Dual-beam structured-light scanning for 3-D object modeling

In this paper we present our Dual-Beam Structured-Light Scanner (DSLS), a scanning system that generates range maps much richer than those obtained from a conventional structured-light scanning system. Range maps produced by DSLS require fewer registrations for 3-D modeling. We show that the DSLS system more easily satisfies what are often difficult-to-satisfy conditions for determining the 3-D coordinates of an arbitrary object point. Two specific advantages of DSLS over conventional structured-light scanning are: (1) A single scan by the DSLS system is capable of generating range data on more surfaces than possible with the conventional approach using the same number of camera images. And (2) since the data collected by DSLS is more free of self-occlusions, the object needs be examined from a smaller number of viewpoints.