An integrated scanning system for reconstructing 3D color models of general objects

This paper develops an integrated scanning system for reconstructing 3D color models of general objects. First, a laser scanner is used to digitize the 3D shape of an object. When scanning the darker surface of an object, laser beams with different laser power are emitted onto the object surface to obtain adaptive scan lines, and the scan line with best quality is automatically selected to improve the quality of the scan data. 3D triangular meshes are constructed from scan data points and the 3D surface model of the object can be obtained. Then, a digital camera is used to capture color texture images of the object. A texture mapping method is developed to automatically wrap texture images onto triangular meshes to form the 3D color model of the object. Finally, an integrated scanning system is established by combining a laser scanner and a digital camera. Using this system, 3D color models of two tested objects are reconstructed and good results are obtained.