Makerbot 3D Scanner

Makerbot is coming out with a 3D scanner that will allow you to scan in an object which can then be printed on a 3d printer without requiring the user to design it in a cad program. Cost will be around $2000-$3000

http://mashable.com/2013/03/08/makerbot-digitizer/

 

I've used handheld 3d scanners for reverse engineering and measurement, and honestly most suck for anything more than a couple components. They get very confused on arcs and most times put in splines instead of lines or arcs. Splines are a no go when you are making laser, cnc, or dimensioned patterns. It takes more time to redo the splines than dimensioning by hand in most cases. This one is for small parts so I'm sure it would be more accurate, but it wouldn't work for anything I've scanned. For the industrial parts I dealt with we now use a CMM.

 

These are more intended as hobbyist tools. The replicator and the scanner would run about $5K total.

 

Makes sense. Spendy little contraption but I'm sure it's nice.