A high speed 3D laser scanner for your ShopBot

Donn,
I think the issue might be that I am using Netscape 7.1 instead of Internet Explorer as my browser..Thanks..

Bill
I have Internet Explorer..and it worked just as Frank said

I guess I should have mentioned that I use Windows XP. I have not actually tried any other version but I do have 18 freinds who have been accessing my site for the past 3 years and I'm pretty sure some of them are still using older versions of windows. One or two of them did have some problems downloading large files (some download 6 to 700 MB files)but there problem was solved by adding an FTP cliant program called Cute FTP. There are many more ftp programs out there but I have not used any of them. Many of these are free I will look around and let you know what I find.

Some other FTP clients that can be downloaded for free are Ftp Explorer at www.ftpx.com (30 day trial) or Smart Ftp at www.smartftp.com. I had no problem using either of them.

home made 3d laser scanner http://www.muellerr.ch/engineering/laserscanner/ more in " home made scanner " near the bottom of this link http://www.simple3d.com/ now if I could only be smarter I would not have to wait

Any progress on this lately?

I think that the best value out there right now is the Acculux LR1 @ $1195. You do need to do some work to use it. 1st you need a 12 bit 0-5v data aquisition card (to convert analog to digital) and you need to write some routines to interface with the SB control software, which shouldn't be too difficult.

I spoke to Acculux last week to get a better understanding on how to interface this scanner. 1st thing to understand (or myth to dispell) is that the scanner is going to just sweep over your part with a blanket laser beam and produce results on par with a Cyrax. The Acculux in all actuality is a laser ranger...which can only measure distance. No camera, etc. It can sample data up to 1000/sec and it will average it out and then send an analog value to your DA card. In order for this 'scanner' to work, you must set up a routine much like the SB probe, where you define a grid for it to stop and sample distance, write to a file, and then tell the CNC to move to the next point on the grid. It may take up to 3 seconds for the unit to sample distance, average the data and send it to the DA board....then it can move to the next point and do it all over again after the routine has the go ahead from the unit.

Accuracy is not as easily described when speaking in terms of a distance finding laser. Accuracy is affected by the focus of the laser, with the 'sweet spot' being in the center of it's range. In the case of the LR1, this is 2.5" below the LR1's case (range of 0-5" below unit). Accuracy is highest in this 2.5" area. Also, the number of distance samples that you tell the unit to make also plays a part in the overall accuracy. I believe that it is around .01 or so for the LR1. The LR2 has a 0-2" range, boasts a .003" accuracy at 1250 samples/sec. Accuracy is also affected by keeping the scanning range in the 1" sweet spot area.

Theoretically, using an LR1 or LR2, may take as long or longer than the SB probe. Your accuracy is also limited to what your SB can do...You will also find some limitation in what you can scan, as is true with any laser scanner. Ideally the part should be uniform (like gray primer) and show no contrast (woodgrain has contrast). You also can't scan shiny objects since it reflects the laser and gives a false reading.

The Acculux Laser Ranger is a nice unit for measuring distance, but will take a bit of work on your part to use as a laser scanner. I know this has been pursued before (and even implemented) with little feedback posted...so I figured I'd post the skinny of it here.

-Brady

another homemade scanner work with rhino http://members.dodo.com.au/~bruzak/scaner/scanneren.htm

Hello all

I would like to update those who have had interest in my scanner development.
I have been working to make it easier to attach the scanner to my shopbot and insure it is calibrated properly. My first thought was to have the user run some type of test scan, then tweek and adjust... re-scan, tweek and adjust, until the scanner was aligned like it was when initially calibrated. This looked to be a more time consuming, less accurate method than performing some level of calibration. I opted to scan 3 objects and run some calibration software. This takes about 10-15 minutes, then your ready to go. The scans are more accurate also.

I have posted some dxf and jpg files on a friends website that I would like feedback on.

I have reached the conclusion that this scanner may not have the resolution a lot of you are looking for. Object features smaller than the laser beam width are hard to detect. This scanner is better suited to larger objects and was initially developed for faces. I don't know how may of you may have an interest in this type device, but I would like your feedback on the images. In particular, I would like to here from you who sell to the CNC market.

There are a couple problems I am dealing with on a new panasonic camera lens, but expect these can be resolved soon in calibration software.

My electronics business is slow and I am considering taking a part time job to help cover the bills, so development efforts may drop off.

Please visit http://www.moysys.com/tombrown

There is a readme.txt file that has some brief explanition of the files and how the images are created. The dxfs and jpgs are in 2 zip files so as not to use to much of my friends web space.
Select the files and right click on them and "Save As" to download.

I hope to hear from you and will answer any questions you have.

Thanks
Tom Brown
bdassist@earthlink.net

Hello Thomas great work .How long did it took to scan your face. I dont think you laid on the table so did you fix the scanner on the z and move the x or y while standing in front of it?