As their new H800 3D printer gets prepped for shipping to pre-order customers, Afinia has revealed another bit of news: the release of a tabletop 3D scanner. The ES360 desktop scanner broadens the company’s product line, while complementing their new 3D printer.
Relying on white light scanning, the portable scanner is capable of reaching ≤0.1mm accuracy. It can function with two different scanning modes, an automatic scan, which has a maximum scan size of 215x215x200mm, or the free scan mode, capable of scanning an area of up to 700x700x700mm in size. The automatic scan mode takes only 3 minutes to complete, which is faster than other similar products.
The ES360 has yet to hit the market, so the price tag has not been revealed, but, given Afinia’s previous record for easy-to-use, low-cost, and reliable 3D printers, I can guess that this scanner will follow suit. From the specs, it looks as though the ES360 will be faster and more accurate than the MakerBot Digitizer, capable of completing scans in about 12 minutes with 2 mm accuracy. It also has a larger scan area, compared to the Digitizer’s 8 x 8 in. Another comparable device, the Matter and Form scanner, can achieve larger scans in 5 minutes. Unfortunately, the ES360 currently only supports Windows, but, hopefully, support for other operating systems is on the way.
If you’re thinking of purchasing a tabletop scanner, but are unsure about which one, the price of the ES360 may end up being the determining factor, so we’ll have to wait and see how much it will be. That said, Afinia has a great track record when it comes to customer service and reliable products. Still, we’ll have to hear what customers say about the ES360’s ultimate quality and if it lives up to the company’s printers. Until then, we can at least watch Afinia’s latest video of the H800 in action:
