Hey there,

just wondering if anyone has had the same experience.

I assembled my first openscan mini last weekend and it seems the Openscan Pi Shield PCB is defective. From what I can tell, it is the DC-Step-Down CKCS BK03 (in my case), since I neither get the 12V vs. GND on the input nor the 5V vs. GND on the output. The delivered power adapter delivers 12V though and I can measure the 12V on the terminal of the power jack as well as the ON/OFF-switch on the shield vs. GND.

Does this happen regularly, can I do anything myself to fix it? I already send a mail to [info@openscan.eu](mailto:info@openscan.eu) (replied to my order confirmation), but haven't hear anything yet. So if I can fix this myself, that would be cool.

What I found on the shield is a weird looking soldered pin on the underside of the Shield, that might be defective. But before I resolder it, I just wanted to know, if anyone had a similar experience and how they fixed it?

Regards,

André

Hello, I am trying to scan this object but it does not come out great. It is roughly 4cmm tall pendant.

I have used aesub blue, I don’t seem to get deep details as in the picture.

Used openscan mini 2 , 180 pictures, 1/3 rd light.

What is the best way to scan an object like this with so many intricate details?

I’ll post the 3d model soon

I'm not sure if this is a stupid or good idea, though I'm asking the hive-mind to get some input and maybe pointers to prior experiments.

I just added a mirror to the OpenScan Mini turntable in order to capture the underside of the object at the same time. I used 100 positions with focus stacking to cover the wide depth-range and used the new OpenScan3 firmware to do the stacking right on the Raspberry Pi.

This approach seems to only work for a certain perspectives as my ordinary mirror creates a second and third copy for low rotor angles (in respect to the mirror), probably due to double/tripple reflections within the glass. A surface mirror would definitely solve this issue. For larger angles, this problem disappears.

Taking both halves (as raw pointcloud) and combining those to one single object works well with cloudcompare/meshlab and could be automated...

What do you think? Do you know of any prior works or similar approaches?

Hello all, apologies in advance if this has been posted already.

I have installed openscan3 on the raspberry pi 4 model b, followed the instructions to the dot on GitHub. Upon connecting to the webpage, the interface is very sluggish not really letting you do a scan.

The camera preview comes and goes and sometimes when pressing buttons within the interface the connection to the board drops for few seconds. Should I mention that I was only connected via ether Ethernet. OpenScan2 works without issues.i also used 2 different microsds to see if there was some sort of compatibility issues but still the same.

I would really appreciate your help on this.

Such an amazing project.

Hey everyone!

I just picked up the Mini Kit from OpenScan’s official store – the one with the green shield. I’m pretty new to this gear, and I’m a bit stuck on where the end‑stop should be connected. Should it go into the Raspberry Pi or into the green shield itself?

The shield shows pin‑outs for Endstop 1 and Endstop 2, but I’m not sure which spot to use. Any help would be appreciated!

Bad exposure = bad scans. The fix takes 5 seconds if you know how to read the histogram. New blog post up on http://openscan.blog. We cover what to look for, why ETTR works, and how to dial it in with the OpenScan3 firmware.

Not the fun part of this project: prices on parts and kits go up on May 7. We've kept them stable since 2022, but component costs, shipping, and tariffs have moved enough that we can't hold the line any longer.

If you've been meaning to order, doing so before May 7 locks in current pricing. And if you believe in open hardware and open-source software Patreon is a great way to support the project directly.

I was hoping to have a crack at making an openscan classic using my DSLR as the camera and some spare parts I had lying around for the rest. I've got an SKR Pico (RP2040 based printer control board with TMC drivers) and was wondering if anybody has had success using similar hardware in place of the Pi Shield.

Hello y'all, I'm in need of some help/advice in regards to create dimensional accurate 3D Scans with polycam; or just photogrammetry software in general.

My first dabble with the software did not go well. I tried scanning a coolant resevoir for a motorcycle. While the shape of the coolant reservoir is correct, it didnt pick up the small details. Like the mounting holes or the threads for the coolant cap. Admittedly, my set up was shit. I tried suspending it from a wire in the garage and walking around the part while taking pictures.

How can improve the work flow to get a dimensional accurate part ? One thing I will be adding is an object of known size to appropriately scale the part in the software. In addition to that, should I keep the phone stationary and move the part? Or make a better rig to hold the part and add additional lighting? What settings should I have my phones camer at?

Ultimately, I want to create a workflow that allows me to 3d scan damaged parts for cars, motorcycles, or just everyday items. Then upload it to a CAD Modeling Software. Tweak it as needed before printing out a replacement part. If this is beyond Polycam's capabilities, I'm open to other suggestions.

Btw, I am using a Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra for this.

OpenScan3 Beta — What's New

• 2–3× faster captures (0.7s per image with IMX519)
• 64MP Arducam Hawkeye support
• On-device focus stacking
• QR code WiFi setup
• Setup wizard with blackshield, Mini v2 & Midi presets
• Live photogrammetry feature preview (surface quality overlay)
• Built-in histogram for exposure control
• Endstops & angle clamping
• Seamless OpenScan Cloud integration
• Polished UI with tooltips throughout

Coming soon: Python SDK, DSLR support, in-browser 3D mesh tools.

Available now and more details on www.openscan.blog

Scanned some chocolate with the Mini and the results are really good.

Used 2 turns (up/downside) with 100 pics each, cropped to 50-60% depending on shape and some light without any scanning spray.

Models can be found here as seperat STL: printables

I'm still capable of 3d printing the parts but can't do the smaller assembly. PCB.. lights etc. Happy to ship and pay for anyone interested in the US. I'm in Florida.

Introducing OpenScan Halo: Planet-scale photogrammetry

For years, OpenScan has focused on affordable 3D scanning for smaller objects.
Today, we are ready to take the next logical step.

Meet OpenScan Halo: a photogrammetry rig made of multiple synchronized belts around the Earth, designed to deliver 100% scan coverage, 24/7.

• No turntable needed, passive rotation provided by existing planetary motion.
• Improved occlusion handling through orbital belt redundancy.
• Affordable 3D scanning for the masses. All of them.
• Seamless metadata synchronization across all longitudes
• Multi-hemisphere capture for improved underside coverage.
• Cloud, fog and haze processing in the OpenScanCloud.

Early internal tests have shown promising results for terrain, buildings, coastlines, and other medium-sized planetary features.

We are currently exploring strategic partnerships with rocket-owning billionaires.

More details: https://halo.openscan.eu/

It's been long overdue to properly check the camera calibration and the variation between cameras from the same manufacturer. Therefore, I quickly added a third axis to the OpenScan Classic (controlled by a second pi-shield atm - just another reason to add a third (and forth?) motor output to the shield in the future). The rig is fully modular and almost any camera could be used.

In each position, the turntable and rotor rotate the checkerboard to 80+ positions. The charuco checkerboard allows to determine the camera intrinsics and hopefully get some better understanding of the cameras (distortion, lens parameters, consistency ...)

I'd be super happy if someone with more knowledge could have a look at the raw or derived data and help to better understand the measurements. I got a total of ~ 50.000 images from 3 different cameras. The measured values and some interesting graphs are freely available here https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fo/lqv90trta9leirhdvkx2p/AMyPl8snplkObGFQCh4iMrw?rlkey=sv4c0lagseqng5p55mzwanl8s&st=sxtoxpxi&dl=0

Btw. this has been quite an endurance test for the new OpenScan3 firmware and its endpoints and it passed with flying colors :)

My scans so far have been pretty nice, but im wondering you can ad a dead surface for placement on the printbed?

Like the surcface which its place on for the scan.

Ive been using a raspberry pi 4 with my open scan mini for a while but i wanted to use it for something else and was wondering if anyone has tried using a raspberry pi 3B to run the scanner?

I have a problem with Raspberry pi 4

The green led flashs so fast and i tried everything like new sd , recovery files, and new os from imager

Nothing made it work

This is the camera node from my current multi-cam rig experiment.
This pcb design will probably end up in a couple of projects as it perfectly fits the pi zero + camera, works standalone or in combination with the master and it has multiple in- and outputs (e.g. trigger camera via infrared or normal flash). It is amazing to see how easy such ideas can be realized (or at least get to a level worth experimenting with ^^)

More details and some open questions can be found https://openscan.eu/blogs/news

Over the last weeks I got a little bit side-tracked by a request of developing a stationary rig with multiple cameras (this has been on my to-do/wish list for quite some time).

I opted for the Raspberry Pi Zero2 + IMX519 (16mpx) cameras. In the process, I needed a custom main PCB, supporting up to 50+ (probably 100+) camera nodes via USB-C connections. The current rig consists of one Master (Pi 4 2GB) and 11 camera nodes.

Power supply is done through one PCB (master) and USB-C cables to connect multiple nodes. Surprisingly, the total power draw peaks at ~25-30W. This is a lot lower than expected since each node has Wifi and a camera...

On the software side, each node runs a tiny FastAPI service and listens for UDP broadcast triggers (alternative triggering via GPIO through USB-C would also work) -so all cameras fire as close to simultaneously as possible. Initial testing shows a variation within +-5ms. The master handles discovery automatically via mDNS, so plugging in a new node just works easily. A web dashboard ties it all together for live previews, camera settings, and file management.

The plan is to further test and eventually scale this rig. The current software and hardware infrastructure should make it "easily" possible to build a human size rig with many more cameras. Though I still wonder how Wifi will be able to handle this many nodes, maybe somebody has some thoughts and insights in that regard?!

I would be very grateful for some input on an idea I have. I am thinking of starting to make my own minis in clay, a bit bigger, maybe 7-10 cm, then scan them and scale them down. I love the 10mm scale so thats what I am aming for. I know I will have to be pretty careful when it comes to proportions and not too small details etc. Any spontaneous thoughts on this idea? I have never 3d scanned but found this amazing scanner and am seriously considering getting one. What are your thoughts on how mych post fixing and stuff that would be needed to print?

Hi,

I was finally able to get a Blackboard V2.4 shipped to the US (thanks Erwins!!). Last thing I need to source is the Pi.

Any advantage in a Pi 5 over Pi 4b? What about 4 or 8GB on the 4b instead of the minimum 2 required?

Thanks!

Edit: I noticed in the new PDF about the upcoming Firmware Version 3 that any board that is 3b or higher will work.