scAnt - 3D Insect Scanner

thingiverse

**scAnt** is an open-source platform for the creation of digital 3D models of insects and small objects. scAnt consists of a scanner and a Graphical User Interface (GUI) which enable the automated generation of multi-view Extended Depth Of Field (EDOF) images. These images are then masked with a novel approach combining random forest-based edge-detection, adaptive thresholding, and connected component labelling and can be processed further with a photogrammetry software package of choice, including open-source options such as Meshroom, to create high-quality, textured 3D models. It combines various well documented open-source tools for image processing, such as [Hugin](http://hugin.sourceforge.net/), [Enfuse](http://software.bergmark.com/enfuseGUI/Main.html), [Exiftool](https://exiftool.org/), and [Meshroom](https://alicevision.org/#meshroom) into an automated system with a user-friendly GUI. The resulting models can be used for research applications, conservation efforts, as well as video game development and 3D animations. More details can be found in the associated [publication](https://peerj.com/articles/11155/) Example models, generated with **scAnt**, can be found on [Sketchfab](https://sketchfab.com/EvoBiomech) All code and installation instructions are available from our [Github page](https://github.com/evo-biomech/scAnt) For more information, refer to our upcoming publication in which we outline the development and usage process of our 3D scanner.