Hexagon Absolute Arm: Executing a Scan

Geomagic Wrap is used to operate the scanning arm

In the Capture tab, select Scan and ensure that the dialog box says Hexagon Absolute SI

When you are ready to begin your scan, press Start Capture to begin scanning

Flip the lock up to the unlock symbol to allow for full rotation of the top joint in the arm

When moving the arm, it is helpful to support it with two hands. One on the handle and another to maneuver the arm

To start scanning, push on the red button that looks like a trigger on the scanner handle

Push it again to pause the scan

Refrain from touching anything from the front of the scanner. That is where the laser and camera are

After pressing Start Capture the scanner will emit lasers: a red box and a blue line

When scanning, align the blue line inside the box (ideally to the middle) by moving the scanner closer/farther away from the object

The light on top will indicate whether you are in the right position

Do not move the object once you have started to scan

You can take multiple passes by pausing/starting to scan with the red button

Your work will appear on Geomagic Wrap

Any parts you missed in the captured point cloud data will need to be scanned again in a subsequent pass

Repeat scanning passes until all visible surfaces of the target object are captured from the current object orientation

When you are done, push the black slider above the red trigger to finish scanning in this position

Press OK to store the data in a new group, which will represent one setup/position of the object

Proceed to the post processing guide to learn how to use Geomagic Wrap to put together your scans

You will usually need to scan the part from different angles to capture the entire part

On many objects, you need to scan the bottom surfaces that are not possible to scan in the first orientation

Be sure to support the object well since if it falls or shifts the scan data would have to be merged and another pass would be needed

Any misc. objects used to prop up the desired object can be removed in post-processing

Before starting subsequent scanning passes, you can hide previous groups by right clicking them in the Model Manager

Since you will eventually be merging all of the scan data, your scans will need to have common areas to reference

These scanning passes require post processing to make a complete and manifold mesh

The scanner is not needed to do post processing once all scanning passes are complete, so it can be shut down

Hook the scanner back onto the arm

Flip the red switch to lock the arm's movement

Hold the power button to turn off the scanner