Simple and low cost scanner 3D system based on a Time-of-Flight ranging sensor

Abstract

The figure digitization and reconstruction have gained a widely usage in industrial and commercial applications. In this paper a low cost 3D scanning prototype with an embedded system is proposed to be used in piece surface digitization. A reconstruction algorithm in MATLAB is used to manage the piece raw data, then a 3D printer software is used to reconstruct the image and resize the output figure. A Time-of-Flight ranging sensor is employed to detect the surface shape and capture it in raw data. A fast development board is the prototype manager to control motors, sensor and computer commination. The system function and data treatment process are described as well. The scanner accuracy depends strongly on the sensor resolution and its final result is related to the step number achieved by mechanical system.