Laser calibration offers precision, portability

Renishaw's lean-design XL-80 laser calibration system measures at 4m/s, raises environmentally-corrected accuracy to +/-0.5 ppm, warms up faster, weighs less and transports easier.

Renishaw claimed that its 'lean design' XL-80 system allows a four times faster slew rate, ten times higher dynamic data capture rate, and industry's best total system accuracy in a smaller, lighter and more portable package.

Meeting industry trends to high-speed machinery, higher precision and greater process control, the XL-80 increases linear measurement speed to 4m/s, while providing a resolution of 1nm, even at top speed.

Lightweight, compact packaging enables easier transport and set-up, while industry's fastest warm up, in less than 6 min, minimises waiting to increase available measurement time.

The XL-80 brings nanometer-level motion analysis to calibration, error-mapping and compensation of everything from laboratory equipment, semi-conductor processing machinery and radiosurgery tools to coordinate measuring machines, lithography equipment, advanced machine tools, robots, and assembly systems.

A new signal gain switch gives the option of 80m linear range (such as for large aircraft profilers) or increased signal strength at shorter ranges.

* Upgrades - the XL-80 is backward compatible with optics from Renishaw's ML10 laser system.

It enables thousands of ML10 users to upgrade to the new system while retaining their investment in optics, procedures and staff training.

A full range of optics enables highest precision interferometer determination of a machine's linear, angular, flatness, straightness and squareness measurements to international checking standards.

* System accuracy - Renishaw told manufacturingtalk that the XL-80's system accuracy of +/-0.5 ppm is the 'best in the industry'.

Accuracy is maintained over the full operating range of 0-40 deg C (32-104 deg F).

An XC-80 Intelligent Sensor System maintains that accuracy against variations in temperature, pressure and humidity by updating the environment factor every 7s through a USB link.

As with the ML10, all XL-80 measurements are based on the wavelength of a stabilised HeNe laser source, giving users assured traceability back to internationally recognised length standards.

The XL-80 takes readings at 50kHz, up from 5kHz.

The ten times increase in bandwidth enables capture of detailed data about small high frequency movements.

Enhanced versions of Renishaw software (LaserXL and QuickviewXL ) present data in easy-to-use style.

Advanced engineering reduces weight for the XL-80 laser unit and XC-80 compensator by 70% when compared with the ML10, allowing a much smaller transport package.

Combined weight is just over 3kg and includes connecting cables, power supply and sensors.

Other system components - such as tripod and stage - have been downsized.

The smallest option is now just half the size of the original ML10, but still carries a full linear and angular system, with available provision for a Renishaw QC10 ballbar kit.

Weighing less than 17kg, it offers superior portability to other laser systems for greater ease of travel, especially by air.

The reduced dimensions of the laser head and stage allow easy mounting on an available magnetic base for applications where tripod mounting is not convenient.

The same base height and optics dimensions as the ML10 allows the XL-80 to also be placed directly on the table (without tripod stage) for coordinate measuring machine (CMM) calibration.

* measurement productivity increased - faster warm-up gives highest measurement productivity.

This is especially important for calibration service providers and large manufacturing organizations needing to perform measurements on multiple machines, particularly on regularly scheduled predictive/preventive maintenance programs.

A new multi-signal connector facility increases XL-80 flexibility.

It provides a standard trigger signal-in (for data capture), an analog voltage-out facility, and an optional quadrature signal output.

Connection to a PC is now through USB, so no separate interface is required.

* Renishaw at IMTS 2008, McCormick Place, Chicago, Illinois, September 8-13, Booth D-4511.

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