New Scientist magazine reports on a cheap 3D scanner developed by Spiral Scratch of Liverpool, UK.
(3D scanners today cost thousands of dollars, and are typically meant for use by surveyors to capture existing structures, such as building, plants, and bridges. Software imports the data into CAD systems.)
Spiral Scratch sends a projector beam through a grating "that projects a pattern of horizontal lines across an object placed on a rotating platform," says the magazine. "A camera connected to a computer then scans vertically, capturing the sharpness of the edge of each shadow. The more gradual the change from light to dark, the farther back the point must be."
The scanner is meant for small objects, small enough to fit on the rotating table. Hidden parts are not scanned, but colors are captured and applied to the digital model.
Spiral Scratch hopes to charge just 100 pounds when the scanner ships in 2006.
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