Noncontact metrology increasingly used to reduce costs, assist in automation and speed up manufacturing and assembly times
Bruce Morey Contributing Editor M
aking airframes may be one of the most challenging manu- facturing feats ever. Long a critical tool in the aerospace and defense industry, metrology equipment has grown in importance beyond simple
things like setting tools and inspection. Today, metrology technology is playing an increasingly so- phisticated role in overall operations. Marrying metrology sys- tems, such as laser trackers, to fixed automation and flexible robotic systems is becoming an acceptable solution leading to more cost-saving automation. Additionally, there’s a move toward increasingly autonomous measurement in inspection, saving the need for teams of highly trained metrologists, who are in short supply anyway.
To develop fully autonomous measurements alone a photogrammetry
system is combined with a Nikon MV 330 laser radar, allowing autonomous operation of the radar.