All Objects Great and Small

March 18, 2025 | Vaughn J. Mantor

You probably know that we cannot laser scan something like this model airplane motor with this scanner, but with the right scanner, we can measure almost any object that your eye can see.

(I say “almost” because it is true, some objects resist laser scanning. A pure glass transparent sculpture and the SR-71 Blackbird are two examples. The surfaces scatter or absorb the laser light, reflecting a much smaller proportion of the laser beam back to the scanner. We know because Mr. Darling did scan the SR-71 housed in Tucson, Arizona at the Pima Air and Space Museum.)

For smaller objects, say in the range: larger than a golf ball, smaller than a walk-in refrigerator, we use a hand-held laser scanner that is accurate to 0.250 millimeters or 0.0098 inches. Resolution is also 0.250 mm. For comparison, the accuracy is slightly more than the thickness of two sheets of office printer paper. And we take well over one-million such measurements per second.

As with larger objects, we can scan the object, or the place where the object will be fitted, precisely. For example, Verify 3D scanned a part of the fuselage of an airplane so a new windshield could be fitted to it. Imagine driving your car at 175 mph. The slightest protuberance or misalignment will cause havoc. So it is with aircraft; everything on the outside of the plane must be fitted tightly and precisely for both safety and efficiency.

Replacing an aircraft windshield requires accuracy, but the windshield is not a complex object. We can measure intricate objects with the same accuracy and resolution.

For example. Our client needed accurate measurements of the interior of his old International Scout. His goal is to reroute the air ducts behind the dashboard and change the ventilation for the passengers. Scanning with a hand held scanner produced millions of measurements that could not feasibly be done with a large scanner.

Above: An image from the laser scanning of the interior of the Scout.

Below: A laser scan of the detail of the dashboard.

At an even smaller level, when we tested the hand-held scanner, we scanned a Star Wars toy. The full color scan below shows the details of the toy with the same level of accuracy and resolution. This means the scanning can be used for various needs, for example, the measurements we collect can be turned over to CNC machines or three-dimensional laser printers.

This is a laser scan image, made with the Peel 3D, of a Star Wars Toy, which is approximately 6 inches long and 4 inches wide.

We have often said that our experience gives us the knowledge to select the best equipment and software for each project to give our clients the best value. Here is where our experience sets us apart. We have scanned a variety of industrial installations including 450 Megawatt power plants, missile fabrication plants, soap factories, water treatment and sewage treatment plants, automobile assembly lines, and other big structures. As should be obvious, not every part of the structure demands the same level of accuracy.

As we mentioned in the article This is Here, That’s Over There, we’ve been hired to scan two parts of large structures being built in different locations. (Bridges, ship loaders, Navy destroyers, storage tanks, power plants, et al.) In each case, the sub-structures must fit together with one level of accuracy, AND the connections between the components must fit with greater accuracy. For example, in scanning piping that’s 12 inches in diameter and under high pressure, an accuracy of about 1/4 inch for location and length is appropriate. But the location and dimensions of the flanges and the bolt holes in the flanges demand a higher level of accuracy.

Verify 3D brings a combination of scanners and software to efficiently collect the data that are most valuable to our clients. We use the large scanner for most of the installation, and a hand-held scanner where greater accuracy is needed. And we combine the data from all scanners into one point cloud.

If you’d like a personal explanation or demonstration of the ways laser scanning can help you or if you'd like to speak to one of our clients, our contact information is directly below.

Because our experience in this technology dates back to 2002, Verify 3D knows the most appropriate equipment to use on each project and how to use it for the best benefit to our clients. We most often use a Leica P30 laser scanner, Leica Cyclone software for registration, and a Peel 3D scanner for smaller objects.