[elephantcnc]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J1jsVklA8t8

[stiffethomas]

3D scanners collect information about objects within a set visual field, but unlike cameras, 3D scanners collect information about an object’s position in space instead of its color and appearance. This is possible by calculating the distances between the scanner and various points of an object’s surface.

Normally, 3D scanners can be sorted into two different types: contact scanners and non-contact scanners.

Contact scanners, as the name suggests, require direct contact with the object that they are scanning while non-contact scanners use laser light or radiation (such as X-ray or ultrasound) to gather information about the object.