs Machine and Manufacturing produce photogrammetry targets and tooling.
• Imetric produces very high resolution cameras (6 and 28 Megapixel). Their software can read coded targets and can integrate their structured light sensor.
• Kodak sells several professional digital cameras that are good for medium to high accuracy photogrammetry projects. The cameras are available in monochrome versions which are typically better for photogrammetry. The current model is the DCS 760M, past models have been the DCS 420M and DCS 660M.
• Leica Geosystems also sells the V-Stars videogrammetry system produced by GSI.
• LensDoc is a Photoshop plugin to correct lens distortion
• Metronor
• Microsoft Live Labs Photosynth finds autocorrespondences and camera positions from a set of images
• Photometrix has the Australis suite for automated close-range phototgrammetric measurements and iWitness system for accident reconstruction and forensic photogrammetry.
• PhotoModeler is a great package for calibrating cameras, making measurements from photos, and creating 3D models from photos. It has a lot of functionality for the price (<$1000).
• Renoir for 3D reconstruction from photos
• ShapeQuest ShapeCapture works with projected targets
• SPG Data 3D uses a projected pattern and multiple cameras to inspect large objects.
• TCTI (3DMD) uses random light patterns with up to 144 synchronized digital cameras to geometry and texture of human subjects
• TriTop is a photogrammetry package from Capture3D. It is usually sold and integrated with the ATOS structured light sensor that they sell. It allows the point cloud scans to be automatically placed using coded and uncoded retroreflective targets.
• Visual Interface
• Vexcel FotoG Automatic edge detection for targeting helps this software create as-built models of plants.
• W.N.B.C. in L.A. produces retroreflective targets for use in photogrammetry applications.

Total Stations / Theodolites

• Leica Geosystems sells a range of industrial measurement systems include theodolites and total stations
• Sokkia

CNC Milling Machines and 3D Printers

• 3D Systems has SLA Stereolithography systems and solid imaging printers
• Fourth-axis makes rotary micromachines attachments for the Roland CNC machines. It converts them into rotary mills for jewelry applications
• Minitech
• MultiCam makes CNC routers, laser cutters and plasma cutters
• Roland CNC Milling Machines
• Zcorp has two different model 3D printers. The Z406 ($67.5K) uses a plaster-based powder. The Z400 ($49K) uses a starch-based powder. The loose powder acts as a supporting structure which can be removed and reused.

Professional Organizations

• ACM SIGGRAPH
• Coordinate Measurement Systems Committee
• Metrology Automation Association
• The Imaging & Geospatial Information Society

Measurement Service Companies

• DeChant Consulting Services sells the iWitness accident reconstruction software. They provide training and consulting services.
• Conservation Technologies Provides laser cleaning and scanning technology combined with traditional conversation skills to provide a range of conservation services
• Direct Dimensions provides 3D scanning, reverse engineering and inspection services utilizing a variety of tools from portable CMM's to laser scanners and laser trackers
• Solarius Development rent their equipment
• Arius3D
• 3Space
• Imtec
• Brunson
• Automated Precision
• ATT Metrology
• Archaeoptics Specialize in high-accuracy, low-cost 3D laser scanning most commonly in the fields of heritage management and archaeology.
• Streamline Automation
• 3Shape Consulting and Services
• 3DScanCo sell Konica Minolta range cameras, Faro equipment, and several software packages (Geomagic, rapidform, and Metris). They provide 3D scanning , reverse engineering, and quality inspection services.
• QPlus CMM Dimensional Measurement, Reverse Engineering, First Article Inspection 2D/3D Digitizing

Homemade Scanners

• Building a Homemade Laser Line Scanner By Ethan Gold
• Home-Brew 3-D Photography by Jay Kubicky
• Development of a Four-Head Color Laser Range Scanner
• Public domain 3-dimensional data acquisition design and software by Laurence G. Hassebrook
• 3D Touch Probe Scanner by Roger Mueller
• 3D laser scanner by Roger Mueller uses a inexpensive quickcam pro 4000, a single laser line, and a turn table. Nice description of method, hardware, and software.

Industry Magazines

• Quality Online Magazine
• VisionSystems Design
• Advanced Imaging
• Photonics Spectra
• Time-Compression Technologies

Books

Computer Graphics and Visualization

Photogrammetry

• Close Range Photogrammetry and Machine Vision Edited by K.B. Atkinson, Department of Geomatic Engineering, University College London
• 3D Modeling from Photos : Build 3d Models Fast Using Desktop Photogrammetry by Lyn Merritt
• Elements of Photogrammetry(with Applications in GIS) by Paul R. Wolf, Bon A. Dewitt
• Introduction to Modern Photogrammetry by Edward M. Mikhail, James S. Bethel, J. Chris McGlone, Chris McGlone
• Digital Photogrammetry by Michel Kasser and Yves Egels

Computer Vision

• Computer Vision : Three-Dimensional Data from Images by Reinhard Klette, Karsten Schluns, Andreas Koschan This is a great practical book for people that want to learn about creating 3D data from images.
• Computer Vision: A Modern Approach by David Forsyth, Jean Ponce
• Multiple View Geometry in Computer Vision by Richard Hartley, Andrew Zisserman
• Introductory Techniques for 3-D Computer Vision by Emanuele Trucco, Alessandro Verri Good classroom book for introduction to computer vision.
• The Geometry of Multiple Images: The Laws That Govern the Formation of Multiple Images of a Scene and Some of Their Applications by Olivier Faugeras, Quang-Tuan Luong, T. Papadopoulo
• 3D Structures from Images - Smile 2000
• Computer Vision by Linda G. Shapiro, George C. Stockman, George Stockman
• Computer Vision and Fuzzy Neural Systems (With CD-ROM) by Arun D. Kulkarni
• Active Contours : The Application of Techniques from Graphics, Vision, Control Theory and Statistics to Visual Tracking of Shapes in Motion by Andrew Blake, Michael Isard
• Handbook of Computer Vision Algorithms in Image Algebra by Gerhard X. Ritter, Joseph N. Wilson
• Calibration and 3D Reconstruction for Multicamera Marker Based Motion Measurement by J.C. Sabel

Image Processing

• Computer Vision and Image Processing: A Practical Approach Using CVIPTools (BK/CD-ROM) by Scott E. Umbaugh
• The Image Processing Handbook, Third Edition by John C. Russ
• Algorithms for Image Processing and Computer Vision by James R. Parker
• Practical Algorithms for Image Analysis: Descriptions, Examples, and Code by Michael Seul, Lawrence O'Gorman, Michael J. Sammon
• Feature Extraction in Computer Vision and Image Processing by Mark S. Nixon, Alberto Aguado
• Contemporary Optical Image Processing With Matlab by Ting-Chung Poon, Partha P. Banerjee
• 3-D Image Processing Algorithms by I. Pitas, Nikos Nikolaidis
• Practical Algorithms for Image Analysis: Descriptions, Examples, and Code by Michael Seul, Lawrence O'Gorman, Michael J. Sammon

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