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David Laser Scanner / HP 3D Scan, Use My Own Hardware?

goldenfab

Cast Iron
Joined
May 25, 2016
Location
USA Prescott , Arizona
I played around with a demo version of David Laser Scanner using a cheap webcam and a projector a few years ago I was using a really cheap webcam so the results were not that great but looked promising. I have an upcoming project where I need to make a design work with an existing product. I could get by using primitive methods but a decent quality 3D scanner would be really nice to add to my capabilities. I understand the workflow from 3D scans and going from point clouds or mesh data to a proper CAD model. For the latest David Laser Scanner now HP they are advertising up to 0.05mm resolution and are priced upwards of 3 grand depending on the options. Does anyone know what real world accuracy is going to look like?

The price of the software on a dongle that is supposed to work with their hardware and generic hardware is selling for the ~$600 range. Does anyone know any good off the shelf hardware combinations that play well with their software and what kind of accuracy I can expect from them?

Being able to scan something to 0.005" accuracy for the $1,000 price range would be well worth it to me even if it takes a bit of tinkering and to get it going and having to fab up a bracket to hold the hardware. I was thinking if the software is $600 that would leave $100 for a camera + $300 for a cheap projector. Am I being too hopeful this would get me results I would be happy with?
 
Im scanning some parts now with a homemade rig and David..(HP).. software.

I have progressed through several projectors and camera setups. The projector I have now was $900. They work fine in the cheaper and even the used range.
My rig has two cameras made by Ueye. They are 5mp industrial units with c-mount lenses for different focal range. These are not cheap but can be found used on the ebay probably in the range of $100-$400. If you get an industrial camera I think its best to get one that is micro usb to simplify connection.

The webcams work well too.

Its going to be a trial and error approach if you dont want to buy the system complete.

I ended up making my own calibration panels out of angle plates. I can get very good accuracy from pingpong ball size up to basketball size. Accuracy is reduced the larger I go. Best ive measured is within .001" on a 123 block.

If you have any questions feel free to ask. Ive spent alot of time messing with this stuff.
 
Im scanning some parts now with a homemade rig and David..(HP).. software.

I have progressed through several projectors and camera setups. The projector I have now was $900. They work fine in the cheaper and even the used range.
My rig has two cameras made by Ueye. They are 5mp industrial units with c-mount lenses for different focal range. These are not cheap but can be found used on the ebay probably in the range of $100-$400. If you get an industrial camera I think its best to get one that is micro usb to simplify connection.

The webcams work well too.

Its going to be a trial and error approach if you dont want to buy the system complete.

I ended up making my own calibration panels out of angle plates. I can get very good accuracy from pingpong ball size up to basketball size. Accuracy is reduced the larger I go. Best ive measured is within .001" on a 123 block.

If you have any questions feel free to ask. Ive spent alot of time messing with this stuff.

Wow 0.001" sounds really impressive! That is really encouraging as it sounds my expectations may align with reality. Thanks for sharing. I'm probably going to get the DAVID5 software dongle this week. If anyone knows of a hot deal let me know. I have googled all the sellers as far as I can tell. Going to look for a decent projector and use my webcam for now. Will be keeping an eye out for a deal on a quality camera. A few more questions if you don't mind.

1. Any idea what factors are most important in projectors for scanning? Brightness? DLP/LCD/LED? Contrast? Resolution? Throw ratio? Thinking of second hand for under $500.

2. Do you know if the DAVID5 vs DAVID 4 software is worth the extra $170?

3. I'm seeing the the calibration panels are an additional $200. Is there something about them that makes them worth the extra $ from printing them up oneself and mounting them on a fixture?

4. Does the scan alignment work reasonable well or is there a lot of work putting different scans together accurately?

5. What software do you use for post processing and re-drafting from the scan data?
 
There is a forum here.. DAVID-Laserscanner Forum • Index page
there is some good info on there and also a link for the HP forum. There is also some really bright folks on there that outshine my relatively limited knowledge.

I think the projector resolution is helpful. The lower resolution can leave lines in the scan

Im not totally sure on the updates inside the versions of software. I cant tell much from the versions Ive had. I got the David5 pro so I could use two cameras. If you are using one camera I think they are all pretty similar. Again, more info is available on the forums.

I had the original calibration panels that were cardboard. They work ok and the scan alignment seemed to compensate ok. I did my best to make sure they were set up as square as possible and never tested the alignment with out of square panels. The new ones are glass. Im tempted to buy them just for the large size they offer. $200 seems reasonable for the effort and time it would take to make my own that size.

Here is the scan im doing now.
 

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I've been happy with my David scanner system (pre-HP buyout version). Scanned a number of items around 6 inches tall and a few inches in diameter and the results were excellent, maybe +0.003" or something like that. I used a rotary table to set my scan increments. Geomagic for the post-processing.
 
I see the latest scanner comes with a modified Acer K132 projector which is WXGA 1280x800 (16:10 aspect ratio). I'm wondering if it would be of any benefit to go with a higher resolution projector. I am wondering if I would want to stay with the same native aspect ratio ie 1920x1200 over 1920x1080?

I don't care much about the smaller form factor of the K132 projector so I'm thinking I'll get more bang for my buck going with an office projector vs a portable one.
 
That's the same projector I'm using, purchased almost 4 years ago. Works great. I've never used any other projector so can't comment on advantages/disadvantages.
 
I purchased the software and a projector and I already have a camera. Problem is I'm not finding a digital copy of the calibration sheets anywhere. I was reading that they used to come on the USB and I know I downloaded them once upon a time. Can anyone share the files or point me to where to get them?

[Edited: I just fond out they are in my program file directory C:\Program Files\HP 3D Scan 5\printout]
 








 
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