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Laser Scanners

I have used Romer arms with DMIS for a few years now, but never had one with a laser scanner before. I may have an opportunity to take on a new role in a facility that uses a scanner to do profiles on curved surfaces like car dashboards, etc. Id like to hear from anyone that may have used laser scanners before, before I toss my name in the hat. i don't want to leave a company where I am successful for a position that has some advantages, if I know my chances of success are low.

How are scanners different than a probe based romer? Are they much easier or more difficult to use? Do you have to import a Cad model to take measurements? If so, is it the same as programming in CAD, on a regular CMM? And finally, all the videos I have seen show an imported cad model being overshadowed by the cad being "painted' in the Graphic Display Window. Does the software automatically compare the profile of the produced part to the Cad model, or do you have to take traditional dimensions from the "painted surface", in the way that you would a standard part measured by touch probe? I know that the CAD is produced as you take touch points. I was wondering if the version of DMIS works the same with a laser scanner.


Does anyone have any links to more instructional videos, concerning using laser scanners?
Parents
  • You would really need training, nothing is really "automatic" and you can do a lot of interesting stuff with the laser scanner that just really isn't intuitive. There also isn't a whole lot of online tutorials since a lot of what you might encounter can be relatively specific to the application at hand. Sometimes you might be just creating a color map from a point cloud, other times you might need to generate features from scanned points. Understanding the point cloud and how to work with it and manipulate the data can be a bit overwhelming if you have no experience in the matter.
Reply
  • You would really need training, nothing is really "automatic" and you can do a lot of interesting stuff with the laser scanner that just really isn't intuitive. There also isn't a whole lot of online tutorials since a lot of what you might encounter can be relatively specific to the application at hand. Sometimes you might be just creating a color map from a point cloud, other times you might need to generate features from scanned points. Understanding the point cloud and how to work with it and manipulate the data can be a bit overwhelming if you have no experience in the matter.
Children
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