Intricad TriAngles 3D scanner, any info on this?

[touser]

I recently stumbled upon the intricad triangle 3d scanner, website here: http://www.intricad.com/ while looking into the nextengine 3d scanner. I am just a hobbyist with a 3 axis mill and dropping $2500 on what would essentially be a toy is a little tough to justify. Thats why the intricad scanner is so appealing. Does anyone have any information on this product? The website is extremely vague. My biggest question is whether its accuracy will be increased by the use of an HD camera system, 720P or higher. Thanks for any help!

[vacpress]

ive been really considering purchasing this as well. i am irritated by how vague the pages are also. i probably would have bought it allready if there was a forum with some user feedback in it.. google turns up no users or reviews when ive searched.

that said - the software is available for $145, a line laser should cost $10 and a turntable can likely be improvised for free. the software includes details..

i have access to a laser cutter and free acrylic. i hope to eventually give this a whirl.. some positive reviews would have sealed the deal some time ago! irritating to just wonder about something..

R

[vacpress]

i just went and looked again. they have revamped their site.. same lame amont of info presented.however, they have also posted their user manuals which describe the product in much better detail. i think i will purchase this in the next few weeks or months.

a user forum or 'scan gallery' would be quite enlightening.. i get the impression i am going to use this thing once and then regret it!

R

[hma]

You could maybe take a look at this:

http://www.rob.cs.tu-bs.de/news/david


Regards,

Hugo

[skip20]

They had the sofeware for $99.00 0n the other site Cent---something, link is there.
I got the sofeware, had to order the driver from them with motor for about $55.00 shipped.
The laser I about $44.00 shipped.
You still have to make a second small board for the LED Lite.
The manual don't have the plans to self build, just assy.
I do get fast e-mail backfrom both partys.
Still need to build it now, close to $200.00 invested & stll have to figure out have to build it.
Soon maybe.

Skip20

[geoff p]

A few months ago my son and I 'discovered' DAVID. It really is amazing.

We couldn't find a line-laser so we experimented with an el-cheapo laser pointer (about 2 or 3$US), and traversed the point back-and-forth across an object placed in the corner, at the same time as gradually scanning down.

An image of sorts built up quite quickly but not to our satisfaction. Too many missing patches. OK, time to mechanize it: we mounted the pointer onto a (busted) hard-drive platter and spun it with an elastic-band drive from a toy motor. Failed! The pointer spent more time illuminating the room than it did going across the object - 359 degrees to 1 degree of rotation. Duh!

Here in Asia, it is remarkably hard to find a real 'line-laser' for sale. We thought of the line-of-red-light in point-of-sale bar-code hand scanners but they are mostly just red LEDs except in the very expensive models (2500 $US).

Currently I am working on a 3D printer whilst my son is supposed to be working on the 3D scanner. When (if?) completed we should be able to exchange daft ideas

Of course we still have to convert the output to G-code or somesuch.

If anyone knows of a source of affordable line lasers, please share the information.

Geoff

[Paulo E.]

Hey Guys,

Sorry to rain on your parade but if things are as you describe its a no brainer.

Whenever you have a website does not describe much about its product... No forums about it... and cheap to top it off Put it this way

IF IT SMELL LIKE CRAP, LOOKS LIKE CRAP.....THEN IT MUST BE CRAP.

Places like these want nothing more than your money. Sit and wait for tech support when its needed the most.

Just my two cents.

[dmw1150]

I have looked at just about every laser and optical scanning system out there over the past ten years or so, including some at US$100k+. To a large extent you get what you pay for but often the software is as much of the solution as the hardware.

If you use a laser generator and its line is too thick you will get poor results. If you scan erratically; the same result. The better the fine laser line the better the software can do its thing. The optical scanners are good too but the models you often see in Gallery pics are so often shown with texture maps fitted to the data. This makes the model look great but may not have adequate surface quality for CAD or downstream CAM.

Optical systems have calibration setups that can be tedious and multiple photo-masking work to follow the (quite rapid) scanning routines. Laser scans will usually require multiple scans at different angular positions and a subsequent "stitching" or merging of them into one 3D model. This can be a very difficult and lengthy procedure unless you have one of the expensive programs such as Geomagic or Rapidform. These are just 2 of the several programs that can merge scans very easily and very accurately but they cost thousands of dollars to get a license.

The David system is excellent and will require that you can move the laser steadily and smoothly to "wash" the model with the laser line if you want good results. Intricad offer the Triangles kit which is very well developed and presented and simple to construct with basic home workshop tools.

Of all the web-based suppliers I've dealt with over the past ten years though, I'd have to say that Dan who sells the kits has the crown when it comes to response-brevity. Maybe he hates using a keyboard. Anyway, he isn't big on chat but he does have a very nice kit at a very good price and it arrives (as mine did) very promptly. I've just built it so I will have some more info on how good the data is when I try it out with both a Logitech 9000 WebCam and a Sony HDR - SR12E digital video camera. Thats about as extreme a camera comparison you could ask for.

By the way, I also bought the NextEngine laser scanner when it first came onto the market but my experience with it was not what I would have expected.

[lucmorton]

If no one has posted it yet:

A line laser is REALLY easy to make. Just put a glass rod in the path of a laser beam. ( I have used a glass swizzel (sp?) stick in the past.). It is best to use fresh batteries or a power supply, since the rod spreads the beam into a wide line. This spreads the power out a whole lot, and if your laser is not bright, your line can be quite dim.

[touser]

I have looked at just about every laser and optical scanning system out there over the past ten years or so, including some at US$100k+. To a large extent you get what you pay for but often the software is as much of the solution as the hardware.

If you use a laser generator and its line is too thick you will get poor results. If you scan erratically; the same result. The better the fine laser line the better the software can do its thing. The optical scanners are good too but the models you often see in Gallery pics are so often shown with texture maps fitted to the data. This makes the model look great but may not have adequate surface quality for CAD or downstream CAM.

Optical systems have calibration setups that can be tedious and multiple photo-masking work to follow the (quite rapid) scanning routines. Laser scans will usually require multiple scans at different angular positions and a subsequent "stitching" or merging of them into one 3D model. This can be a very difficult and lengthy procedure unless you have one of the expensive programs such as Geomagic or Rapidform. These are just 2 of the several programs that can merge scans very easily and very accurately but they cost thousands of dollars to get a license.

The David system is excellent and will require that you can move the laser steadily and smoothly to "wash" the model with the laser line if you want good results. Intricad offer the Triangles kit which is very well developed and presented and simple to construct with basic home workshop tools.

Of all the web-based suppliers I've dealt with over the past ten years though, I'd have to say that Dan who sells the kits has the crown when it comes to response-brevity. Maybe he hates using a keyboard. Anyway, he isn't big on chat but he does have a very nice kit at a very good price and it arrives (as mine did) very promptly. I've just built it so I will have some more info on how good the data is when I try it out with both a Logitech 9000 WebCam and a Sony HDR - SR12E digital video camera. Thats about as extreme a camera comparison you could ask for.

By the way, I also bought the NextEngine laser scanner when it first came onto the market but my experience with it was not what I would have expected.

I anxiously await your review of the scanner, and thanks a lot for pointing out the david-laserscanner, at least there is information available for it.

[Sputnik]

You can also check out ScanZ here http://www.brucerayne.com

It uses the same concept as Intricad TriAngles only free. It does work well, just takes time to do it manually.

It would be fairly easy to program a microcontroller such as a pic to advance the table and snap the pic automatically at each "mark"

[skip20]

That is a nice looking setup from doing 3D color artwork on you computer, But it don't convert to grey scale & make G-Code to put into MACH 3.

SKIP20