The Benefits of 3D Laser Scanning

When planning your next project, you may be facing a variety of obstacles, including a limited budget. It may seem that adding another engineering service to the budget would further push your limits, but in some cases, it’s an investment in lowering costs and refining the project. This is often the case with 3D laser scanning.

What is 3D laser scanning? This technology is a fast and accurate way to capture as-built measurements, digitizing the environment without any disruption or manipulation. It can be used across an unlimited number of applications, including dimensional analysis, reverse engineering, volume calculations and more.

When discussing 3D laser scanning, one particular technology stands out. It’s called LIDAR 3D Scanning. It is the most accurate and fastest form of 3D laser scanning, requiring up to 60% less time than other methods. LIDAR stands for Light Detection and Ranging, which can rapidly capture millions of data points to produce high quality assets that aid in your building or product development.

There are many good reasons why your project might require 3D laser scanning. It may be that there are no existing drawings of the property or it is serving as an investigation of a hazardous building. There may not be necessary modification documents or other sources of information that 3D laser scanning can provide.

At the outset, dedicating part of your project budget to 3D laser scanning may seem costly. But there are applications for the technology that will quickly offer a solid return on investment:

Reverse Engineering: When reverse engineering a part or a piece of machinery, it is critical that both the materials and how they function as a whole are understood. Every part must be working in sync, and 3D provides the digital replica with the level of accuracy and precision needed to recover both the conceptualization and application, materials and measurement of the part or machine.

Quality Control: A factory or machine shop is working with massive quantities of material, resources and most importantly, manpower. In order to guarantee the highest level of efficiency and safety, 3D laser scanning provides in-depth quality control.

Design Efficiency: While 3D laser scanning is used to measure existing facilities and parts, it is also useful in the concept stage of a development plan. The technology makes it possible to create accurate prototypes that allow for precise ordering of materials and supplies. It also equips companies to develop templates for other projects, further streamlining the design and development process.

Whether you are working with a reverse engineering process or trying to take a concept to market, Finite Engineering is your specialty engineering services solution. We offer 3D laser scanning, Finite Element Analysis and other services to streamline your process, keeping the project within your allotted timeline. Contact us today to learn more.