Well, to say I’m impressed by my first use of the MetroX Beta would be an understatement.
The scanner itself is ergonomically shaped and nicely balanced for hand held use. There is ample power and signal lead to ensure ease of manoeuvrability around the scanned objects.
The instructions make it easy for a first time user of a scanner like this to get going within minutes.
I started off my first scan using the Cross Lines Scanning Mode.
If you don’t already know :-
The Cross Lines Scanning Mode: The industrial-grade 14 Cross lines laser scanning mode efficiently scans
glossy and black surfaces. While scanning, seven pairs of crossed blue laser lines capture up to 800,000
points per second. (Markers required)
For the marker mode, I used Global Markers for the first time, if you have never used this before like myself you will be pleasantly surprised by how much easier the addition of this makes the workflow.
First object scanned
Micron Fork Brace for Honda CB250N The Cross Lines Scanning Mode Shiny Aluminium Alloy - No Spray
Another impressive unprepared bare metal scan, I know normally there would be no real reason to scan something like this, but it’s a great way to get used to the scanner.
Battery Bracket The Cross Lines Scanning Mode Brushed Aluminium Alloy - No Spray Global Marker Mode
I didn’t use the turntable to rotate the bracket, but it was a good way to get markers vertical rather than sticking them on to the metal.
I need to rescan at some point, due to positioning the markers quite badly, i ended up increasing the depth camera and forgetting to change it back which has meant not the smoothest scan.
Still a good result including capturing edges of the 2mm thick aluminium.
The Cross Lines Scanning Mode Painter/Unpainted Aluminium Alloy - No Spray Global Marker Mode
A friend of mine sent me a pair of these to scan, as he is changing his ignition setup and needs a tidy way to hide his new coils. I can use this in Fusion 360 to design the new parts around. I still need to scan the other one as they are different.
Skoda Estelle Carburettor Automatic TurnTable - Full Field Cast Aluminium - No Spray
The hardest part of this scan was simply the line of sight, obviously a very busy assembly means parts just get in the way.
Despite there being some visibility blackspots I’m very happy with the result, if anything I’ve slightly over scanned it trying to get those hard to reach areas which has let to the odd bobble here and there.
The reason it is rough on mine at least is because I have inadvertently over scanned it in that area in attempt to capture other more hidden details.
There are a lot of crevices, hidden from view areas and deep features because the carburettor is fully built. In reality if the casting was to be scanned in detail it should be stripped down completely.
For me the features I need are the oval on the inlet and the main space envelope, but it was a good opportunity to see how much detail I could capture in full field mode.
I’m sure using mesh manipulation software you could remove this, or maybe even at point cloud level using cloud compare, but for me this was not required.
