  3D reconstruction is a technique used in computer vision which has a wide
range of applications in areas like object recognition, city modelling, virtual
reality, physical simulations, video games and special effects. Previously, to
perform a 3D reconstruction, specialized hardwares were required. Such systems
were often very expensive and was only available for industrial or research
purpose. With the rise of the availability of high-quality low cost 3D sensors,
it is now possible to design inexpensive complete 3D scanning systems. The
objective of this work was to design an acquisition and processing system that
can perform 3D scanning and reconstruction of objects seamlessly. In addition,
the goal of this work also included making the 3D scanning process fully
automated by building and integrating a turntable alongside the software. This
means the user can perform a full 3D scan only by a press of a few buttons from
our dedicated graphical user interface. Three main steps were followed to go
from acquisition of point clouds to the finished reconstructed 3D model. First,
our system acquires point cloud data of a person/object using inexpensive
camera sensor. Second, align and convert the acquired point cloud data into a
watertight mesh of good quality. Third, export the reconstructed model to a 3D
printer to obtain a proper 3D print of the model.
