How To build A Simple 3D Laser Scanner

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Phil Marsh
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How To build A Simple 3D Laser Scanner

Post by Phil Marsh »

Introduction.
Create your own super hi-tech 3-D laser scanner. Using just a laser pointer, wine glass, rotating platform, and a digital video camera, you can make accurate 3-D models of an object or person.

Step 1 - Position Camera, Laser, and Cylindrical Lens.
Align the laser so that its beam passes through the cylindrical lens, creating a vertical line rather than a point, and projects onto your target. Initially, the lens was the stem of a wine glass, but in the picture a cylindrical piece of acrylic is used. Position the video camera at a small angle (~15 degrees) from the laser.

Image

Step 2 - Position Target On Rotating Platform.
Create a platform which rotates at a constant angular velocity. Record players, for example, are perfect for small objects. Position your target at the center of rotation. And make sure your target closes there eyes!

Image

Step 3 - Lights, Camera, Action !
Turn off the lights. To make the image processing easier, it's very helpful to get the room as dark as possible so that only the reflected laser light is visible. Rotate your target at a constant angular velocity. Record the video. Notice how protruding features displace the laser line.

Image

Step 4 - Process The Video !
Convert the video to an AVI. Use an edge detection algorithm to find the location of the laser line. Reconstruct your 3-D model.

Image

Conclusion
Try the software yourself. And Email me for a MATLAB script, which was used to generate the image.
http://www.mathworks.com/products/matlab/tryit.html
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Re: How To build A Simple 3D Laser Scanner

Post by bugmenot »

I don't know if it's only myself (somewhat schizo browsing rig), or if the linked images are truly missing. When I loaded the images in the tutorial manually, they give return a 404.
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Phil Marsh
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Re: How To build A Simple 3D Laser Scanner

Post by Phil Marsh »

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