In the project of Differential 3D Scanning, when the physical changes are smooth (As captured in the scanned point cloud). We propose a deformable model, where we deform the reference model until it matches the point cloud.
[Try it online]*note: click DeformMesh button to start the deformation.
To understand the 3D scanning process, and to find the best structure for the 3D scanner, we built a 3D laser scanning simulator; where the user can upload his own 3D model and then set the position and orientation for a number of laser lines, and the camera, then he can start the simulation. The result point cloud will try to approximate the real 3D scanning result.