Ben Eadie builds a 3D scanner for $30What do you get when you mix a Canadian, a laser, a web camera and a penguin sitting in a corner? The perfect ingredients for a show on how to build a laser scanner for $30.

Patrick Norton of Revision3 SYSTM TV take on Ben Eadie of SolidMentor to show you step-by-step how to build and use it to scan anything from a coin to a boat hull. Yeah, he reveals it all and even get in a plug for SolidWorks. Check out the video after the break.

The stuff you need
Here are the items you’ll see Ben and Patrick using in the video below.

  • The free basic version of David-laserscanner
  • A laser (green is highest quality, most accurate)
  • A web camera
  • A 90 degree corner
  • Black dots
  • MeshLab (optional for stitching scans together)

Oh, and you’ll love this. There’s several resources out there about how to turn a red laser into a green laser.

Author

Josh is founder and editor at SolidSmack.com, founder at Aimsift Inc., and co-founder of EvD Media. He is involved in engineering, design, visualization, the technology making it happen, and the content developed around it. He is a SolidWorks Certified Professional and excels at falling awkwardly.