Novel Cylindrical/Spherical Scanner Configuration for Reverse Engineering

Laser scanners are often used in geometric reverse engineering to generate a CAD drawing out of an existing physical part. This often requires careful path planning to ensure the correct stand-off distance of the sensor, to prevent any collisions of the sensor with the target object and to prevent any scan occlusions in the resulting data. A dedicated system was constructed to collect data using a 3-axis cylindrical/spherical device. The benefit of this scanning system is the ability to scan completely around the target object, including the bottom of the object. A stripe-type laser diode is used along with a CCD camera. The target object sits on a transparent plexiglass table, which can be rotated 360⁰. Both the laser and the CCD are mounted on an arm, such that they can be traversed along a linear path, as well as being rotated 360⁰ around the table. This permits the device to scan in either spherical or cylindrical paths with 360⁰ rotation around the target object. This system allows for the quick scanning of any object while minimizing the number of occlusions in the resulting scan data.