TPT July 2015

Technology News

TubeShaper software launches THOUSANDS of Hexagon Metrology’s portable measuring arms (also known as ‘portable coordinate measurement machines’) are utilised every year in industrial applications that range from high-accuracy inspection of turbine blades to the laser scanning of Olympic athletes. However, what is not widely known is that this versatile technology actually has its roots in tube production, back in the 1970s. The first articulated measurement arm was constructed for the measurement of complex tube geometries by Homer Eaton of the Eaton Leonard Corporation in 1974. While it used a computer that weighed more than 20kg – more than twice the weight of a modern Romer Absolute Arm – it provided the basic measurement concepts that are still in use today. “No-one could have imagined how the use of portable measurement arms has changed over the last 40 years,” said Stephan Amann, global business development manager for HexagonMetrology, which today produces theRomerAbsolute Arm in its two original factories in the USA and France. “Originally the arm was developed for tube measurement only, and today it’s used in industries ranging from aerospace to dentistry. Portable computers, smaller electronics, 3D laser scanning and better accuracy have led to this change in our business over the last three decades, but now we’re going back to our roots with a totally new product.” This product is the Romer Absolute Arm Tube Measure- ment solution, using TubeShaper – Hexagon Metrology’s new software for tube and pipe measurement. “Our last step in this market was back in 2005; that’s a lifetime ago in the software world. Since then, we’ve maintained our product range, but some new thinking was long overdue. The tube measurement market has changed radically in the last ten years, and the competition is stiffer than ever before, so we’re really proud of what we’ve done with TubeShaper. We feel that it’s the result of four decades’ experience in not only the tube sector, but in our other business areas too.”

Hexagon Metrology – Switzerland Website: www.hexagonmetrology.com

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