6

I found an old Creaform3D EXAscan laying around at the company I work for, and tried to plug it on a computer to see if it still works.

I discovered that it uses a software called RapidForm for data acquisition, but its license is expired.

I looked in the manufacturer site for drivers or something similar but there isn't anything.

Is there any other software or way to read the data coming from such scanner?

rbasniak
  • 161
  • 3

2 Answers2

2

The Creaform EXAscan is according to the manufacturer a laser based machine. This means that it determines data points and their positions by some triangonometry done with a laser, 32.000 times a second, resulting in very high density point clouds. This demands a powerful program to work with.

At some point, your company used Rapidform, which costs a wooping 10 to 30 grand for a license. Other software in this niece are - according to a solidworks thread - Geomagic and PolyWorks. The gist of the thread seems to be that these "big 3" were the best ones at the market in 2011. However I have no idea if they work together with the given hardware or what the later two cost.

Trish
  • 20,169
  • 10
  • 43
  • 92
1

So if the original manufacturer still exists, (which they appear to, and even list your scanner under 'legacy' products) your best chance of getting it working is going to be to contact them directly. Using proprietary hardware WITHOUT the associated proprietary software can range from merely tedious but possible, to outright impossible, depending on the specific company. Oftentimes with tech products like this, the business model isn't about the product itself, but about the license fees for the software to use it. That they can charge yearly for. It's possible that the raw data is just a stereo camera file with extensions renamed, and equally possible that the firmware in the scanner will do some sort of check for valid license before it will even start scanning, they don't really have much info on their legacy products on their page

Greenonline
  • 5,831
  • 7
  • 30
  • 60
entropicCreator
  • 79
  • 7
  • it is a laser based machine, so data pickup is clearly different from a stereo photogrammetry with structured light. – Trish Aug 20 '18 at 18:38
  • yes but thats not really the point, the point is it could equally be a standard format or something proprietary – entropicCreator Aug 22 '18 at 01:55
  • the programs are not made by the same maker as the software - they will use some kind of interface, but if this is an industry standard or a licensed knowledge I can't tell. – Trish Aug 22 '18 at 04:12