EinscanSE

Note: Currently the Scanner is already unboxed and attached to the 3D printer area computer with the scanning software. These instructions are for any scenarios where it has been put away

Unbox and connect

1) Carefully remove the scanner from its box (all pieces should be attached except cords, if in custom box, otherwise see detailed instructions on attaching camera mount at end of this page.) and place it on a table where the long USB cable will reach the computer with the scanning software.

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2)Ensure the cable going to the Turntable is plugged into the Small USB B plug on the back of the camera unit

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3) Plug the 90 degree end of the USB cable into the Camera unit, then plug the other end into the USB 3.0 port on front of the scanning computer (Far left port, see picture) (Note: If you accidentally plug it into a different port it will not work and you will get "Device not connected errors" in the software)

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4) Plug the Power adapter into the Camera unit, then plug the power unit into an outlet.

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6) Power on the Camera unit by pressing the power button area for 1 second, it will glow blue when on. (Note: There is no physical "Button", so look at the back of the unit for the square power button touch area)

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7) Start the EinScan program via the link on the scanning computer desktop

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8) Wait 15-20 seconds while it loads, and the UI should show that the device is connected, as in the below diagram

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Unit Calibration - Not typically required

Unless the Camera unit has been disconnected from the support area, there is normally no need to recalibrate the unit. There ill be model specific adjustments to make during scanning, but none of these require the recalibration steps. IF for some reason the RM asks you to try recalibrating, the onscreen procedure will guide you through it.

Preparing to Scan - Let the tests begin!

Help us figure this thing out

As this scanner is brand new to us, we're still figuring out the best practices to help make it more successful. So right now we're in a learning phase where we don't have any experts in the software or tool itself, and are still experimenting to find out what works well, what doesn't work, and how to make it better.

That means:

Expect that there will be lots of trial and error - no "Press the button and get 100% success!" yet
Expect that no one may have an answer yet - "What does this option do in the software?" "I have no idea, what *does* that option do?"
Everyone's help and input is valuable to help us iterate through lots of combinations, against different objects, and report their success/failure

Testing procedure and variables

Currently the Scanner is hooked up to one of the 3d Printing station computers, so there is no setup required. To help us with testing what you'll want to do is:

Pick an object that has very few Black, Clear or highly Reflective surfaces. Advanced techniques will apply to those later
Place the object in the Center of the scanner, oriented/fixtured(*) so that the surfaces you need to capture will be exposed to the Camera
Launch the Scanner software and try scanning the same object with a variety of different Software settings and environment changes, especially:
1. HDR vs Non-NDR
2. "Features" vs "Turntable" align mode option
3. Different numbers of Turntable Steps
4. Lights on or off in the room
5. Backdrops, diffuser tent and other lighting tricks you can think of
Report what you found worked best with the object, and what the big problems were/are. (Use the #resource-3dprinting Slack channel)

Scanner Software 101 - The Basic Basics

1) Power the scanner on

The scanner will glow Blue when on. If it's not on, check that it's plugged in and then press your finger on the "Power" symbol area on the camera unit and hold for 1-2 seconds.

2) Launch the Software

The icon is on the bottom left of the 3D computer

3) Select the Einscan SE device

If the software detects the device, the status shown in the top left will be "In Progress".

Click on the left picture, the EinScan SE unit, even though they both look similar.

Note: There have been some odd connection issues so far, so close out other programs before using this one, double-check power and USB cables, and close/relaunch the software as necessary until it says "In Progress"

4) Select "New Work"

For now just start a new scan project each time, just in case.

Note: At this point the Status/Device should say "Einscan-SE" in the top left and show the date the scanner was last calibrated to the right of that.

5) Adjust Brightness to remove Overexposure

Any Red areas shown in the preview window are Overexposed, and indicate you should turn the Brightness down until they go away or are minimal. It is unclear at present how much Overexposure is environmental lighting vs reflectivity of the surfaces.

Note: Lighting is a big area for testing - maybe we need backdrops? Maybe we need different lighting angles? Maybe we need... who knows. Feel free to experiment here.

6) Adjust Settings (Trial and Error)

And here we enter one of the big portions of testing - Settings, and how to optimize them. As mentioned above, options include:

1) Brightness

2) HDR vs Non-HDR

3) Alignment Mode

4) Turntable Steps

5) Turntable speed (mainly if you have objects that are heavy/poorly balanced and might tip)

We have no idea at this point how some of these options can best be optimized, so experiment and document your results with different models!

7) Start Scan

When ready, click the "Play" triangle button on the right hand side, and it will begin to scan.

Assume at least 60 seconds before it will begin the first scan, and about 15 seconds per turntable step, so an average of 4-5 minutes for a basic scan with 12 steps.

8) Edit results

This is an area of the software we really have no education in yet. What's possible? What works? Who knows.... we'll be reading up on this but trial and error may be the way to go for now..

By rotating the object you'll be able to get a sense of what it saw and what it did not see... the larger the gaps, the worse it will be for filling in and aligning areas

Whatever you determine, when you're done at this "Edit Data" phase hit the Checkmark

9) Mesh the data

Another area for lots of exploration - what do all the options do? What work and what doesn't?

In this case the mostly complete model was done, and the "Mesh Object" (Triangluar icon at the bottom right) wa selected with "Watertight" model - it filled in areas it wasn't sure what to do with. Was this a good choice? Were there better options? Can we use the Data Panel to align pictures better and improve resolution? Probably!

10) Export the model

The Model can now be exported as an STL file and printed, edited, etc.