DAVID is a freeware 3D laser range scanning utility.  Requirements to build a scanner are a PC, a  webcam, a background corner, and a laser that projects a line onto the object.  DAVID has been developed by the computer scientists Dr. Simon Winkelbach, Sven Molkenstruck and Prof. F. M. Wahl at the Institute for Robotics, University of Braunschweig, Germany. 

The object to be scanned sits in front of a known background geometry, with an exact angle of 90°. The webcam is pointed towards the object.  A laser line is "brushed" over the object.  The computer calculates 3D coordinates of the scanned surface. Click the image to access the DAVID web resources.