[Tom’s Hardware]

The patent, filed in September of 2009, is rather general and aimed towards “mobile robots” and “mobile devices” that are designed to identify “surrounding objects.” I may be wrong, but my first guess would be that this technology is targeted at automotive technology that could be a stepping stone toward autonomous driving systems.

According to Samsung, the 3D scanner integrates a “rotating drive generating a rotating force; a mirror holder tiltably supporting a reflecting mirror and rotated by the rotating force of the rotating drive; a cam having a guide groove in an outer circumferential surface thereof and rotatably disposed above the mirror holder; and a tilting drive connected with the guide groove, wherein the tilting drive vertically reciprocates along a path of the guide groove and tilts the reflecting mirror connected via a rod.”

Besides the mechanical description, there is no information how image data would be generated and recorded.

See the original post here: http://www.tomshardware.com/news/patent-samsung-3d-scanner-robots,14206.html