Hi all,
We've just won a contract to manufacture aircraft engine cowl doors (aka nacelles). These components are obviously a semi-circle about 2 metres long and 1 metre deep (radius).
We're being proactive and looking for shop floor measurement options before production next year.
These components are carbon composite so will be cured and then machined (i.e. profile, holes etc) and the component will then go into an assembly cell. I envision we will put the component into a holding jig and it is in this jig I would like measurement to take place. In terms of time, a CMM is out of the question which leads me to non-contact.
We've had a nice presentation from GOM regarding their ATOS blue light systems. Very impressive. We have also had a presentation from Hexagon regarding their Blaze and the -900 series Laser Trackers. I did not know a great deal about the laser trackers but I have to say I was very impressed by their measurement capability and versatility.
However, Hexagon have informed me that when it comes to blue light that all systems struggle with accurate hole measurement. This would be an issue as the holes require a tolerance of +/- 0.050mm. Our profile tolerances generally are 0.250mm.
I guess I'm here to ask for advice over which system to go for and whether their claim of hole difficulty is true? Here in the UK there isn't even a Blaze in the country for demonstration and I always get concerned with Hexagon when looking at non-CMM and non-Romer arm hardware as it is not their 'bread and butter' products.
