via Buildlog:

Engineer Andy Barry has created a new budget open source 3D scanner.  He calls it the MakerScanner and hopes to sell it through the MakerBot web site for around $200.  It uses the same laser line, offset webcam than many other systems use.  He does a good job of explaining on the MakerScanner.com web site.  There are even more details on his web site and Thingiverse.

The system uses galvanometers to move a mirror which moves the laser line.  A sine wave is output to one galvanometer so it creates a line from the laser diode.  The other scans it across the model.  All of the parts appear to be printed with a Makerbot.