Customers of NPL’s dimensional measurement services repeatedly asked three questions about existing measurement equipment in the market: “are the results right?”, “is it in calibration?” and “what is the actual measurement accuracy?”
These questions helped us identify that current industrial coordinate measurement systems do not fully meet the needs of manufacturers. Existing laser trackers measure targets sequentially, limiting applications and increasing measurement times and require skilled staff to operate them. They also require expensive calibration processes, regular field checks, and lack real-time performance indicators. While photogrammetry measures targets simultaneously at the expense of accuracy. Both require an external reference for traceability. Neither provide measurement-specific uncertainty estimations and although photogrammetry could, it’s not always implemented. This results in lost and extended production time, increased expense and reduced competitiveness.
The challenges also vary across different industries, each with specific coordinate metrology requirements.
Advanced Manufacturing needs a ‘right first-time’ or zero-defects approach, ideally using automation to have:
- a reduction in concessions
- an improved rate of production
- higher efficiency.
Digital Manufacturing requires confidence in data through measurement-specific uncertainty estimates which are traceable to the SI metre to have:
- a digitally integrated approach
- future proofing and cost reduction
- accountability of data and decisions.
In Healthcare, new diagnostic and treatment systems, such as radiotherapy, require confidence in accurate and reliable patient positioning for regulatory compliance and productivity, which needs to have:
- accurate positioning
- reliability
- confidence for compliance.
To meet these challenges, metrology systems need to adapt to be more flexible, accurate, scalable, and accountable for the impact they have within manufacturing.