Free 3D laser scanning

[dracodraconis]

Source: Engadget

The DAVID laser scanner (cool name, obvous sign of intelligence) is not so much a device as a way of using commonly available equipment and a bit of (free) software to perform 3D laser scanning. Instructions on how to do this are available at The Institute for Robotics and Process Control. They don't include a way to stitch different views together, but for those who are interested, search for an algorithm called ICP (Iterative Closest Point) and go from there. The software has a few simple requirements: A webcam, a laser pointer (presumably with a beam spreader, which is just a strip of glass to convert the beam into a laser sheet), and a right-angle corner (easily available to those of you not living in igloos). The technology is simple and very well understood (line scanners have been used in industry for more than a decade). The software simply converts the line of red light cast on the object into a 3D surface map relative to the right-angle corner.

Comments

[d2leddy.livejournal.com]

The DAVID laser scanner (cool name, obvous sign of intelligence)

I concur.