Handheld 3D laser scanner manufacturer Creaform has just achieved an interesting milestone: they’ve been certified by the Chinese National Institute of Metrology after extensive testing at NIM’s Beijing facility. What? You’ve never heard of NIM? Here’s what they are about: Founded in 1955, the National Institute of Metrology (NIM) is China’s national metrological institute and technical center for legal metrology, affiliated with the General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine (AQSIQ). Same as other NMIs,NIM is tasked with establishing, maintaining and improving national measurement standards and conducting research on relevant technologies to achieve more precise measurements.
Two of Creaform’s scanners, the EXAscanTM and MAXscanTM, both managed to hit the 40µm and 50µm respectively. Also, “the HandyPROBE boasted great accuracy specification compliance by meeting a 55µm single-point accuracy specification and an 85µm volumetric accuracy specification”.
Congrats to Creaform on this, as we suspect it will enable them to increase (or commence?) sales in China. But there’s another thought in our heads: if certification programs exist for scanners, why don’t they exist for 3D printers? Most recently we posted on an extensive benchmark undertaken on a one-time basis, but no more such reports will be forthcoming unless it’s deemed necessary. Perhaps the market just isn’t big enough yet to warrant the establishment of a testing standard. That, or maybe the authorities don’t realize 3D printers are sprouting up all over.
Via Creaform
