A couple of interesting 3D kickstarters (not printers)

[kaz911]

Since there is so much focus on 3D output to printers and CNC mills - I thought maybe some helpful "3D content" generation helpers deserved a link here I know they are not OpenSource Hardware - but pretty interesting anyway.

Spike 3D (outdoor) laser scanner/measurement/range finder device for smartphones  - from company that already does a lot of 3D laser scanners..

http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/131581426/spike-laser-accurate-measurement-and-modelling-on

Structure Sensor - a Kinect like device for your tablet (using the PrimeSense sensor)
http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/occipital/structure-sensor-capture-the-world-in-3d

The Structure Sensor guys bought the company that made the 3D PC Kinect scan app a few months back (Scanect)

[Rasz]

Spike 3D (outdoor) laser scanner/measurement/range finder device for smartphones  - from company that already does a lot of 3D laser scanners..
http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/131581426/spike-laser-accurate-measurement-and-modelling-on

$300 for a laser range finder? umm no

Structure Sensor - a Kinect like device for your tablet (using the PrimeSense sensor)
http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/occipital/structure-sensor-capture-the-world-in-3d

The Structure Sensor guys bought the company that made the 3D PC Kinect scan app a few months back (Scanect)

this is a SHITTON of PR and fluff that tries to sell you an Aluminium case for Primesense Capri 1.25
they promise SDK but no solid "we have this this and this software working"
They show SLAM, but dont say they have it working, no Kintinuous/KinectFusion.

This is all SFX for small Kinect that you can connect to an Ipad. :/
What you can see on the video on the other hand is a 'lets party like its 1999' startup atmosphere with crazy amount of people burning tons of VC money.

Edit: Ok, I watched clips they posted in the update and they do have 3d model capture program and working SLAM program. This actually will be usable for a lot of things.

[Corporate666]

Since there is so much focus on 3D output to printers and CNC mills - I thought maybe some helpful "3D content" generation helpers deserved a link here I know they are not OpenSource Hardware - but pretty interesting anyway.

Spike 3D (outdoor) laser scanner/measurement/range finder device for smartphones  - from company that already does a lot of 3D laser scanners..

http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/131581426/spike-laser-accurate-measurement-and-modelling-on

I think that one is not going to be anywhere near what they claim.

I own a laser rangefinger and it was quite expensive, and it is accurate to maybe 1 meter at best.  These guys are implying theirs is accurate to 1cm?  That is 100 times more accurate than a relatively expensive prosumer model.

Also, I bought that rangefinder to understand the technology so I could use it in some projects.  There are quite a lot of difficulties in rangefinding - not the least of which is accurate circuitry, but more importantly the challenge of picking up a laser dot projected at these ranges.  These guys are going to scan it to get the dimensions?  That is going to be a monumentally difficult challenge, which would need a lot of computing power as well as a lot of electron power.  And in that small package?  I don't see it.

I will probably back both these projects just so I can watch them implode

[kaz911]

Since there is so much focus on 3D output to printers and CNC mills - I thought maybe some helpful "3D content" generation helpers deserved a link here I know they are not OpenSource Hardware - but pretty interesting anyway.

Spike 3D (outdoor) laser scanner/measurement/range finder device for smartphones  - from company that already does a lot of 3D laser scanners..

http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/131581426/spike-laser-accurate-measurement-and-modelling-on

I think that one is not going to be anywhere near what they claim.

I own a laser rangefinger and it was quite expensive, and it is accurate to maybe 1 meter at best.  These guys are implying theirs is accurate to 1cm?  That is 100 times more accurate than a relatively expensive prosumer model.

Also, I bought that rangefinder to understand the technology so I could use it in some projects.  There are quite a lot of difficulties in rangefinding - not the least of which is accurate circuitry, but more importantly the challenge of picking up a laser dot projected at these ranges.  These guys are going to scan it to get the dimensions?  That is going to be a monumentally difficult challenge, which would need a lot of computing power as well as a lot of electron power.  And in that small package?  I don't see it.

I will probably back both these projects just so I can watch them implode

Range is not far - 200 meter - which kinds of limits the range finder part - But my Leica DISTO range is about 200m  and +/- 1mm typical accuracy and very precise. But the Spike is a bit more versatile than my DISTO since it can extrapolate dimensions from the image itself.

But both mentioned companies have good track records and reasonable long history. They are not "new" entities making their first products.

[LeonT]

Hello,

Im Leon, the CTO (and inventor etc..) and if I may, I thought I might mention a few things about the spike in the kickstarter project
http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/131581426/spike-laser-accurate-measurement-and-modelling-on

The laser rangefinder in the spike is based from our other rangefinder products (that start at $8000) so it comes from a very strong and proven background.  It uses an invisible (eyesafe) laser pulse, and times the travel time to measure the distance.  We measure the range by digitizing the return waveform and look for the peaks to find the targets.  Technically, the main accuracy limit is to do with smearing of the returned waveform from rough targets, practically the limit is to do with the size of the target and your ability to see it. The camera in the phone is used as a  viewfinder.

We sell a lot rangefinders, and by far the most popular into industrial solutions is the 300m version, the 1000m is mainly used by Army's etc.
The range of a laser is limited by the size of the lenses..  so to fit it on the back of a phone, we need to scale them back a bit.  We have set the spec at 200m, it could well go past this, especially to highly reflective targets.
The resolution is 2cm, and we conservatively spec the accuracy at +/-20cm

Why is it so cheap - not $1500 like TruPulse 360?  its because we see that by making the technology more accessable, we can solve more real measurement problems...  and the Kickstarter units are special priced for the early adopters.
The real smarts lie in the software - in one quick process, measure the height of a tree and superimpose on a photo then email it.
With the photogrammetry tools, we will make apps to do complex tasks, like model a roof for fast quoting etc. 
There will be lots of apps, you just subscribe to the ones you need.
The basic unit will do all the normal rangefinder functions, with the ability to upgrade as needed.

please feel free to drop me a line,
Leon Toorenburg
leon@ikegps.com
+64 21 356688