Car cowl 3D scanning with RangeVision Smart

Most of 3D scanners on the market are designed to scan objects of a certain size. The user can easily check this: such 3D scanners don’t change cameras or the distance between them - scanning zones.

We decided to find out whether 3D scanner RangeVision Smart could scan the large objects? Does it have sufficient technical characteristics to meet the needs of reverse engineering, which is so often used in the automotive industry?

The answer is yes!

RangeVision team learned it from our own experience. We took a sportscar's cowl with dimensions of 1300x865mm and covered it with markers - a necessary element to guarantee a precise 3D scanning especially on the large surfaces.

Further process consisted of two main phases:

• In the first step the cowl was scanned piece by piece with RangeVision Smart 3D scanner using zone №1. The scanning process runs contact free, that is suitable even for easily deformable objects, regardless of their size.

The size of single shot is 500x375x375mm. Smart projector's battery allows working without connecting to a power source up to 1 hour, so the scanning process goes easier.

We made several scans to catch the whole object. The scanning process went fast and took 15 minutes. The parts were aligned automatically by markers in RangeVision software ScanCenter:

Although Smart 3D scanner is a budget solution, it is equipped with low-noise industrial cameras, that enables to get accurate and highly detailed scans. 3D resolution of RangeVision Smart 3D scanner is up to 0,4 mm for the scanning zone no.1, which allows it to capture even the smallest details in the object.

• In the second step, we made simple editing (deleting noise and useless data) in RangeVision ScanMerge. After all fragments were merged and holes filled, we got an STL file.

We chose the optimal balance between the size of STL file and 3D resolution of the model. The resolution we obtained is 0.75mm, that meets perfectly our task: even small scratches are clearly visible on the 3D model screenshot.

Obtained STL can be used for creating CAD model and working in any CAD program. The quick and simple measuring process performed with Smart 3D scanner provided us with high-level data for much faster design and production process.

Our experience shows that RangeVision Smart 3D scanner is the perfect balance of price and quality. The device is ideal for scanning tiny and large objects due to the method of alignment of scans. The owner of RangeVision Smart 3D scanner may not think about the size of a scanned item, fully devoting himself to the work.