During the last couple of decades we have seen huge advances in laser trackers, portable arms, structured light scanners, laser scanners, photogrammetry devices, and other 3-D measurement technologies that have made accurate 3-D shop floor measurement more feasible than ever before. Each of these technologies has its own set of tradeoffs—accuracy, measuring volume, portability, durability, or ease of use—but the clincher for many small machine shops has been the price.

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