Op­ti­cal 3D mea­sure­ment tech­niques, FHNW School of Engineering and Environment

The fast route from real 3D objects to point clouds, surface models, and 3D CAD models

Instead of measuring individual points like a coordinate measuring machine (CMM), a 3D scanner captures the entire geometry of a component as a high-resolution surface point cloud. The system works contactlessly and provides three-dimensional measurement data for a wide range of components such as sheet metal parts, tools and molds, turbine blades, prototypes, and injection- or die-cast parts. At IPPE, an ATOS III Triple Scan System is available for object digitization.

The scanning unit uses a projector and two optical sensors with a resolution of 8.1 MP each. The projector projects phase-shifted stripe patterns with narrow-band blue light onto the measurement object, enabling highly precise measurements independent of ambient lighting conditions. The resulting point cloud is converted into a polygon mesh that describes the surface with very high accuracy.

Applications:

• Digitisation of freeform surfaces and reverse transfer into CAD models

• Nominal/actual comparison with CAD data

• Quality control and process monitoring

• Shape and functional optimisation of existing products

• Capture of design prototypes for new product development

• Digitisation of undocumented geometries for data preservation (e.g. cultural heritage protection)