Air rescue helicopter

This impressive 3D model of an air rescue helicopter is the result of an epic scanning project using the combined might of two Luxembourgish companies: Luxembourg Air Rescue and Artec 3D, featuring Artec Ray and Artec Leo.

While Ray’s data was mostly used for alignment and registration, it was Leo that did the rest of the heavy lifting. Just 2 hours of scanning this large machine with Artec Ray was enough to get the necessary scans for use as a reference, as well as to reconstruct the upper parts of the rotor blades. The long-range scanner was placed in 8 different positions around the helicopter to make ultra-clean scans. Ray boasts best-in-class angular accuracy, ensuring noise levels were almost non-existent.

With sufficient data for reference ready, the complete body of the helicopter was then captured with Artec Leo, and all in under 8 hours – even a project this massive proved possible with Artec’s AI-driven wireless scanner. Simply by pointing and shooting, our scanning specialist managed to capture every part of the helicopter, from cockpit to tail boom.

Given the incredible amount of data, this project could have taken months to process. Luckily, this was reduced to several weeks, thanks to Artec Studio and Leo’s advanced algorithms for easier processing. Another challenge: An airplane hangar full of sunlight might have posed complications given the aircraft’s smooth and shiny surfaces. But a combination of Leo’s Class I Laser projector and some scanning spray came to an easy rescue.

Give the model a spin to examine all the edges and curves, making this helicopter look so real it seems the blades are about to whirr in the air, lifting the craft away on its next rescue mission.

Find out more about this 3D scanning project here.