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

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.

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.

Total Stations / Theodolites

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

· Sokkia