FastSCAN Theory

During the development of the Hand-held Laser Scanner, ARANZ published a number of papers in scientific journals or conference proceedings. You can download the papers listed below.

Articles referencing the FastSCAN and scientific papers using the FastSCAN can be found on our references page.

A Feasibility Study of Hand-held Laser Surface Scanning
B. C. McCallum, W. R. Fright, M. A. Nixon and N. B. Price
proceedings, Image and Vision Computing New Zealand, Lower Hutt, August 1996, pages 103–108.

Various commercial laser scanners are available for digitising 3D surfaces. All such devices incorporate a laser/camera assembly which is mechanically scanned relative to the object of interest. We describe here a laser scanner with no mechanical scanning system, the laser/camera assembly instead being hand­held, and manually scanned over the object by the operator. The position and orientation of the hand­held assembly during scanning is determined by an electromagnetic spatial locator. This "hand­held laser scanner" is thus less complex, less costly, and more flexible than a mechanically scanned system. The various factors which determine the performance of a hand­held laser scanner are presented, including experiments performed on two types of spatial locator, and the effects of selection of optical components and scanner geometry. The implementation of a prototype device is described, and results presented.
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    The Effects of Metals and Interfering Fields on Electromagnetic Trackers
    Mark A. Nixon, Bruce C. McCallum, W. Richard Fright and N. Brent Price
    Presence, MIT Press, Volume 7, Number 2, April 1998, pages 204-218.

    The operation of six degree-of-freedom electromagnetic trackers is based on the spa-tial properties of the electromagnetic fields generated by three small coils. Anything in the environment that causes these fields to be distorted will result in measurement noise and/or errors. An experimental investigation was undertaken to measure the effect of external fields present in a typical working environment (namely mains and computer monitor fields) and the presence of metals (25-mm cubes of various types of metals, a large steel bar, and a large steel sheet). A theoretical model is proposed to explain the observations. Two devices were used in this investigation: a Polhemus Fastrak and an Ascension Flock of Birds.
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  • This paper is also available from http://www-mitpress.mit.edu/journals/PRES/ps00727.pdf

    Hand-held Laser Scanning In Practice
    B. C. McCallum, M. A. Nixon, N. B. Price and W. R. Fright
    proceedings, Image and Vision Computing NZ, The University of Auckland, October 1998, pages 17-22.

    At IVCNZ’96 we presented the results of our study in to the feasibility of a hand-held laser scanner (HLS) based on magnetic trackers (electromagnetic spatial locators). In this companion paper we report on the practical implementation of this concept. The special requirements that determine the design of the range-finding optics are described. Our choice of spatial locator and techniques to optimise range, resolution and accuracy are explained. The computer algorithms developed for calibrating the scanner and processing the data are discussed. Examples from actual applications of the scanner are presented.
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