SCAN in a BOX IDEA Software Manual

Software Manual

IDEA – The Software

Version 1.1

Open Technologies Srl

WW W.SCANINAB OX.COM

Copyright © 2016 Open Technologies Srl

First printing, June 2016

Contents

I

Part One

1 IDEA - the application for Scan in a Box . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7

1.1 Application Interface 7

1.1.1 Project management panel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8

1.1.2 3D view panel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9

1.1.3 Toolbar . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10

1.1.3.1 Project management (orange) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10

1.1.3.2 Acquisition (bordeaux) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10

1.1.3.3 Alignment (light blue) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11

1.1.3.4 Selection (turquoise) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11

1.1.3.5 Rendering (pink) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12

1.1.3.6 General (purple) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12

1.1.3.7 Features specific to range images (blue) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13

1.1.3.8 Features specific to triangle meshes (light green) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13

2 Using IDEA . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17

2.1 Optical set-up 17

2.1.1 Optical set-up mode . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19

2.1.2 Calibration of the optical head . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22

2.2 Capture and alignment 25

2.2.1 Free mode acquisition . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26

2.2.2 Turn Table acquisition mode . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28

2.2.3 Alignment tool . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30

2.2.3.1 Manual alignment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30

2.2.3.2 Global Alignment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33

2.3 Preparing to generate the model 34

2.4 Model Generation 34

2.4.1 Mesh generation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34

2.4.2 Datum alignment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34

II

Part Two

3 Glossary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39

I

Part One

1 IDEA - the application for Scan in a Box 7

1.1 Application Interface

2 Using IDEA . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17

2.1 Optical set-up

2.2 Capture and alignment

2.3 Preparing to generate the model

2.4 Model Generation

1. IDEA - the application for Scan in a Box

The scanning software for Scan in a box is IDEA: it allows carrying out all the steps for digitizing physical
objects, form capturing the range images of the object to obtaining and consequently editing its 3D model.
This manual aims to describe the interface of the application, the main steps for using the scanner, the optical
set-up/calibration, from the capture to the generation of the 3D digital model. To close the manual we also
provide a glossary of the used terms.

1.1 Application Interface

IDEA’s interface is subdivided in three main parts, as shown in Figure 1.1: the project manager panel (lower
left), the 3D view panel (lower right), and the toolbar (upper row).

Figure 1.1: IDEA’s main interface.

Every operation needed to digitize a physical object is always carried out within a Project that is the container
into which the scan data is organized.

8 Chapter 1. IDEA - the application for Scan in a Box

The project management panel shows and manages all the data collected in the project through the various
steps of the digitizing process (Sect. 1.1.1). The 3D view panel shows the data of the project; most of the
possible interactions with the data is performed in this panel (Sect. 1.1.2). Finally, the toolbar contains all
the features provided by the application for the editing of the data (Sect. 1.1.3).

1.1.1 Project management panel

The project management panel allows to organize and manage all the data associated with a project. When
the program starts, the project is empty and will then be filled with the captures and the generation of new
data.

Figure 1.2: Project management panel.

It is a good practice to name the project, saving it immediately, with the button Save project as , as well

as frequently save with the button Save project during the various steps of the digitization. Each new
element created within a project is represented with a name, an icon specific to the data type, and a color.
The main entities of a project are the following:

• range image

: it’s the data obtained at the end of a scanning procedure and represents the part of

the surface framed by the scanner at the moment of the capture;

• Triangle Mesh: 3D model representing the surface of an object through a set of triangles.

These entities may be arranged into groups that collect elements of the same kind; this allows a better
organization of data, it makes it easy to visualize them and to carry out advanced procedures such as the
alignment.
These groups may be:

• Range image group;

• Triangle mesh group.

IDEA is also able to manage planes:

• planes.

By clicking the right button of the mouse on the elements a contextual menu, specific for each type of
selected object, will be visualized. Moreover, to improve the visual contrast, it is possible to change the color
established by the application for each main entity.

1.1 Application Interface 9

1.1.2 3D view panel

The 3D view panel shown in Figure 1.3 allows to see in three dimensions the objects currently selected in
the project management panel. Each of the selected elements is positioned within a global reference system,
which orientation is shown with the axes in the lower left corner of the window.

Figure 1.3: 3D view panel.

To change the view point of the currently shown scene (rotating around the object, scaling, traslation and so
on) a few mouse-keybord combination can be used:

• free rotation;

• + or + : free translation;

• + : rotation bound on Y axis;

• + : rotation bound on X axis;

• + : rotation bound on Z axis;

• Rotation : scales the portion of data currently framed;

• : access the menu contextual to the selected data type;

• + : changes the position of the light source in the scene;

•

: with an active selection tool, allows to select part of the data, it could be used also for some

features of the toolbar;

•

+ : with an active selection tool it allows to deselect part of the data that was previously

selected.
A few of these actions can also be activated by features of the toolbar (Sect. 1.1.3). The application establishes
the barycenter of the selected elements as default rotation center. However, if the button Rotation centered
on view position, the rotation center is positioned at the barycenter of the portion of data currently visualized.
In the upper left corner it is shown a frame providing information related to the current visualization, such as
the number of visualized elements, the number of points that constitutes them, and the dimension of their
bounding box. In case the content of such frame was difficult to be read, due to its overlap with the visualized
data, double clicking on it with the mouse allows to invert its color, improving the visualization.

10 Chapter 1. IDEA - the application for Scan in a Box

1.1.3 Toolbar

The toolbar shown in Figure 1.4 collects all IDEA’s tools, subdivided in colors based on their function.

1.1.3.1 Project management (orange)

Organizes the commands to open, close, save and load projects; it also allows to import and export individual
elements of a project.

• New project: it creates a new project;

• Load project: it loads an existing project;

• Save project: it saves the current project;

• Save as: it saves the current project with a new name;

• Close project: it closes the current project;

• Import: loads preexisting data in the current project;

Figure 1.4: Toolbar.

• Export: saves selected data outside the current project;

• Exit: closes the IDEA application.

1.1.3.2 Acquisition (bordeaux)

These are all the commands that regulate the acquisition process.

The settings panel (Figure 1.5) will be shown after connecting the scanner with the button open head .

•

/ / / /
of the image that, in general terms, are not to be captured: the brighter the selection, the more extended
the deleted areas;

•

/

Alignment

in the first case no alignment is applied; the second, calibrated axes alignment, is available if the turn
table is present and calibrated;

•

/ /
possible to choose between White, Gray Code, or Phase shift. This is useful for setting the focus of
the projector;

Figure 1.5: Acquisition settings.

Surface color

: sets the threshold for the elimination of the darkest areas

: determines the type of alignment applied at the end of the scanning process;

Projected Image

: allows the selection of an image to project on the object. It is

• Color auto adjustment

: it allows to automatically adapt the color balance of the cameras. It

requires to focus the scanner on a white sheet that has to be bigger than the scanning area;

• Depth: sets the maximum depth threshold (with respect to the Z axis)of the scan;

• Measurement advanced parameters: it sets the basic parameters of the cameras:

– Gain: allows to regulate the light amplification factor;
–

Clock: is the timing of the acquisition cycle: higher clock value means higher speed, but if it was
to be set too high it could saturate the USB bus, jeopardizing the scan;

– Frame rate: is the number of images per second acquired by the cameras;

1.1 Application Interface 11

Figure 1.6: Cameras’ control panel.

–

Exp: regulates the exposure time, that is the interval (in milliseconds) during which the camera
sensor integrates the light: the greater the exposure time, the brighter the image but the slower
the camera acquisition rate.

The button Reset to defaults allows to reset such parameters to their original values.

1.1.3.3 Alignment (light blue)

Collects all the tools to align data (Sect. 2.2.3).

1.1.3.4 Selection (turquoise)

These are all the tools for the interactive selection of data parts; the provided selection tools are:

• Rectangle selection: draws a rectangular selection area on the surface;

• Ellipse selection: draws an elliptical selection area on the surface;

• Polygon selection: draws a polygonal selection area on the surface, setting its vertexes with the

mouse;

• Freehand closed selection

form based on the path traced by the mouse cursor;

• Freehand open selection

by the mouse cursor;

• Segment selection

surface; pressing down the key will allow to trace lines spaced by a predefined angle (editable through
the options panel, and set by default at 45°);

•

/

Pass through / not pass through selection (only for meshes)

the surface areas intersected by the current selection, while the second one only those currently visible:
in case more data layers overlap, the first option selects part of each layer, while the second one only
selects the visible layer;

: draws a freehand selection area on the surface, creating a closed

: draws a freehand selection area on the surface based on the path traced

: selects the area covered by a segment traced by the mouse cursor upon the

: the first option selects all

• Dilate selection to triangles’ crest (only for meshes)

: activating this tool allows to enlarge the
result of a given selection starting from the selection itself to include all the connected triangles which
normals form an angle (with respect to the normals associated to the triangles of the original selection)
below a given threshold. This tool is particularly useful to select planar areas on the 3D model;

• Select project data from view

: detects project items that contain part of the surface obtained

trough a certain selection: it could be useful to detect, in big data groups, those elements that are badly

12 Chapter 1. IDEA - the application for Scan in a Box

aligned or that create areas of noise.

All of the described tools allow, pressing the right button of the mouse, to shift the current selection area;
moreover, pressing the Esc key, it is possible to cancel the currently shown selection.

1.1.3.5 Rendering (pink)

These are the commands that modify the data rendering settings in the 3Dview window.

• / Turn on / Turn off scene light: activate / deactivate the scene light source;

• Color settings

Texture color shows the color of the acquired object (if available); Assigned color applies a color that

has been randomly selected by the software (which can be changed through the project management
panel); Use uniform color applies a unique color (defined in the software settings) to all the data;

•

/
uniform color to each triangle face that constitutes a mesh, while the second one diffuses the color
associated to each vertex, interpolating it for each triangle face of the mesh.

1.1.3.6 General (purple)

Collects a number of general purpose tools, such as view and data scaling:

• Frame all objects

to completely display all the currently selected data;

• Move view on barycenter

of the currently selected data;

• Rotation centered on view position

as new rotation center;

• Select view area to frame: allows to select a specific area to frame in higher detail;

•

/ / / / /
main directions related to the axis of the global reference system: front/back (projection with respect
to the X-Y plane), top/bottom (X-Z plane), left/right (Y-Z plane);

: allows to select the color policy of the data visualized in the 3D view panel.

Select face / vertex attributes rendering (only for meshes)

: centers and modifies the dimension of the framed window to make it possible

: moves the current visualization center to the calculated barycenter

: if active, the barycenter of the current visualization is set

Change view point

: allows to change the view point in the six

: the first option associates a

• Clone: creates a copy of the currently selected scan data;

• Move

: allows to apply a roto-translation of the currently selected data; the types of possible

movements are:

Figure 1.7: Data movement panel.