Job
Shop Boosts Revenues By Upgrading CMM With Laser ProbeA
Michigan machining company has substantially increased its revenues by
adding a laser scanner to a coordinate measuring machine (CMM) to increase
its accuracy and speed. With upgrade kits that offer the ability to attach
a laser probe to a CMM, the laser scanner can capture almost 15,000 points
per second. Nearly a hundred thousand times faster than a CMM, it is still
possible to quickly switch back to the CMM probe for highly accurate
measurements of individual points. “This dramatic improvement in our
reverse engineering and inspection capabilities has helped us generate
substantial additional revenues,” said the company’s president. “The
laser probe dramatically increases the capability of our CMM, making it
possible to provide more accurate evaluations of more complicated parts in
less time,” he said. “Being able to capture this many points provides
the ability to accurately model any surface regardless of its
complexity.”
“The cost is
only a fraction of what would be involved in purchasing a complete laser
scanner because the upgrade kit eliminates the need to duplicate the base
and motion control system, which is the majority of the cost of a laser
scanner,” he said. “I also like the idea of being able to switch back
and forth between the laser and CMM probes so as to utilize the best
features of both on every project. I selected a CMM laser probe package
from Laser Design, Inc. (www.laserdesign.com)
that made it easy and economical to upgrade our CMM to a laser scanner
without losing any of its original capabilities.”
 According
to machine operators, a laser probe added to a CMM is even better than
using both machines separately. Each machine has unique capabilities
which, when coupled together, makes an extremely strong reverse
engineering tool. “I almost never use just the laser scanner,” said
one of the company’s reverse engineering specialists. “The two are a
perfect fit. Instead of buying a new CMM, you could purchase a used
machine, (the mechanics of which have not changed in over a decade), and
upgrade it with the latest CMM software, as well as the laser scanning
capability. Your financial investment would be considerably smaller than
with a new CMM alone.”
The new technology of laser scanning
works by projecting a line of laser light onto surfaces while cameras
continuously triangulate the changing distance and profile of the laser
line as it sweeps along, enabling an object to be accurately replicated.
The probe computer translates the video image of the line into 3D
coordinates, providing real-time data renderings that give the operator
immediate feedback on areas that might have been missed. Laser
scanners are also able to quickly measure large parts without the need for
templates or fixtures, while generating far greater numbers of data points
than probes. Since there is no probe on a laser scanner that must
physically touch the object, the problems of depressing soft objects,
measuring small details, and capturing complex freeform surfaces are
eliminated. “Laser scanning seemed to be just what we needed to improve
our reverse engineering capabilities to match the increase in geometric
complexity that we were seeing from our customers,” the company
president said.
“As our
customers began to get the message that we could reverse engineer
complicated parts to a high level of accuracy, we began to see an influx
of jobs that we would have never gotten in the past,” said the company
president. “In most cases, the reason why people want to reverse
engineer something is so they can build more of them. This helps explain
why laser scanning has become one of the key factors driving our sales
growth.”
|
