Portable laser tracker is more accurate

Easily portable laser tracker claims substantial advances in thermal stability and volumetric accuracy, accelerated start-up times, major speed improvements and a maintenance-free internal design.

Leica Geosystems, a Hexagon company, has introduced the Leica Absolute Tracker.

The laser tracker is claimed to offer more features from a smaller, sleek housing for ultimate portability and ease of handling on the factory floor.

The product introduces substantial advances in thermal stability and volumetric accuracy, accelerated start-up times, major speed improvements, and a maintenance-free internal design, said Leica.

The measurement systems are utilized for a wide range of industrial metrology applications in aerospace, automotive, power generation, shipbuilding and general engineering.

* Compactness - the Leica Absolute Tracker's compact size, at only 2ft high (62cm) and 48 lb (22kg), enables the sensor and the stand to be safely operated and maneuvered by one person.

The laser tracker can be easily transported from one site to another in an average station wagon.

Leica told manufacturingtalk.com that the system's overall robust design and end-to-end reliability stand up to the toughest, most unforgiving industrial environments.

Laser Tracker's Product Line general manager, Duncan Redgewell, said: "After 80 years of pioneering portable metrology solutions to measure the world, Leica Geosystems understands industrial measurement like no other company.

He explained: "The new Absolute Tracker builds upon this competitive advantage and delivers the most technologically advanced product to capture, analyze and present 3D coordinate data for dimensional control and other mainstream quality operations.

The measurement and inspection possibilities are infinite when you combine the Leica Absolute Tracker with our suite of 6DOF (six deg of freedom) T-Products - the wireless Leica T-Probe, the Leica T-Scan high-speed hand-held laser scanner, and the Leica T-Mac tracking device for automated applications".

* Advances in accuracy, speed, and accelerated start-up - Leica Geosystems combines the strengths of measurement principles of the absolute distance meter (ADM) and an interferometer (IFM).

The Absolute Interferometer (AIFM) technology (patent pending) ensures high-accuracy measurements in all operating conditions, with multiple built-in redundancies that guarantee superb accuracies throughout the measurement volume.

The Absolute Interferometer is 15 times faster than the previous model, with integration time down to 0.2s.

Another time-saving benefit of the Leica Absolute Tracker is its ultra-fast typical warm-up time of 6 min from a cold start, and a mere 3 min warm-up time from a warm start.

* Thermal stability improved further - the Absolute Tracker's heat-emitting components (IFM and ADM) are mounted far from the head, and sensor temperature is continually regulated.

The temperature inside the new sensor varies by less than 1 deg C.

This improvement translates into continuous 'on-spec' operation with no need for intermediate compensation routines.

Leica Geosystems laser trackers typically need calibration once a year, even if they are moved around on-site daily.

* Six degrees of freedom - Leica said that the Absolute Tracker takes full advantage of the most mature 6DOF technology on the market.

No other laser tracker manufacturer offers a scalable, all-in-one data acquisition solution when comparable with the Leica T-Probe or Leica T-Scan.

Impervious to changing environmental light, the Leica T-Scan covers a large range of surfaces, from near-black to shiny without powdering, and works in a measurement volume of nearly 100ft (30.5m).

The wireless Leica T-Probe is used to probe hidden, hard-to-reach points, or points to which no direct line of sight exists.

The device can be used to measure up to nine cars in one setup or inspect large aerospace components, all with minimal set-up times.

Three versions offered - the Leica Absolute Tracker product line has three distinct offerings as follows.

* The Leica AT901-LR is the most advanced Absolute Tracker in terms of application flexibility.

Its measurement volume reaches a full 262ft (80m) when used with a corner cube, or reaches 98ft (30m) when measuring with the Leica T-Probe, Leica T-Scan or the Leica T-Mac.

The product is ideally suited for tooling, part mating, assembly, and inspection applications in the aerospace industry.

* The Leica AT901-MR is a midrange laser tracker and is ideal for automotive applications as it supports the placement of several bodies-in-white within its measurement envelope.

The sensor's measurement volume is a full 163ft (50m) when inspecting with a corner cube.

It operates in a measurement volume of up to 59ft (18m) when used with Leica T-Products.

* The Leica AT901-Basic is an 'entry-level' laser tracker with a measurement volume of up to 262ft (80m).

This product is ideal for basic metrology applications and measurements using corner cubes only.

A redesigned controller unit can control any of the three models, with backward compatibility to every laser tracker Leica Geosystems has ever made.

This feature is important considering the vast majority of laser trackers produced by Leica Geosystems in the past 17 years are still in service, including serial number 0001.

Application software supported - the Leica Absolute Tracker supports the most popular metrology software packages, as follows.

* PC-DMIS - 4.2 or higher.

* Metrolog XG for Leica - 8.002 or higher.

* Microlog - 2.01 or higher.

* T-Scan Collect - 7.001 or higher.

* PolyWorks - 10.1 or higher.

* emScon - 3.0 or higher.

** About the Metrology Division of Leica Geosystems - the Metrology Division of Leica Geosystems is a global supplier of comprehensive hardware and software packages to the industrial metrology market.

These products integrate with popular CAD programs, various build-and-inspect tools, and reverse engineering software.

Using state-of-the-art laser technology, Leica's laser trackers and theodolites make quality control, part mating, assembly and construction of large and small parts easier and more accurate than ever.

The USA headquarters for Leica Geosystems' metrology products is located at the Hexagon Metrology Precision Center in Miamisburg, Ohio.

** About Hexagon Metrology - Hexagon Metrology serves the high precision measurement and inspection needs of Worldwide manufacturers with its extensive line of metrology hardware, software, accessories, and customer services.

The company's name-brand portfolio of quality assurance products include Brown and Sharpe, Cognitens, Leica Geosystems, Romer, Sheffield, PC-DMIS, DEA, Leitz and Tesa.

Hexagon Metrology has an unrivaled installed base of more than 1.5 million handheld, stationary and portable measurement devices, and over 30,000 seats of PC-DMIS metrology software.

The company is a subsidiary of Hexagon Measurement Technologies, a business unit of Hexagon AB (Nacka Strand, Sweden), a publicly-traded company (OMX Nordic: HEXA B).

The Hexagon group consists of nearly 8,200 employees located in 30 countries.

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