16 Factors affecting the accuracy of a laser scanner

Optical 3D scanners have become widely used metrological tool for rapidly capturing dense 3D models of objects. Among the optical 3D data acquisition techniques, the use of structured lighting plays a major role, as it is the structured lighting which assists a camera to capture the 3D detail of any given object. This paper presents the empirical study of various factors affecting the accuracy of a 3D scanner with laser-based structured light source. These factors have been identified based on our work on development of a handheld laser scanner. However, most of these factors can also affect the accuracy of a static laser scanner. The factors identified are contributed mostly by the specification of the hardware elements used, usage of the hardware elements within the scanner, the environmental factors and the image processing module within the scanning application.