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3DScanning,3DScanner,ReverseEngineeringandIndustryTechnicalInformation

CompanyInformation
Simplyput,3Dscanningisafastandaccuratemethodofputtingphysicalmeasurementsofanobject
ontothecomputerinanorganizedmanner,resultinginwhatiscommonlycalled3Dscandata.
Typically,the3Dscandataisrepresentedwithascaledigitalmodelora3Dgraphicalrendering.Once
thescandataisonthecomputer,allofthedimensionsofthephysicalobjectcanbetaken,suchas
length,width,height,volume,featuresize,featurelocation,surfacearea,etc.
3Dscandataisoftenusedasabridgebetweenphysicalobjectsandmodernmanufacturing.Thisis
achievedbyconvertingthedataintocomputeraideddesign(CAD)models,usingittocompareagainst
the"asdesigned"idealofthepart,orusingitintheseeminglyinfinitenumberofcomputeraided
engineering(CAE)toolsavailable.

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Ingeneral,adevicethatcaptures3Dinformationisreferredtoasa3Dscanner.Therearemany
differentmethodsforcapturingthe3Dmeasurementsofaphysicalpartandthus,manydifferenttypes
ofscanners:

3DScanningGlossary

3DLaserScanningor3DLaserScannerscangenerallybecategorizedintothreemaincategories
lasertriangulation,timeofflightandphaseshift.Theselaserscanningtechniquesaretypicallyused
independentlybutcanalsobeusedincombinationtocreateamoreversatilescanningsystem.There
arealsonumerousotherlaserscanningtechnologiesthatarehybridsand/orcombinationsofother3D
scanningtechnologiessuchasaccordionfringeinterferometryorconoscopicholography.
Lasertriangulationisaccomplishedbyprojectingalaserlineorpointontoanobjectandthen
capturingitsreflectionwithasensorlocatedataknowndistancefromthelaser'ssource.The
resultingreflectionanglecanbeinterpretedtoyield3Dmeasurementsofthepart.
Timeofflightlaserscannersemitapulseoflaserlightthatisreflectedoffoftheobjecttobe
scanned.Theresultingreflectionisdetectedwithasensorandthetimethatelapsesbetween
emissionanddetectionyieldsthedistancetotheobjectsincethespeedofthelaserlightis
preciselyknown.
Phaseshiftlaserscannersworkbycomparingthephaseshiftinthereflectedlaserlighttoa
standardphase,whichisalsocapturedforcomparison.Thisissimilartotimeofflightdetection
exceptthatthephaseofthereflectedlaserlightfurtherrefinesthedistancedetection,similarto
thevernierscaleonacaliper.

WhiteLightScanning(structuredlightscanning)isusedtodescribeawiderangeof3Dscanning
devices.Thebasictechniqueistoprojectaknownpatternoflight(usuallywhite)andusesensors
(typicallyCCDcameras)tocaptureimagesoftheobjectwiththepatternsprojectedonit.Inorderto
capture3Dinformation,multiplepatternsand/ormultiplesensorscanbeused.Ifmultiplepatternsare
projected,thesoftwareusesreferencingandthechangeinshapeoftheknownpatterntointerpret3D
measurements.Ifmultiplesensorsareusedthesoftwareusestheknownpatternandreferencing
betweenimageanglestodeterminethe3Dmeasurements.

Photogrammetryisatechnologybasedonstandardphotographyandprojectivegeometryandwas
originallyusedtodigitizelargeobjectssuchasbuildings,oilrigsandwarehouses.Theprinciplebehind
photogrammetryistotakemultipleimagesofobjectsandmanuallyorautomaticallyreferencecommon
pointsineachphotograph.Pointscanbeaddedautomaticallyormanuallytocreate3Dmeasurements
ofthedesiredelementsofthepart.Photogrammetryisoftenusedwithother3Dscanningtechnologyto
providefullsurfacemeasurementsofpartsandtoretaintighttolerancesoverlargeareas.

MachineVisionisgenerallyusedtodetecttwodimensionalinformation,suchasbarcodes,tosort
packages.Anoffshootofmachinevisionisstereovision,inwhichapairofsensorsisplacedaknown
distancefromapart,takingtwoimagessimultaneously.Theresultingimagesaremerged,creating
correspondencepointsbetweenthem.Theshiftinpositionofthematchingpointsisknownasdisparity
andbycalculatingthedisparityofeverypointofthetwoimages,3Dmeasurementsofentirescenes
canbebuilt.

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3DScanning,3DScanner,ReverseEngineeringandIndustryTechnicalInformation

CoordinateMeasuringMachines,morecommonlyreferredtoasCMMs,aremeasuringdevicesthatuse
movableprobes.Thepositionoftheprobeistrackedwithaseriesofencodersalongeachaxisofthe
machine.Theseencoders,referredtoasdigitalmeasuringtape,cantrackthemovementofthe
measuringprobetowithinnanometerswiththeonlyuncertaintyinthemeasurementbeingtherigidityof
themachineitself.CMMsarealsoknownastouchprobesbecausetheprobemust"touch"thepartto
obtainameasurement.CMMscanbefixedmountedorportable,withportableCMMarmsbeingmore
versatilebutsometimeslessaccuratebecausetheyhaveahighertendencytoflexorlosecalibration.
CMMscanalsobecombinedwithnoncontactscanningtechnologytocapturefullsurfacedata.

DestructiveSlicingisaprocessinwhichmultiplepicturesofanobjectaretakenfromafixedlocation.
Thinslicesoftheobjectareremovedbetweeneachimage.Thedistancetotheobjectisprecisely
controlled,thereforethescaleofeachimageisknown.Afterslicingallthewaythroughtheobject,the
imagesarestackedupinthecapturesoftwareresultinginafull3Dmodeloftheobject.

3DCTorMRIscansareobtainedbystackingaseriesofCT(computedtomography)orMRI(Magnetic
ResonanceImaging)scansoneachotherinsoftware.Thisistypicallydonebypreciselycontrollingthe
stepsinbetweeneachsectionalCTorMRIscan.Theresultantdataisa3Dmodeloftheobjectand
containsallofitsphysicalmeasurements.Thistechnologywasoriginallydevelopedforthemedical
field,asyoumayknow,butisnowgrowingintomanufacturingandindustrialapplicationsaswell.

ATheodolitedeviceisatelescopemountedontworotatingaxesandisameasuringtechnique
commoninsurveyingapplications.Theangletoanobjectispreciselytrackedandbytakingangular
measurementsfrommultiplelocations,thedistancetotheobjectcanbeobtained.Moderntheodolites
arecomputercontrolledtoautomaticallytargetandmeasureobjects.

Trackersareaclassof3Dscanningdevicethatworkbytrackingthepositionofameasuringdevice.
Severaltechniquesareusedtotrackthemeasuringdeviceincludinglaser,magneticposition,optical
positionandacousticposition.Thevariousmethodsalltrackthepositionofthemeasurementdevice,
recordingthepositioneachtimeameasurementistakeneitherbytouchingtheobjectorbyusingnon
contactscanningtechnology.
Thislistisnotmeanttobeacomprehensivelistofavailable3Dscanningtechnology,onlyabrief
synopsisofthemoreprevalenttechnologiesinusetoday.Formoredetailedinformationonthevast
numberof3Dscanningtechnologiesavailableseealistatwww.simple3d.com.

KeepreadingtolearnaboutalloftheBenefitsof3DScanning!

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