Recently I stumbled upon laser based 3D scanning. All I needed was a line laser, but I didn't want to buy one because they're kind of expensive. So I just built my own using stuff I had lying around:
Read more if you want to see another line laser concept, 3D scan results and a video.
I'll start with the basic items needed:
You will need a small DC electric motor, a cheap laserpointer and small mirrors. Just attach one little mirror to the motor's axis and build a little holder for the laser:
As the motor spins the mirror the reflected laser will form a perfect line. As long as the motor spins with more than 24 rps there will be no problems with cameras and 3D scanning:
And here's a video of the laser line:
There's another way to create a laser line from scratch:
Take an old harddrive, disassemble it and remove the actuator mechanism:
Attach a little mirror as shown in the pictures below:
The next step is to attach the actuator's coil to some AC current:
The complete setup will look like this:
The AC current through the coils will cause a vibrating actuator arm. This setup also provides a quite good line laser !
Here are some of my 3D scans I made with these two setups:
You can create your own scans using the free software http://www.david-laserscanner.com/
This was a fun project and I hope you enjoyed it!
Take a polygon assembly or better whole print head from broken laser printer - you can replace laser diode with your own, but there you've got complete collimator unit and lenses providing nice thin line ;)
ReplyDeleteThank you for the tip!!
DeleteJust shine a laser into a cylindrical piece of acrylic. Voila, a line.
ReplyDeleteHey Google 123D Catch, best 3d "scanner" ever. It works GREAT!
ReplyDeletedid u just fire a laser to your cats face??
ReplyDeleteYou're a god damn genius.
ReplyDeleteWhy do you do this in a complicated mechanical way?
ReplyDeleteWhy not do this by the means of some optical method ?
Just put a cylindrical glass rod with a diameter between 1.5mm and 3mm in front of the laser. You could also try a half cylinder.
Holy... s.....
ReplyDeleteThank you so much for the 1st comment on this post. That was something, really beneficial and full of information. Now I know how can I get that thin line. :D
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This is the main problem with line laser, they're too expensive. Price is very unreasonable. Good thing, you provided great alternative. Unbrako
ReplyDelete