Weird Application, Is there a good scanner available?

Hey everyone,

I have a weird application where I think a 3D scanner could come in handy. I work in Aftermarket for a large manufacturing equipment manufacturer. Imagine machines that are about 10ft wide, and a football field in length or so. There are various discrete sections that break up the machine into parts, which I hope will make my ask a bit more manageable

I want to know if there is a feasible solution for taking each section into CAD so that safety guarding can be designed for each section. Each section is probably 10’x10’x10′ or so, maybe a bit bigger.

We also have larger machines that are 15 feet wider or more.

I understand that the scale is already likely larger then average, but I also have a resolution requirement, since we’d need the resulting model to be accurate up to about 1/8″ (3mm) or so.

Lastly, I would need it to be able to be accurately scaled, then imported into CAD so the guarding can be designed around the machine components, and if we need to measure off of the scan, it would need to be possible (preferably) without needing to completely remodel the section. If we have to remodel, it would be nice to be able to do so in Solidworks if possible.

If something exists, please let me know.

Context: We sometimes get sent out to model these machines within a week and it’s simply not feasible to get the level of detail that is expected of us by working from scratch in that amount of time. We always miss some small detail and have to scramble to find the missing info, or ask our customer to measure for us, which is obviously not preferable. Sometimes our customers change the scope of work or make alterations which are difficult to accommodate if you only have a single week to measure such a large area.