Products
How Our 3D Laser Scanners Work:
a Step-by-Step Process
Step-by-Step Process
Turbine blade
ShapeGrabber 3D scanners enable fast, accurate, automated 3D scanning for industrial applications. These laser scanners are much faster and easier to use than traditional Coordinate Measureing Machines (CMMs). ShapeGrabber 3D scanners are particularly ideal for complex shapes, such as injection-molded plastics, stampings, castings and more.
Unlike traditional 3D laser measurement methods such as coordinate measuring machines (CMM) that rely on the inspection of a few pre-programmed points, our non-contact laser scanning technology captures hundreds of thousands of accurate data points representing the complete surface geometry of your part.
The 3D Scanner Process
Blade being scanned
When a part is placed on the ShapeGrabber auto-indexing table, the laser scanner automatically scans and rotates the part to produce "point clouds". A point cloud consists of hundreds of thousands of closely packed 3D data points that entirely capture the three-dimensional shape. Each data point consists of x, y and z co-ordinates of the surface. This scan requires only a matter of minutes for even the most complex part.
The 3D Inspection Process
Scan data
Once the part has been scanned, 3D measurement and 3D inspection can be undertaken. Users simply open the part's reference data file (normally in CAD format) using the inspection software included with the ShapeGrabber system. By specifying the part's tolerance envelope and importing the point cloud data from the scan, the user can initiate a comparison between the reference data and the scanned information.
The Results
Inspection results [Click to enlarge]
After comparing the point cloud scan information with the reference data, the ShapeGrabber 3D scanner system generates an inspection report which can be saved or printed. This report includes a color tolerance map: a color-coded 3D image of the part that is used to quantify the deviation of the part's shape from CAD, including GD&T specifications, error maps, individual measurements listed in tabular format, cross-section analyses and more.
For further information on how our ShapeGrabber 3D laser scanners work, contact us using our Request for Information form.
Other Needs
ShapeGrabber 3D scan data is also used in other ways. For example, some customers scan parts that are known to be good so that they can:
- Inspect the part for wear analysis
- Perform trend analysis
- Model or reverse-engineer the part
- Archive the part
- etc.
In all cases, the 3D scanner process is the same. The only difference is in the application software used. Learn more about Applications of ShapeGrabber products.
See It In Action
Watch these online videos to see ShapeGrabber 3D laser scanners in action:
ShapeGrabber Introductory Demonstration video
