Design, Implementation and Comparison of Low-Cost Laser Scanning Systems for 3D Modeling

Abstract

dimensional (3D) modeling of an object or an environment using point clouds is an important problem in many scientific fields such as photogrammetry, remote sensing, materials processing, reverse engineering, construction industry, virtual reality and medicine etc. Laser scanning is an effective technique that facilitates 3D modeling process with providing large amount of 3D point cloud data in a short time. In this study, design process of point laser sensor and line laser sensor based low cost scanner systems is proposed. Performed 3D data measurements with these two different laser scanners show that; point laser range sensor based scanner, that can capture lesser 3D point for per second, provides more detailed and more sensitive measurements. It can be preferred in applications when the details are very important and are suitable for modeling small objects. However, line laser range sensor based scanner can capture much more 3D point data per second and it is suitable for applications where time critical models with large objects and environment.