This picture was published by Lufthansa Airlines in the February edition of their Lufthansa Magazin, and it was shot during the 3D scanning of the new Lufthansa Boeing 747-8 aircraft’s interior.

Splendid!

Source: Lufthansa Magazin, February of 2012. P. 44-45.

The project consisted of 2 steps: conducting a full scan of the plane interior and creating 3D model files. To complete the 1^st step, a team of Creaform applications engineers travelled to the client’s facilities in Germany. The engineers came equipped with Handyscan 3D scanners, a Leica long-range scanner, MetraSCAN optical CMM 3D scanners with C-Track sensors and a MAXscan for the photogrammetry part. Once the data was acquired and compiled, the files were post-processed before being transferred to Creaform’s CAD Department in Lévis for phase 2.

Using CATIA V5 software, Creaform designers reconstructed the plane’s interior, including the various elements of the plane’s structure, such as floor beams and plates, frames, longerons, mechanisms, and various types of piping and wiring. Work was broken down into parts according to the plane’s sections. Using digital files, solid models of airplane elements were recreated. 

These solid models can be sectioned, and planes or surfaces can be built directly on top of them. For objects with continuous sections, solid models were generated either as an extruded section following a direction or as a scanned section following a trajectory. For non-continuous parts (e.g., in the case of certain mechanisms), the elements were broken down into basic pieces that could be redefined using simple geometric functions. Surface models were used to render some objects whose shapes were too complex.

The surface models were then thickened to obtain solid models. In the case of this reconstruction, the degree of precision required enabled us to reuse reconstructed elements in different places, such as for the pulleys that guide the control cables.

To complete the project, all reconstruction files were assembled to produce a 3D model of a Boeing 737 interior and delivered to the aviation service company, which used the virtual 3D reproduction to design, produce, and assemble the plane’s interior furnishings to meet the needs of its demanding clientele.

Camoplast’s objectives:

• Control jig bending and wear
• Target potential bending areas caused by production forces
• Detect drilling issues at the source of the problem
• Minimize part inspection costs and timeframes
• Avoid transportation between production and metrology sites

Challenges:

• Very short turnarounds (measures are taken during 15- and 30-minute breaks in the course of a non-stop, 24-hour production cycle)
• Need for accurate and quick results
• Harsh conditions (dust, heat and limited space)

Creaform’s answer

To discover how Creaform solved the case, read the complete story!!

Product manager Dan Brown wrote a new column published on Quality Digest Online explaining how to enhance 3D scanning with photogrammetry…Here’s a sneak peak:

“Improvements to the intrinsic parameters of a system are limited to the technology itself, and there is only so much that can be done with that. On the other hand, there are some ways to improve the accuracy of the positioning device and ultimately lower the error rate of the global 3-D measurement.”

Read the complete column.

Find out all about it and about our ongoing promotions, Tips&Tricks, News and more in Creaform’s October Newsletter.

You’ll be glad to know that you can satisfy your curiosity by going through the technical paper on Intelligent Measurement that we have recently released.

In a Nutshell
This is how Charles Mony, Creaform’s president, summarized the whole concept:

“3D optical sensor technologies can capture a huge number of data observations at very high rates, on the surface of objects. Based on that huge number of data observations, Creaform has developed a new framework to generate very accurate points. Thanks to this technological advancement and based on the concept of intelligent measurement, it is now possible to deliver a very accurate high density set of points, in real time and without noise. Intelligent measurement process, data framework, real-time processing, calibration and acquisition model are a few keys elements of Creaform’s technological fundamentals that make for more accurate systems in 3D optical metrology.”

If you would like to read the complete 10-page paper or view Charles Mony video presentation, click here.

As for the HandyPROBE CMM, the sturdier and slimmer device  shed a little more than 0.5 kg and now offers increased reliability. We have made these changes as part of our continuous improvement program  to ensure that we fine tunes our technologies and keep the lead in portable 3D optical measurement technologies. Product director Jean-François Larue pointed out that “the gain in productivity and the outstanding measurement reliability of the HandyPROBE  are definite key points in the decision of  leader companies such as the European Space Agency, EADS (Airbus), Safran, Pratt & Whitney, BMW and Honda to provide their plants with the system.”

Complementary product MaxSHOT 3D optical coordinate measuring system has been developed to add the accuracy and speed of photogrammetry to the wide range of applications already possible with our technologies, especially when it comes to larger parts. Our main goal was to come up with the most user-friendly photogrammetry software that ever existed to support the MaxSHOT 3D , and we are extremely proud to present an innovative software that is very simple to operate.

Featuring real-time visualization and validation of acquired data and an entirely guided step-by-step operation, the VXshot module allows even those new to photogrammetry to quickly and easily generate a high accuracy positioning model of an object.”

“How do 3D optical measurement devices work, exactly?
The basic principle of this technology is that the optical CMM’s cameras track the position of the part and that of a 3D scanner or touch probe simultaneously in a “locked” reference model, which makes measuring possible in all conditions. Factors such as instability in the machine/part setup, vibrations or thermal variations will have absolutely no effect on the output measurement accuracy.”

Read the complete article (p. 20-21).

Chances are you don’t speak Czech, but as an image is worth a 1000 words, we though we would post it anyway. 

Basically,  the broadcast talks about how archaeologists in Czech Republic  use technology to help them speed up their work and increase the accuracy and number of data from the artefacts they study.

Watch the broadcast (event if it’s only to hear what Czech sounds like).

Click on the image to watch 3 minutes of pure artistry.