3D scanning hardware and software developer Artec 3D has launched Artec Neo, a wireless 3D scanner designed for quality inspection and reverse engineering. Artec describes Neo as the first tolerance-driven wireless 3D scanner.
Neo introduces what the Luxembourg-based company calls “tolerance-driven 3D scanning.” Rather than applying the same metrology workflow across an entire component, users can concentrate metrology targets around features where dimensional tolerances are critical while continuing to capture the surrounding geometry.
Artec Neo offers a stated accuracy of 0.025 mm and volumetric accuracy of 0.025 mm + 0.035 mm/m in these targeted areas. At the same time, the scanner captures full-color 3D data of the complete component at resolutions of up to 0.05 mm.
The system is available now through Artec 3D’s global reseller network.
Applying metrology where tolerances matter
Artec developed Neo around the principle that not every surface on a component requires the same level of dimensional control.
Engineering drawings using Geometric Dimensioning and Tolerancing (GD&T), for example, identify features that determine characteristics such as fit, alignment, sealing and overall component function.
According to Artec, conventional laser scanning workflows rely on reference targets distributed across the component to maintain specified accuracy. Neo instead uses targets as metrology anchors around selected areas.
The scanner combines these anchors with a proprietary blue-light optical system and a single hybrid tracking architecture. AI algorithms track geometry, texture and color across the remainder of the component, allowing metrology-focused and general surface data to be collected within the same scan rather than as separate datasets.
“The idea behind GD&T is simple. Ultimate precision is not required everywhere — control what determines whether the part works,” said Art Yukhin, President and CEO of Artec 3D.
“Artec Neo applies the same principle to 3D scanning. If you have a drawing, it tells you where metrology belongs. If you’re reverse engineering, you make that decision as you reconstruct the design. Put metrology where function demands it, while capturing the entire part. That’s tolerance-driven scanning.”
Target placement can also be adapted to different inspection requirements. Users carrying out full-part metrology can cover the component with targets, while dimensional inspection can focus them around features with critical tolerances.
For delicate or worn components, targets can instead be attached to surrounding fixtures, preserving the part’s condition while anchoring dimensional accuracy around it. Where metrology-grade accuracy is not required, Neo can operate entirely without targets while capturing geometry at up to 0.05 mm resolution, including deep features, in true-to-life color.
From inspection to reverse engineering
Artec is positioning Neo for both quality inspection and reverse engineering applications. In automotive applications, the scanner can measure flush and gap dimensions while digitizing surrounding bodywork. In aerospace maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO), Artec says Neo can measure critical interfaces while recording the broader component geometry.
The company also identifies defense and industrial maintenance as potential applications, particularly where legacy parts need to be reconstructed without original drawings or CAD data. Retrofit and installation workflows could similarly use the scanner to measure connection points and interfaces alongside the surrounding geometry.
Captured data is processed through Artec Studio, the company’s flagship software platform for 3D scanning and data processing. The software includes editing tools and integrations with SOLIDWORKS, Geomagic and PolyWorks for more advanced reverse engineering and inspection workflows.
Artec says every Neo scanner is individually tested and supplied with a verification certificate. Testing is carried out using methods per VDI/VDE 2634 Part 3 standards, while the company says its independent metrology and calibration laboratory operates according to ISO/IEC 17025 principles.
Automated robotic testing is used to remove operator influence and assess repeatability across the scanner’s measurement volume, according to Artec.
Neo can operate either tethered or wirelessly. Battery-powered scanning is rated for up to 50 minutes, with Wi-Fi used to transfer data. This is intended to make the scanner easier to deploy around large assemblies, inside machinery, at height, in confined spaces and elsewhere on the factory floor.
Artec is also developing a companion application for iOS and Android that will allow smartphones to serve as displays for the scanner. No release date for the application was disclosed.
Artec Neo was presented at IMTS 2026 in Chicago, which ran from September 14 to 19 at McCormick Place.
Reducing the setup burden of metrology-grade 3D scanning
Recent 3D scanning systems have increasingly targeted the preparation required for dimensional inspection. SHINING 3D’s recently launched EinScan Trak, for example, uses an optical tracker to follow markers built into the scanner rather than requiring them to be placed across the object. Its detachable handheld mode can instead use surface geometry for alignment, while traditional markers remain available for uniform or featureless parts.
Neo approaches the same constraint differently. Rather than eliminating targets, Artec limits their use to areas where metrology-grade accuracy is required while geometry, texture and color tracking maintains coverage across the rest of the component. This could be particularly useful where only selected interfaces or repaired areas require tight dimensional verification, Black Falcon, for example, showed the racing team using SHINING 3D’s FreeScan Trak Nova to combine broader vehicle capture with closer inspection of repaired areas following a Nürburgring 24 Hours crash. The comparison highlights how current metrology workflows are moving toward combining whole-part digitization and localized dimensional control without requiring separate scanning processes.
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Feature Image shows Artec Neo. Image via Artec 3D.
