Fraunhofer Institute for Physical Measurement Techniques IPM
The manufacture of precision components requires accuracies that even the most modern processing machines cannot reliably deliver. Quality control therefore involves high-precision measurement of the components. This is typically done with coordinate measuring machines in special measuring chambers outside the machine tool. This tactile measurement is cumbersome, slow and possible only in random samples. And what is even worse: After the test has been carried out, the workpiece must be set up again in the machine tool for any necessary reworking.
The optical sensor HoloTop NX developed by Fraunhofer IPM now provides a remedy: It measures the freshly machined component surface directly in the machine tool. During measurement, the workpiece can remain set up.
Process errors are thus identified directly in the processing result and corrected immediately by feedback to the production process. For the first time ever, the HoloTop NX measuring system enables true 100-percent quality control in the production process.
Digital multi-wavelength holography for high-precision topographical measurements from the micrometer to the millimeter range
For 3D inline measurement, the system uses digital multi-wavelength holography. By using a flexible mechanical interface, it can be integrated into many existing machine tools. Measuring fields of a size of 12,5 x 12,5 mm² can be measured. The surface topography is recorded with high precision from the micrometer to the millimeter range, and with unprecedented measuring speed and robustness.