3D Laser Scanning Helps Create Better Drones

3D laser scanning has infiltrated our world and has helped researchers and engineers create some special equipment. Using technology, we have found a way to create custom made pieces and evaluate objects to enhance them. This is something that can be hard to do, tedious, time-consuming, and expensive. The latest technology and scanning equipment can help all of those areas. The latest project being worked on is a team that focuses on using 3D laser scanning to update drones.

This team will focus on flight efficiency, making it lightweight, faster, and enhancing mechanical performance. To do this, they used additive manufacturing or 3D laser scanning to scan the original design and find out exactly how the drone works. The team was able to see every screw, hinge, and piece that went into the design.

By learning about the original design in-depth, they could then see which piece worked the best and which parts needed to be reworked. Usually, this would take an engineer a very long time to do this. They would have to use a process called reverse engineering. It means very carefully someone would have to take everything apart by hand to understand each piece and inspect thoroughly. This process requires a lot of time, man-power and means less profit.

With the information, the team was able to identify how to quickly make the updates and simulate the results to prove they were the necessary changes to be made. 3D laser scanning has proven to be incredibly useful in making better equipment and updating older technology.

How does 3D laser scanning work

By now, you know that this technology is one of the hottest topics worldwide though the adoption is slow. Many businesses are only now picking up the fantastic advantages received from this equipment.

It works by taking rapid pictures of an object and using lasers to bounce over an item. Millions of images are being taken, and this helps gather precise information. The lasers collect information like size and shape, giving the scans on the computer accurate dimensions.

This technology picks up things like textures, colors, surfaces, holes, scratches, hinges, corners, and more. Anything and everything about an object will be picked up and recorded. Once the information is processed, it gets sent to an editing system.

Before the editing system, all of the information is saved in the cloud server. Only people with access to the specific file will be able to receive and retrieve the data. However, this server makes it a great place to keep information for the future because it can never be erased.

Once that step is done, an engineer can look at the object piece by piece to understand the functions and how all of the parts work together. Once they deconstruct an object and reconstruct it, they can run it through a simulation system that accurately mimics how it would work in the real world.

Final thoughts

Though 3D laser scanning seems like it is only meant for industrial use, the truth is it can be used in many different fields. It is one of the best tools to use for anyone trying to understand how something is put together and what they can do to make it better.