Producing Geometry You Can Trust
QC provided an engineer for our project who did a great job of collecting the dimensional data for the parts to be reverse engineered, creating the CAD models, and producing prints for manufacturing. He kept in regular contact with me throughout the project, allowing us to quickly resolve issues as they arose. He was also very responsive when asked to make changes to the prints. Overall, a superior job.
- Paul,
Power Generation
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Laser Scanning - Micro or Macro?
Sometimes a product contains very precise micro-geometry on a part that is relatively "large". Here's a method for capturing both without compromising accuracy.
Very accurate scanners are required to capture the geometry of precision manufactured parts. While the best triangulation laser systems scan to remarkably fine detail, they cannot capture geometry to the accuracy needed for surface topography.
Use of a confocal micro-scanner can improve resolution by 10-fold. But a micro-scan cannot capture the entire geometry of a "larger" part. So how can you get both the results of "macro" detail and micro-precision?
This can be done with multiple laser platforms using complimentary scanning technology. The overall geometry of the part is scanned first to an accuracy between .0002" to .001". Then the critical topography is scanned to an accuracy of about .000040". The point clouds are then matched using common geometric features.
The result is an accurate hybrid scan with incredible surface topography in critical areas - an excellent method for replacing precision tooling, measuring miniature features to a larger reference, or for modeling details not yet represented in CAD.
©2012 David DeVowe
