Q4 and Q5 3D-Laser Sensors for Qualtity Inspection

Many materials cannot be measured tactilely, therefore non-contact thickness measurements become necessary. Especially e.g. with glowing materials, or wet processes, a continuous tactile measurement is nearly impossible. Furthermore, web speeds in plant engineering and production have increased, requiring a corresponding fast sampling rate of the measuring systems. In addition, high measuring widths are often required. Why is contact free measurement technology so perfect for this application? Can be used in any web width, Scalable measurement thicknesses from a few millimetres to several meters, Thickness and coating thickness can be measured for different materials, Vibrations of the web materials, can be compensated, Turnkey solution for mechanical engineering, Non-contact and non-destructive measurement method, Large distances to the measured object are possible, Measurement of free forms,

Particular Challenges of the Application: By tactile equipment, determination of the deepest point on a rough metal surface is neither simple or precise. As a consequence, often either too much material is removed, or the surface is still covered with defects which have to be eliminated by a following milling cycle. The equipment is arranged in parallel, so that the complete width of the slabs is covered. The sensors are calibrated to a common coordinate system and mounted on a movable gantry. Before measurement, the slabs are fixed in place. The scanners mounted on the gantry are guided over the measuring object, driven by an electric motor. The point cloud recorded by the four scanners is consolidated in a PC by means of the QuellTech image processing software which calculates the difference between highest and lowest point of the corresponding surface and compensates for possible inclination of the slab (detrending).

Particular Challenge: For the assessment of rotating parts, numerous parameters have to be taken into consideration: Concentricity, radial run-out and axial run-out (i.e. wobble); furthermore thickness, diameter, planarity and the absence of surface defects had to be examined. The solution developed by QuellTech consists in a configuration of three Q6 Laser Laser Scanners.Each of the lateral surfaces is assigned to its own scanner. In order to enable the thickness precisely to be determined, both laser lines are mutually oriented in opposite direction. The third scanner inspects the outer circumference of the wheel, this way measuring diameter and radial run-out. All of these scanners are subject to encoder signals supplied by the rotary axis and synchronously triggered, so possible defects on the wheel can precisely be localized. The measurement takes place at a resolution of ca. 30 µm, and a cloud comprising several millions of points are obtained.

Laser Scanner Solution: This task is a typical application of the high-resolution QuellTech 2D/3D Q5-880 Blue Laser Scanners. Two of these units are placed at the left and at the right of the measuring objects, at a defined inclination angle. Blue laser light in this case is a prerequisite, as the cast parts are red-hot, hence emitting in the red spectral range. Additionally, the client was in need of a software solution for the project, so a 3D point cloud processing application was implemented, performing inline and evaluating width, height and angle results. QuellTech customer is able to inspect continuously the product quality, simultaneously avoiding scrap. He uses the same system for more than 10 different types of castings. Errors caused by manual inspection are considerably reduced, and safety for personnel is enhanced.