Now in its 40th year of operation, Mitutoyo UK supports its customer base not only with the supply of precision metrology products, but with the provision of subcontract measuring services. Among the latest companies taking advantage of Mitutoyo’s inspection offer is Elland-based FeTu Ltd.

FeTu is an innovation-driven enterprise which has developed a revolutionary ‘green’ energy device that targets carbon reductions across a broad range of systems and industries. Given the demanding dimensional tolerances and the critical geometries of the device’s two moving parts, FeTu founder and CEO Jon Fenton recently searched for a source of independent, high-precision inspection. The answer to FeTu’s precision inspection needs was found in Mitutoyo’s measurement services.

Mitutoyo’s staff use one of the company’s Crysta-Apex S series CNC CMMs to perform a range of in-depth, high-accuracy measurement routines on FeTu’s components.

“The high-precision CMM inspection work undertaken by Mitutoyo and the comprehensive inspection reports supplied to us, related to the accuracy of the moving parts and other critical aspects of our designs, has been invaluable,” says Fenton. “In addition, the speed and in-depth nature of the feedback received from Mitutoyo has helped to truncate our developments times.”

Andrew Fifield, manager of Mitutoyo’s measurement services department, adds: “Our team uses a range of state-of-the-art metrology equipment that enables the most demanding of components to be measured, profiled, analysed, scanned, programmed or compared with CAD. In addition, we’re able to accommodate all QC, QA production or SPC requirements. Having liaised with Jon at FeTu, we concluded that the use of a Crysta-Apex S Series CMM was the ideal means of achieving the necessary levels of precision and the speed of feedback required.”

For further information
www.mitutoyo.co.uk

Inspekto has launched the Inspekto S70 Gen.2 autonomous machine vision (AMV) system, a new and improved version of its established solution for industrial quality inspection. Powered by AMV-AI, S70 Gen.2 supports an even higher number of use cases and facilitates reliable quality inspection in challenging applications, such as highly reflective materials, moving parts and vibrating platforms.

Unlike traditional machine vision solutions, the S70 Gen.2 is an off-the-shelf edge device that users can install in as little as 45 minutes, without any expertise in machine vision or AI. The simple set-up procedure only requires an average of 20 to 30 OK (good) sample items and no NOK (defective) ones, meaning that no training, data labelling or annotation is required to create immediate proof of concept.

While retaining its user-friendly characteristics, the latest version of Inspekto’s flagship edge device offers new and improved attributes. The first is the possibility to deploy the system in an even higher number of use cases. As opposed to traditional machine-vision solutions, which are set to inspect only a specific use case, AMV systems are universal, which means they include both the required hardware and software, and can inspect a wide variety of parts. This feature now extends to the reliable inspection of highly reflective materials like metals and plastics.

The built-in 5000K LEDs of the S70 Gen.2, controlled by pulse-width modularisation and arranged in several distinct regions, allow the system to control the direction of illumination autonomously and take several images with varying light direction and intensity. S70 Gen.2 then fuses these images to create a single HDR image without any reflection.

For further information
www.inspekto.com

After detailed research into the effects of stylus-tip contamination when using a CMM, Dr Simon Lawes, Manufacturing Metrology Team at the University of Nottingham, said: “A stylus tip contaminated with tiny particles can lead to measurement errors 10 times greater than expected.” The problem in inspection rooms and on the shop floor is that stylus cleaning is a tedious and time-consuming job that reduces the amount of time the CMM is available for measuring.

To alleviate the problem, UK-based CMM manufacturer LK Metrology has introduced an automated stylus-tip cleaning system, LK StyliCleaner. It takes just 30 seconds to remove debris from a stylus tip, eliminating the tendency to delay cleaning and reducing the risk of taking inaccurate measurements.

LK says that the cleaning system is an inexpensive solution and works with all brands of CMM and software. No software integration is needed, just a simple part program for controlling the cycle. For LK CAMIO customers, the StyliCleaner is bundled with free-of-charge part programs for automated stylus-tip cleaning.

Controlled by the CMM’s axis movements, the automated cleansing cycle activates when a dirty stylus is programmed to move in front of the StyliCleaner motion sensor.

LK’s compact StyliCleaner, which has a 70 x 100 mm footprint, is available in two sizes, StyliCleaner8 and StyliCleaner16, to decontaminate styli from 0 to 8 mm, and from 6 to 16 mm in diameter. The separate control unit may sit on the CMM table or, if space is limited, can attach to the CMM stand via an optional mounting plate.

For further information
www.lkmetrology.com

UK-based CMM manufacturer LK Metrology has designed a new, more efficient air bearing and carrier, which the company now fits as standard to its Altera-C range of ceramic-bridge, multi-sensor CMMs. By significantly augmenting the pre-load on the structure, stiffness has been uprated without making the guideway thicker, leading to more precise motion control.

According to LK, the results are higher measuring accuracy, whether a touch-trigger probe or scanning probe is used, coupled with the possibility to increase speed of operation and raise inspection efficiency. The Altera-C machines, which are available in three sizes with measuring volumes of 700 x 650 x 500 mm, 1000 x 650 x 500 mm and 1000 x 650 x 650 mm, carry a 10-year accuracy guarantee covering dimensional stability.

In terms of speed, all machines now accelerate at 1900 mm/s2, representing an increase of 15% for the two smaller models and 20% for the largest model. Velocity is up by 38% across the product range to 720 mm/s. As regards accuracy, the maximum permissible measuring error on all machines is now 1.7+L/333 µm when measurements are taken of a feature L mm in length (between 18°C and 22°C), irrespective of whether a TP200, SP25, TP20 or PH20 probe is used. This performance represents length measurement accuracy improvements of 22%, 22%, 32% and 43% for the four respective probes, while maximum permissible probing error is also better, as is repeatability of measurements (by 15%) when using a PH20.

Optimisation of the pre-loaded, wrap-around air bearing configuration was feasible due to the inherent rigidity of LK’s ceramic guideway, which allows it to maintain structural integrity under extreme conditions.

For further information
www.lkmetrology.com

Creaform has added to its HandyScan 3D line-up with the Silver series. As a result, this portable metrology-grade 3D scanner, which already has 5000 users, will now be available at an accessible price for professionals looking to grow their business by acquiring state-of-the-art measurement solutions.

The Silver series captures accurate and repeatable 3D measurements of complex surfaces in any location. Creaform says that the Silver series offers a versatile professional 3D scanner, with all the features that made the HandyScan 3D scanners the reference in the industry.

Among the benefits are: the provision of reliable and maximised scan quality with an accuracy of up to 0.030 mm; the ability to capture the surfaces in the entire field of view with a scan area of 275 x 250 mm; and, with one device for all shapes and sizes, the mastering of various objects regardless of part size, complexity, material or colour.

The device is also plug and play. A simple user interface and real-time visualisation offers ease-of-use and a short learning curve, whatever the user’s experience or expertise, says Creaform.

On-the-go scanning is assured thanks to HandyScan’s portable and lightweight characteristics, while quick set-up means it can be up and running in less than 2 minutes, either in-house or on site.

“For professionals who need to adapt quickly to their customers’ needs and provide better answers to their enquiries, a reliable 3D scanning solution is indispensable,” explains Simon Côté, product manager at Creaform. “The possibilities presented by gathering such precise data can open doors to new projects and strengthen partnerships with existing clients.”

For further information
www.creaform3d.com