New Artec Neo Takes Aim at One of 3D Scanning’s Most Tedious Jobs

Reflective markers are commonly used by handheld metrology scanners to help the scanner establish its position as it moves around an object. The approach works well, but preparing a large component can take considerable time, particularly when only a handful of features actually need highly accurate measurement.

With Neo, Artec is proposing a different compromise. Instead of putting markers across the entire object, users place them primarily around the areas where dimensional accuracy matters most. The scanner can then use the object’s shape, texture and color to keep track of the rest of the surface.

Artec calls the approach “tolerance-driven 3D scanning.” That isn’t an established category of 3D scanning so much as a description of the workflow the company is trying to create: spend measurement effort where it is needed rather than treating every square centimeter of a part as equally important.

For example, an engineer reverse engineering a large casting might need accurate dimensions around bearing bores, mounting holes and machined faces, while the rough cast surfaces connecting them only need to be captured well enough to reproduce the overall shape. Neo is intended to capture both in a single scanning session without requiring markers over the entire casting.

When markers are applied, Neo achieves accuracy of up to 0.025 mm or 0.025 + 0.035 mm per meter scanned. Without markers, the device captures using the same blue-light technology as Artec’s Spider II. This method tracks surfaces based on texture and geometry instead of targets, achieving a 3D point accuracy of up to 0.05 mm.

Different Ways to Ditch the Dots

The problem Artec is addressing is real, but it isn’t unique to the company. Other scanner manufacturers have taken a different route to reducing marker preparation.

Revopoint’s Trackit, which we did a full hands-on review of back in June, pairs a handheld laser scanner with a separate optical tracking station. Rather than relying on markers attached to the workpiece, the tracking station watches the scanner and determines where it is in space. Within the tracked area, this allows the system to scan objects without covering them in positioning dots. Revopoint describes Trackit as providing marker-free scanning, including on objects without useful surface features.

Shining 3D uses a similar principle with its FreeScan Trak range. The FreeScan Trak Nova combines a handheld scanner with an external tracking unit, allowing marker-free measurement through real-time optical tracking. For particularly large measurements, the system can also use photogrammetry to maintain accuracy over longer distances. Shining 3D notes that markers may still be recommended on very large surfaces.

The trade-off with these systems is straightforward. They largely eliminate the need to prepare the object, but they introduce another piece of equipment that has to be positioned with a clear view of the scanner.

Neo appears to approach the same problem from the opposite direction. There is no separate tracking station. Instead, some markers remain part of the workflow, but potentially far fewer of them.