Parsley is an open source initiative to build a low-cost 3D scanner. With Parsley you can create your own 3D models easily by scanning them from your desktop.

Watch the videos

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nmu-038qYmo

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-TEoq6cFrvg

More videos can be found on the Videos page.

Parsley requires hardware to work. Usually this hardware makes 3D scanning expensive. Parsley has been designed with low-cost budgets in mind. As a result you need a standard webcam, a line based laser, and some cartons to glue your printed patterns on. All available for under one hundred Euro.

The software itself is free for use, free for modification and free for commercial applications. Check the license terms at the bottom of the page.

Head over to the GettingStarted guide for an introduction on installing and using Parsley. Make sure you read the SafetyNotes before using Parsley.

From a users perspective Parsley is an application that allows acquisition of 3D point and texture data.

Under the hood, Parsley is a framework for rapid development of machine vision and especially 3d vision algorithms. Parsley is extensible through a flexible and simple add-in system. Predefined interfaces allow development of algorithms without modifying Parsleys core components. Additionally Parsley offers automatic generation of user interfaces to release the algorithm developer of this tedious task.

Parsley does not try to reinvent the wheel - it bases on well established libraries such as OpenCV and MathNET and uses them where applicable.

Parsley was born in 2009 when Christoph read a publication called "Low-Cost Laser Range Scanner and Fast Surface Registration Approach". This paper has turned into what is nowadays the DAVID laser scanner. Since DAVID does not offer source code, Christoph started Parsley as a free-time project to create a flexible 3d scanning framework.

In 2010 Matthias teamed up with Christoph to create an even more user friendly Parsley. Innovative ideas, such as using marker tracking for real-time pose estimation, emerged in this extremely productive joint venture.

In the future we plan add other 3d acquisition methods such as structured light and stereo vision to Parsley. Besides technical advances, we hope that software community picks up Parsley and extend its functionality.

Parsley
Copyright (c) 2010, Christoph Heindl
Copyright (c) 2010, Matthias Plasch
All rights reserved.

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