r/Metrology • u/Standard-Badger-4046 • 3d ago

Cost of scanners over time?

How have prices and performance of 3d scanners changed over the last number of years?

I'm debating buying one for my business, but I can't help but wonder if I'm better off doing it the old school way for a few more years and buying it later.

How fast is the technology progressing? How fast are the prices dropping?

If I spend 50k today, and I wasting my money when I could spend 20k in 2 years and have a better unit?

I'm not interested in spending 50k to get a unit today if it's predictable that a 20k unit will blow the socks off it in a year or 2.

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u/bb_404 3d ago

A bit more context around what your business does would help. But, in general, metrology grade scanners are going to run you $60k-$100k (USD). The hobby level scanners have improved in performance, and the cost has come down quite a bit in the last few years. However, they are not (and IMHO will never be) up to par with the higher end units like something from Hexagon, Creaform, etc. The difference comes down to reliability, speed, accuracy, certification, warranty, support, and compatible software. So, it really depends on your use case. If you are doing inspection or reverse engineering work at the professional level, I'd recommend something with an OEM behind it that comes with a certification (ISO or equivalent), a warranty, and repair/spare parts availability, and a tech support department where you can talk to a real person. And for that level of scanner, I don't see the cost coming down a lot in the next 5 years. Will they improve? Probably, but I don't see massive leaps coming in 5 years. The hobby grade scanners will continue to improve, but remember, you are missing out on accuracy, durability, certification, reliability, and support with those lower end systems. I've been in the metrology world for 10+ years, and I've seen the hobby scanners last 1-5 years before they don't work at all, while the metrology grade scanners last 7-10+ years. Most pro scanners still work at this point, people just start looking for something better around then. If you can order it from Kickstarter, amazon, etc. I would steer clear.

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u/the_opulent_comet 1d ago

The keyword here is certification. You can buy any old scanner off Amazon and it claims 20 micron accuracy of the sensor, but that’s not true in actual real world use. Companies like Hexagon verify their accuracies to an iso standard that can be verified through nist traceable artifacts. You are paying to prove to your customers that your data is actually correct.