A thoroughly re-engineered Go!Scan 3D scanner has been released by Creaform: the Go!Scan Spark.

This third-generation version of Creaform’s patented, professional-grade Go!Scan portable 3D scanner has been specifically designed for product development professionals who need an efficient portable scanner to capture the 3D data of physical objects, anywhere.
The Go!Scan Spark device features four inline cameras for fast 3D scanning and colour acquisition. The system also offers an ergonomic design that allows for different types of hand positions, enabling full-field dimensional measurements on an array of surfaces and textures for various product development applications.
Set-up is not required, with the device offering robust positioning using geometry, colour or targets. In comparison with previous units, the latest generation product offers four times better resolution and three times faster measurement. The scanning area features 99 stripes that take up to 1.5 million measurements per second, ultimately cutting down the time to get usable mesh files, which users can import into 3D modelling and 3D printing software without post-processing. Reliable measurements of up to 0.05 mm are possible.
“The work of product designers has greatly evolved over the past few decades,” says Simon Côté, product manager at Creaform. “Today, product development teams are under increasing pressure to innovate more quickly, work with multi-disciplinary, remote teams, and launch products faster than ever before. Go!Scan Spark generates quality 3D models, facilitates the design iteration process, mitigates errors and accelerates reverse engineering. Without a doubt, Go!Scan Spark is a key tool in designing products to maintain a leadership position in innovation and a manufacturer’s specific market sectors.”
For further information www.creaform3d.com

Research findings described in a new article by University of Huddersfield scientists will enable engineering firms to make major gains in productivity and efficiency by reducing the often considerable time lag between the manufacture of components and checking their precision on a CMM.

To ensure complete accuracy, CMMs are housed in a strictly temperature-controlled environment. However, manufacturing processes often lead to big increases or decreases in the temperature of components. Until they are stabilised, they cannot be checked.
‘Temperature soaking’ is the term for this scenario, and a play-safe attitude means that larger components can be set aside for as long as 24 hours, causing a log jam in production, with costly CMMs standing idle.
At the University of Huddersfield’s School of Computing and Engineering, however, a research project headed by Dr Naeem Mian has comprised a series of experiments that provide engineering firms with a technique for calculating how long it takes for a component’s temperature to be stabilised so that it can safely be measured on a CMM.
It has been found that the waiting times can be considerably lower that generally thought – potentially a reduction of many hours. For example, Mian and his team carried out various experiments with a heated venturi – a component used in the oil and gas industry – and discovered that the time required for temperature soaking, so that it could be placed on a CMM, was as low as 7.6 minutes.
Findings from the range of experiments, including the mathematical formulae that will aid manufacturers seeking to calculate temperature soaking periods, are given in the new article, which is titled ‘Reducing the latency between machining and measurement using FEA to predict thermal transient effects on CMM measurement’.
For further information https://is.gd/xetazi

Rather than acquiring manufacturing plant on a piecemeal basis, the practice of companies purchasing and using machine tools of various categories from single, preferred vendors is now firmly established.

A case in point can be seen at Glenrothes-based A&D Precision Engineering. Engineering quality manager Harry Fernando explains: “In addition to reaping the benefits of favouring the products of certain manufacturers in each of the machine-tool categories we use, we have extended this way of working across all of our quality and inspection endeavours. As we consider that a component is not made until it is inspected, it makes sense that we treat quality and inspection as integral parts of our production processes.
“In the company’s early days we used metrology equipment from several sources,” he continues. “However, the reliability, accuracy and repeatability of our first Mitutoyo products and the excellent service we received from the company, meant that as the company grew, and our older metrology equipment needed to be replaced, we invariably invested in further Mitutoyo products. This has resulted in our measuring system inventory now consisting of 99% Mitutoyo equipment.
“We now use examples of Mitutoyo technology in all of our measurement and testing areas, from digital hand tools, through height gauges, vision equipment and surface roughness testing, to quality department and shop floor-based CMMs.”
Just as A&D Precision Engineering uses premium quality machine tools that deliver high levels of accuracy and productivity, the company’s management expect the same levels of precision and efficiency from its inspection equipment. These critical requirements are reflected in the company’s latest Mitutoyo acquisition, a Crysta-Apex S CNC CMM.
“Following a trouble-free installation, the Crysta-Apex S is now delivering the promised levels of speed and accuracy,” concludes Fernando.
For further information www.mitutoyo.co.uk