Case Study: Karlsruhe Institute of Technology achieves autonomous object recognition and robotic grasping with 3D Systems' Geomagic Design X

3D Scanning Technology and Geomagic Design X Help Robot Grasp Reality

3D Systems partnered with researchers at the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT) to tackle a core robotics challenge: teaching the humanoid robot ARMAR‑III to reliably perceive and grasp everyday objects. KIT needed high‑quality 3D models and a seamless point‑cloud/mesh processing workflow because the open‑source and scanner‑bundled tools they tried were too basic and fragmented for robust visual recognition and autonomous grasp planning.

KIT built an object modeling center (Konica Minolta scanner, turntable, cameras) and adopted 3D Systems’ Geomagic Design X (via the Rapidform.dll SDK) to process scans into textured, usable models. The team produced 119 high‑resolution object models in a public database, significantly reduced manual modeling work, and enabled ARMAR‑III to compute grasp points and reliably recognize and manipulate objects—advancing research and supporting future humanoid development.

Karlsruhe Institute of Technology

Alexander Kasper

Karlsruhe Institute of Technology