O-INSPECT multisensor measuring machine: The addition of a chromatic white light

The successful O-INSPECT multisensor measuring machine from Carl Zeiss allows the very easy, very accurate and thus very efficient inspection of complex parts. It can be used in the electronics and plastics industries, for medical and automotive technology, and precision engineering. A chromatic white light sensor is now available for O-INSPECT. Sensor increases effectivenessThe white light sensor enables the measurement of parts that cannot be captured with a contact sensor or a camera. This includes very small and sensitive workpieces that feature a transparent, glossy or low-contrast surface. Reflections or lack of contrast, which can impede the correct focusing of a camera, will no longer be a relevant factor. With the addition of a chromatic white light sensor to O-INSPECT, even workpieces such as these can be measured with maximum precision. “Carl Zeiss thus closes the final gap in the O-INSPECT measuring range,” says Dr. Dietrich Imkamp, who is in charge of visual systems at Carl Zeiss in Oberkochen.How the new method worksThe workpiece is illuminated with bundled white light. Special optics with chromatic aberrations in the probe split the light into its spectral colors. A spectrometer analyzes the reflected light and determines which color has the highest intensity. The measuring machine can determine the distance from the sensor to the surface using the spectral color — and derives the exact topography of the part from this information.The results are displayed using CAD-based CALYPSO measuring software. It enables extensive size, form and position measurements with systematic user guidance and makes deviations visible and quantifiable. Furthermore, O-INSPECT features an additional light source on the contact scanning sensor that can be turned on to illuminate the measuring field when the machine is reprogrammed. With this enhancement to O-INSPECT from Carl Zeiss, not only its range of use improves, but also its user friendliness. 23.03.2011, Carl Zeiss