What you’re looking at is what’s claimed to be “the world’s most affordable portable 3D laser scanner.” It’s the ZScanner 600 from Z Corp. (zcorp.com). It has a price of just $28,900. The hand-held device can be used for applications including reverse engineering, product design, and cultural preservation.
A key advantage of the hand-held approach to scanning is that tripods, mechanical arms, and other devices aren’t necessary. Consequently, it is readily manipulated even inside areas that might otherwise be difficult to reach.
Now some products that are designated “hand-held” are best handled by someone who may be a finalist in the World Weightlifting Championship. However, the ZScanner 600 tips the scales at just 0.98 kg, or 2.1 lb., so it is manageable. It is also comparatively compact measuring 6.2 x 10.2 x 8.2 in. According to the people at Z Corp., it will fit in a carry-on suitcase
For all that, the unit can get the job done, as the two-camera device offers an X-Y accuracy of up to 0.003 in. (80 microns) and a resolution of 0.004 in. (0.1 mm) in the Z-axis. The sampling speed for the device is 18,000 measurements per second.
To use it, it is simply a matter of “painting” the object of interest with the device; there is a projected laser crosshair so that it is evident where the surface is being covered. This is recorded by the binocular cameras.
The included ZScan software produces a polygon mesh of the surface on a computer screen (it is compatible with Intel Core 2 Duo processor machines running Windows Vista Business or XP Professional and equipped with NVIDIA Quadro NVS 320M graphics) in real-time.
Because the data is being captured in a continuous scan rather than numerous fixed-position shots, the post-processing that would be required to integrate the static shots isn’t necessary. With the included ZScan Lite software, an .stl file is automatically generated.