Fuel3D Start-Up Promises Affordable Point-and-Shoot 3D Scanner 38
MojoKid writes "Fuel3D Inc. is a new start-up that recently arrived to Kickstarter, promising an 'affordable point-and-shoot 3D scanner' that will allow anyone to easily take 3D images for rendering and ultimately production on standard 3D printing platforms. The Fuel3D is a fully 3D surface scanner that samples a large number of physical and color measurements including geometric stereo and photometric stereo data, which it then combines to create the image. The kicker is that the device—which kind of resembles a Roomba--costs under $1,000, and it works just like a point-and-shoot camera. You simply attach a tag called a target to the person or object you want to scan and snap the picture. Then, you can work with the image and export it in a variety of formats."
Know what I want? (Score:5, Interesting)
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You're thinking of http://photosynth.net/ [photosynth.net]. I put up a few sets back in 2008 and 2009.
It looks like they tuned it up a bit. The SR-71 at Smithsonian Dulles" [photosynth.net] set didn't work very well when I first put it up.
The "Downtown Los Angeles 11.20.2008" [photosynth.net] set is interesting. The hotel room kind of fades in and out because I moved around while I was shooting it.
They must have been very selective, or they did some extra processing, to make theirs look really good.
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There's also an open-source project also aiming at something like PhotoSynth, Insight3d [sourceforge.net]. I haven't tried it myself, though.
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ever since they switched to their spyware downloader I dont give a shit anymore
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I wonder how small the 3d scanning tech could go?
Could a fake bulky dslr battery pack fit a 3d scanner under a camera?
Bring a tethered laptop and a friend for the day at the show and scan away?
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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rm1JuukxhLQ [youtube.com]
with this running
http://www.robots.ox.ac.uk/~gk/PTAM/ [ox.ac.uk]
instead of kinect
Pieces are already written, all it needs is someone to put it together.
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I know this will probably get lost in the comments but, when my mom isn't home I like to go into her garden, cover myself in dirt, and pretend I'm a carrot.
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Oh so that's you! I'm the guy in her garden pretending to be rutabaga.
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There is an autodesk tool for IOS that does this called 123 Catch. You take up to 40 pictures of an object from all different perspectives and it makes a skinned mesh of the object.
Point and Shoot? (Score:3)
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but getting accurate dimensions of something and finding its weak spots would be easier with a scale model....
Re:Point and Shoot? (Score:5, Funny)
With all these terrorist accusations it's like a pressure cooker in the comments section lately.
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I wonder if a 3D scanner can fit in a back pack for hours of battery powered urban scanning on the move?
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You're right, we should cool off and try less hotly-debated subjects like world trade.
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Iraq has some really cool historical places which would be awesome to recreate in 3d on a backpackers holiday trip.
Re: Point and Shoot? (Score:2)
Just make sure no one is searching for cookware while you plan out your Backpack trip to Iraq.
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Only Score:4? I think your pressure cooker joke kind of bombed.
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Next time, go for the one about the ricin cooker.
Better than a Kinect? (Score:2)
Yes, better than a Kinect (Score:2)
http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/45699157/fuel3d-a-handheld-3d-scanner-for-less-than-1000?ref=live [kickstarter.com]
Also it uses a proper depth sensor that doesn't need to be manually calibrated. (Last I read Kinect has to be manually calibrated for depth each time it is used)
Yes you can create colour 3D models with a Kinect, but this is designed to that a snapshot that is usable for high quality 3D prints, use for commercial 3D, or scaling down to gam
Re:Yes, better than a Kinect (Score:4, Interesting)
There is a good image example [amazonaws.com] on their page comparing the two. The left image is their scanner, the right is the kinnect.
The multiple flash light source is useful. (Score:2)
The multiple-flash light source thing is a good idea. Someone did that about seven years ago [rogerioferis.com] with a modified Canon PowerShot. They had four flash units, one at each corner of the case, and it would take four pictures, one with each flash. The paper shows the test setup, but later they built a camera with the four flash units built in.
This Kickstarter project doesn't really produce a 3D model by itself. You need an external stitching program to put multiple images together into a model, they say.
Program
What's this "tag" business? (Score:2)
You simply attach a tag called a target to the person or object you want to scan and snap the picture.
So then I have a 3D model of my object - with a tag on it? I can't see anything about tagging at the official site or the Kickstarter page.
Here's an actual link [fuel-3d.com] to the company. I'd have thought TFS would have one, let alone TFA, but no.
Why not link to kickstarter? Article has it wrong. (Score:1)
> When the folks behind Fuel3D say they have a 3D camera scanner, they’re not talking about a simple stereoscopic device; rather the Fuel3D is a “fully 3D surface scanner consisting of a large number of physical and color measurements” including geometric stereo and photometric stereo data, which it then combines to create the image.
Plain Wrong. As far as the kickstarter page tells, it is only stereoscopic cameras with stereo algorithms to calculate 3D object data.
> In contrast, the