Scanning program recommendations

[simso]

Hi folks,

Ive just purchased and soon take reciept of a cnc laser scanner fitted to a 1.2metre by 1.2metere cnc router table. The laser scanner has an inspection rate of 3.5million points per hr, Im after something that is good for meshing and modelling from the input scan. The goal is to be able to reverse engineer aircarft parts and then output the file as a solid item ready to be useable for g-coding and machining up a new one with a cnc mill.

Any help would be greatly appreciated

[bostosh]

I've done a lot of aircraft parts, what kinds are you going to do? pictures? no prints?, no 3-D models? are you doing back-door from a qualified shop?
old planes or new ? some of those old ones have simple parts easily done

[awerby]

You can scan something as a starting point, but to reverse-engineer it means recovering the original design intent. With a scan, you'll get an indication of where the surface of the part's supposed to be, but there will be a fair number of erroneous points, and some deviation from the part you started with (not to mention the ideal that the part was supposed to embody.) It would be interesting to see an airplane that was composed of parts that were simply scanned and copied, but I'm not sure I'd want to fly in it...

The best software for reverse-engineering functional parts from scans is Rapidform XOR; it's capable of creating a new part, based on your scan, but with correct measurements, smooth surfaces, and accurate features correctly placed. It's not cheap, but it would be well worth looking into, especially if someone is going to have to pilot this plane.

Andrew Werby
ComputerSculpture.com — Home Page for Discount Hardware & Software

[simso]

Thanks for the replys guys, I work on the side for a company that is licensed and authorised to make replacement aircraft parts, they have machinists and aeronautical engineers in there employment.

Currently they use a faro arm and manually point cloud reference points to then draw up an existing part, from that engineers / material analysis / cnc machining and wolla end part.

Ive got myself a laser scanner which Ive purchased for doing other stuff for my own business, and have been asked re the scanning in of the aircraft parts to make there job so much easier.

[bostosh]

Thank You for the details,

Management would love to have a computer system which would scan a part on a table, automatically create perfect dimensional accuracy (to .0002), create the gcode (which would never break cutters), do the tool selection, fixturing, and even sharpen cutters, and lay us all off so that they do not have to pay us.

Hasn't happened yet.

[simso]

Okay, so let the learning curve begin, any input would be greatly appreciated

Here Ive scanned in a model plane, on the sides I have some sporatic lines which clearly should not be there. What do I do to fix or remove them, why would they have been created

If I was to scan the bottom of the plane, whats a good program to re-assemble the two scans into one image.

Measurements are pretty accurate pre to post scanned