Picture what might have happened if you gave R2-D2 a laser interferometer. He may have become the first laser tracker in that galaxy somewhere, long ago and far away. There are some similarities, after all, between R2-D2 and trackers. They are both sophisticated devices that beep, spin their heads, and project light. However, instead of projecting images of Princess Leia, a laser tracker uses encoders and a distance-measuring technology to track and specify the location of an SMR target in 3-D space. Both are pretty cool.

And just as Luke had to understand R2-D2, laser tracker operators need to fully understand their trackers to get the most out of them, and avoid introducing errors, while measuring. Below is a list of some of the issues that you may want to watch out for when using a laser tracker.

Many of us are familiar with digital photogrammetry – you know, the science of establishing 3D coordinates using some nice digital cameras and some very cool software. But did you know that the principles of photogrammetry date back to the late 1400s? One of the first known proponents of this was actually Leonardo Da Vinci, who studied how to use projective geometry as a measurement tool. In the 1800s, Aime Laussedat pioneered the use of terrestrial photographs for topographic map creation from hot air balloons. How fun would that have been?

But if we fast-forward to the 1990s from Ye Olden Days, we see a time when software was getting much more powerful and computers were getting smaller. We also see pretty cool digital cameras being developed with high density imaging arrays. Put all those things together, and voila! You have modern digital photogrammetry. But wait, though, something’s missing….

My grandfather was obsessed with several things during his lifetime. One obsession was any wild game whose habitat included the land, sea, or air. Another was the quality of his products. He told me one time that if I cheapened the instruments after he was gone, he would come back to haunt me. Another of his obsessions, and not the least, was ensuring the success of his customers. He truly was less concerned about selling products than he was about making sure people knew how to use them after they were purchased. It is somewhat sad that today’s culture, which is oversaturated with hyperbole, will probably cause people to doubt what I am saying. But I kid you not, that’s how he was.

In 1927, my grandfather, A. N. Brunson, was 22 years old. That was the year he established Brunson Instrument Company in the back room of a map business in downtown Kansas City, repairing surveying instruments. When the Great Depression came along, he was fortunate to keep very busy because no one could afford new instruments – so they came to him to repair their old ones.

My grandfather was a very persistent thinker and inventor. He saw the instruments that came across his workbench, and analyzed what went wrong with them. He was always thinking of ways to improve their design. During the dustbowl of the 1930s, he saw how dust destroyed the main bearing systems of those transits and levels. He knew there had to be a better way. This led him to his very first patent – the “Brunson dustproof ball bearing spindle”. It became a hit and he started retrofitting this base on a lot of other manufacturers’ instruments.

By the late 1940s, Brunson Instrument Company occupied a two story building in downtown Kansas City. We had been manufacturing surveying instruments, but by that time, my grandfather was getting into industrial measurement equipment. The demands of making this new, highly accurate product caused him to realize that his building was being rattled by street cars and trucks on the street. He and his crew had to wait until the wee hours of the morning to perform some of the delicate manufacturing operations and calibrations required for this new product line. Finally he got tired of this.