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| Image of F-15 from scanner. Courtesy photo |
EGLIN AIR FORCE BASE, Fla. -- The 46th Test Wing's Air Force SEEK EAGLE Office bought a 3-D laser scanner system six months ago, but they had no idea it would make such a difference. The $150,000 Leica HDS 7000 3-D laser scanner and Rapidform reverse engineering software program was purchased to quickly build accurate digital models of Air Force aircraft and weapons for use in aircraft-weapon compatibility analyses. After a month of trial use, they were able to use it to quickly scan an entire aircraft. The lead contract engineer said that four years ago it took six people two weeks to manually collect 3-D data for an A-10 aircraft, but with this scanner two people can collect the same amount of data in two days. Word of the success of the system has spread and other branches are contacting Eglin. Two weeks ago Eglin scanned 13 Navy aircraft in eight days. (Source:
Team Eglin Public Affairs, 05/25/12)
