Using a 3D scanner for reverse engineering

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Hello, I am in the process of putting together a file on the principle of 3D scanning in the field of reverse engineering.

After having done a little tour of the different manufacturers, for me 3 stand out from the crowd. Artec 3D, Faro and Creaform.

Among these manufacturers, my attention was focused on 3 products:

Artec Eva, Artec Leo and Faro Scanner Freestyle, all portable solutions.

Before contacting the different suppliers to get a commercial opinion, I would have liked to see one of these scans run in the hands of the user to have a slightly more objective opinion as well as his experience in interacting with Solidworks.

Would there be users among this forum who would agree to welcome us for a demonstration and exchange on the subject. 

Thank you

 

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Hi here is the position I opened a few months ago:

https://www.lynkoa.com/forum/mod%C3%A9lisation-volumique/avis-sur-scanner-3d?page=1

I have just completed it this morning following the visit of the technical sales representative Créaform to our premises last Tuesday. On the other hand, thank you for the solution from Faro which seems similar to the handiscan. And if you want more information, ask your questions!

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Have you seen and tested

the stuff from FARO

A reference in laser scans, probe, etc

portable portable or stationary 

To see the value for money according to the needs

@+ ;-)

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@sbadenis, I subscribed to your post to follow the evolution of your approach. 

On our side we put the handyscan aside, first because the  prices we had been able to glean here and there were a bit exorbitant (about 40k for the handyscan 700, I don't know if that's what Creaform's salesman told you)

And then, I read a couple of things that the VXelement software was not bad for metrology but for export it wasn't the best, that it was better to turn to geomagic (Solidworks software or plugin)

 @gt22

No I haven't seen or tested the Faro gear, it's a line of research with the Freestyle model.

I'm not closed to technology, structured light or laser triangulation. The thing is that the elements to be scanned will certainly be outside, metallic, can be rusty. 

The goal of all this is to be able to exploit a volumetric object, for drawing, prototyping and remanufacturing parts that no longer have any documentation.

Post-processing and exploitation in sw also doesn't have to be a torture or too time-consuming.

What are the main difficulties encountered when scanning indoors and especially outdoors?

Is it mandatory to set up a target on the object to be scanned?

What is the average post-processing time to have an usable volume?

When we talk about the problem between structured light and reflective surface; What are the limits? 

Are we limited by the size of the object to be scanned?

Clearly I think I would have other questions, and user feedback often allows you to put your finger on some problem that you would not have thought of, and for which the salesperson will have done the eel. 

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For structured light scanning, the main defect mentioned apart from shiny parts is the external scanning by too strong light (sun) which may also make the scan impossible. On the other hand, the advantage of this method is for scanning in dark environments because there are no worries. Clearly for Créaform we were also going for structured light scanning but their model is either very limited in surface area (about 500mm cube) or you have to take the 2nd model very limited in accuracy (i.e. 2 models at about 25000 so the same price as the handiscan 300 (about 45000)

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Hello, I've been using the artec spider for three years and to combine it with Solidworks, you just have to use the Geomagic plugin which is officially supported by the manufacturer. To answer the questions, it is not necessary to use targets or markers with the spider. All 3D scanners have difficulty scanning shiny surfaces so I use a special spray that disappears after a few minutes. For the size (of objects and files), I can scan small things like screw threads up to a helicopter ;) Of course, the file size will be huge for this kind of scan, but it is possible to do it in several parts easily. It depends on the power of the computer used.

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@Avicrest, about the Geomagic Plugin, does it complement Solidworks' scanto3D or is it a place  instead?

Regarding your use of the Spider, have you ever used it outdoors? If so, did you encounter any particular difficulties?

If you had one criticism to make of the Spider, what would it be?

More in terms of "service", did you have the need to use a potential after-sales service, or contact Artec for any help. Quality of service?

By the way, did you deal directly with Artec or was it a distributor who provided the equipment, maybe you have an address?

Thank you again for all the answers given.

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Hi nbastin, 
Geomagic is a standalone plugin that creates its own tab in the Solidwork menu with several tools that simplify the import of the 3D models you have scanned. There's a video from the developer that shows how it works 
Yes, I've used it outdoors before. When it's full sun, it's difficult to scan, the solution is to put the object in the shade if possible. On cloudy days, it works well because the light is usually soft.
The criticism I would make of it is that I find the UV map a bit messy.
I contacted the artec after-sales service 2 or three times for advice on use, honestly they were great. They gave me good advice, no headaches, nothing to complain about.
I contacted them 3 years ago directly through their website. If I remember correctly, the scanner had been delivered by a French distributor, I don't remember which one, though. In any case, it's easier to go through the official website.

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Hello

We have had a Freestyle X 3D scanner from FARO for a little over a year.
This one was sold to us as an exceptional product by FARO's sales representatives... Big disappointment when you realize that FARO doesn't care about you once the product is sold.
Indeed, since we got the scanner, we have had a series of problems and suffer from the exceptionally slow response time from FARO support. In the end, the product was stuck for at least 8 months!

If you have some time to read all this, it may be interesting to get an idea of what to expect when you go to FARO:

We started the problems with untimely connection/disconnection of the scanner on the tablet (surface pro) sold with the freestyle.
A FARO support person comes to know about the problem without having any idea of the source of the problem.
The complete suitcase (scanner + tablet) goes back to the after-sales service in Germany. After 10 days we are informed that the scanner comes back to us, officially one of the cameras has been changed (what does this have to do with the problem?).
Once the equipment is received, we have a training on the software, we learn that the accuracy of the scanner is not 1mm (+-0.5mm) as indicated on the website but indeed +-1mm, so 2mm (note that we still go to -100% accuracy...)

We do a test again and scan a vehicle. Immediately we have new problems: crash of the SCENE CAPTURE application (which allows us to perform the 3D scan). These crashes appear at any time (sometimes even when the calibration is not finished...)
We are still contacting support who ask us to send them the error files that were created during the crashes. Once the files are sent, they don't find any problems... A person from FARO comes to bring us a 2nd Freestyle scanner.
We do the same test with the 2nd scanner on our tablet, same crash!
So we decide to do the test with a laptop instead of the tablet, we have the same crash with the 2 scanners whether on the pc or on the tablet.
Several months pass between each test because the response times to our emails are enormous (sometimes one or two weeks to answer a simple email!!) Obviously it is impossible to reach them by phone...

After hours of testing on our side and a dozen error files sent to support, they explained to us that they had found a problem with the software's plan detection. An update is created a few months later and this fixes the problem.

6 months have passed since the first problems, we think that this update will finally allow us to work with the 3D scanner! We are redoing tests and indeed no more crashes as before. On the other hand, the scanner keeps picking up (which forces you to start the scan again because when it picks up it creates an unreal skin) and the scan lags a lot on the tablet's screen, if you move a little too fast the scan crashes...
Again contact the after-sales service who takes days to answer and who finds no solution.
So we did some tests on our own and concluded this (which FARO never told us openly but often told us in a roundabout way):
The tablet that comes with the scanner is not at all suitable for running a FARO 3D scanner, it is not powerful enough and cannot provide enough power for the scanner to work properly.

So we now use a high-end surface book, no more lag, very fast flashes (whereas before they were slow) and a much smoother scan...

This is a big summary but it has been a big mess for more than 8 months, answers to our emails too long, impossible to reach them by phone, salespeople who denigrate their sales colleagues, and it ended with a salesperson who talks to us in a very vulgar way and who makes totally inappropriate remarks for a representative of his company (telling us that if we doesn't want to pay for another more high-end scanner and therefore solve the problems we have, he will recover and go to the toilet tonight as usual and that he will sleep well).

They have therefore closed the open file related to the problems we have encountered, while they have not proposed any lasting solution. They still dared to send us a satisfaction questionnaire following this...

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@Avicrest.

Thanks for the video

@Guillaume_.

Interesting return, this is  exactly what everyone is trying to avoid ^^. 

Faro has gone under the pile anyway, their salesman absolutely wants to sell us an arm while that's not at all what is asking.