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How Our 3D Laser Scanners Work:
Step-by-Step Process

Step-by-Step Process

Turbine blade

ShapeGrabber 3D scanners offer accurate, automated 3D laser inspection systems for industrial applications that are much faster and easier to use than traditional Coordinate Machines (CMMs). ShapeGrabber systems 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 machine (CMM) solutions 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 surface geometry of your part.

The 3D Scanning Process

Blade being scanned

When a part is placed on the ShapeGrabber auto-indexing table, the laser scanning system automatically scans and rotates the part to produce "point clouds". These consist of hundreds of thousands of closely packed 3D data points that entirely capture the 3D shape. Each data point consists of x, y and z co-ordinates of the surface. This scan takes only a matter of minutes for even the most complex part.

The 3D Laser Inspection Process

Scan data

Once the 3d laser scanning process is complete, users can open the part's reference data file (normally in CAD format) using the inspection software included with the ShapeGrabber system. Users specify the part's tolerance envelope and import the point cloud data from the scan to initiate a comparison between the reference data and the scanned information.

The Results

Inspection results [Click to enlarge]

After comparing the 3D laser scanners point cloud scan information with the reference data, ShapeGrabber 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 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
And so on.

In all cases, the 3D scanning process is the same. The difference is in the application software used. Learn more about Applications of ShapeGrabber products.