3D imaging company Thor3D just announced a new 3D scanner called “Drake.” The wireless, hand-held, professional device is said to scan different sized objects, from jewelry to oil pipes.

Today, most 3D scanners are fixed to a certain scanning size. This might change thanks to “Drake,” a new 3D scanner model from Thor3D. The company, which based in Moscow, Russia, was started by ex-employees of the professional scanning system producer Artec 3D and holds a lot of expertise in 3D scanning.

“When developing Drake, our vision was to give a single tool to the user enabling him to easily scan any object, regardless of its size. We pictured a museum digitizing their whole collection with a single, affordable, easy-to-use, professional tool. We envisioned an injection-molding specialist being able to reverse engineer any object his customers bring him with one device. We imagined a university sharing this scanner among different department  because it was a multi-purpose instrument”, they state in the press release. 

Technical Details Of Drake 3D Scanner

Not many technical details (and no prices) are known so far. Here’s what we know: Drake is a white light 3D scanner with three interchangeable sets of lenses. Each of them has a different Field of View (FoV) and is used to scan different sized objects.

Thor3D calls them these set of lenses “heads,” “because it’s the part of the scanner that has the eyes.”

• The first set of lenses called “Maxi,” is designed to scan large objects such as cars.
• A second set called “Midi” is used to scan medium objects like a dashboard of a car.
• The third set “Mini” is meant for scanning small objects, like the gear-shift handle in that automobile.

According to the company, these lenses never have to be calibrated and can be switched out similar to a professional photo camera. 

Depending on which set of lenses you use, the maximum accuracy of your data will be between 40 and 200 microns; the maximum resolution will be between 0.15mm and 1.00mm.

This scanner works wirelessly. Its “body” has a built-in computer with a 7-inch touchscreen and battery. The device captures 3D data and compiles it in real time during scanning. This data is then transferred to the PC via WIFI (or USB flash drive).

Drake will be supplied with a proprietary desktop editing software as well as the embedded scanning program called Thor3D Suite. Another noteworthy feature is that Drake is equipped with two projectors, instead of the customary one. Therefore the device can capture aspects of objects that were previously difficult to scan, such as sharp edges and thin plastic walls. 

Thor3D plans to ship the first scanners in November 2016.

The sets of lenses or “heads” will be sold separately. If you only need one set of lenses, you can buy the “body” and just one “head” and purchase the other “heads” at a later time if the need arises.