Company Aims To Lead A Measurement Revolution

Renishaw says its Renscan5 technology allows the development of a range of five-axis scanning products that have the capability to measure at speeds as high as 500 mm/second while virtually eliminating the measurement errors typically associated with existing three-axis scanning systems. A five-axis system can achieve this by allowing the lighter measuring head to perform most of the motion during inspection routines, which can minimize the dynamic errors caused when moving the larger mass of a CMM structure. The technology is available with the company’s UCC2 universal CMM controller.

 

Incorporating this technology, Revo is part of a family of measuring heads and probe systems that are designed to maximize inspection throughput and maintain a high level of system accuracy. The measuring head uses synchronized motion when scanning to follow changes in part geometry without introducing its own dynamic errors. According to the company, this allows the CMM to move at a constant velocity along a vector as measurements are being taken; this removes the inertial errors that result from acceleration of the machine during conventional three-axis scanning.

 

The Revo measuring head also features spherical air bearing technology in each of its two axes, providing a stiff platform for metrology. The two axes are driven by brushless motors that are linked to 0.08 arc-second high-resolution encoders to provide high positioning accuracy. The company says a key benefit of this technology is easy access to features to be measured because of an infinite rotation and infinite positioning capability.

 

Mounting a probe to the measuring head can further minimizes the errors caused by the dynamic effects of high speed motion, thus allowing the use of long styli without reducing accuracy.