Laser trackers are amazing, complex machines. Lots of moving parts. You baby them, of course—they are your most precise measurement device. But you still worry. It’s in your job description.
Now, you’ve got some critical measurements coming up. And it’s been 5 months since your tracker arrived back from the manufacturer’s certification.
Can you be confident in that next reading? Is your tracker performing within Maximum Permissible Errors? How about another 5 months from now?
Living on the Edge… but Never Falling
They get cracked, scratched, and occasionally dropped into the assembly while taking measurements. Brunson Instrument Company offers several options for controlling your SMR so it stays in place or securing it so that even if it does get dropped, it doesn’t get damaged.
Consider these innovative SMR target holders:
For a laser tracker to function correctly, the SMR has to cooperate. Brunson Instrument Company offers drift nests and adapters that place your SMR where you need it and record that next measurement accurately. Consider these target holders:
Brunson Instrument Company has been helping the world measure for more than 90 years, and we continue to develop equipment that makes industrial measurement easier, more effective and precise.
Not everyone is getting the most out of their laser tracker. Consider these target holders, each designed to address specific precision targeting challenges and allow you to get the next shot faster and more efficiently:
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.
However, from time to time, even precise equipment needs verification to ensure that it is still performing within specifications set by the manufacturer (known as MPEs, or Maximum Permissible Errors).
This is exactly why the United States Air Force (AFMetcal) asked NIST to develop an Interim Field Test for laser trackers. That standard became known as IR-8016, the NIST Field Test.
Most of us have heard the proverb that ends, "For want of a battle the kingdom was lost. And all for the want of a horseshoe nail." While most companies have moved beyond horseshoes to the high-tech realms of lasers, the failure of the most inconsequential-seeming part of your equipment can destroy your entire measurement operation.
