DYNAMIC 9D LADAR captures dimensional and surface geometries.
Automated near-line inspections with 9D LADAR.
9D LADAR performing in-line car body inspection.
API's DYNAMIC 9D LADAR is a laser detection and ranging system that captures both dimensional and surface geometry data targeted at automotive, aerospace and transportation manufacturing industries.
"It incorporates a breakthrough technology that is set to revolutionize automated production measurements. The patent-pending DYNAMIC 9D LADAR offers the world's first interferometry-based LADAR system incorporating Optical Frequency Chirping Interferometry (OFCI) technology," said a company spokesperson.
DYNAMIC 9D LADAR replaces traditional, off-line, large volume CMMs and near-line and in-line inspection solutions using optical laser-line and structured light scanning sensors.
The 2-axis 9D LADAR systems process measured data at the rate of 20,000 points per second and with scanning speeds of 0.2 seconds/sq. cm. 9D LADAR's high Dynamic range is insensitive to target reflectivity, can measure translucent materials and is able to measure target features with up to an 85° incidence angle. High-density raster scanning delivers up to 50 lines/second with 0.1 mm line spacing. "9D LADAR's on-board scale reference system offers 2D and 3D accuracies of 6 µm/m, providing comparable accuracies to benchmark accuracy large volume CMMs," said the spokesperson.
Dynamic 9D LADAR's compact design, weighing just 10.4 kg, incorporates an integral controller with ethernet communication, allowing for seamless integration to portal CMM frames or 6-axis industrial robots, including 7-axis rail mounted configurations.
9D LADAR's iVision smart camera system provides instant part visualization for automated scan path planning, providing automated feature and targeted region measurement, along with remote measurement operation viability.
9D LADAR has a laser beam spot-size down to 32 µm and is available in three model variants based upon the required application measuring range: LD-8 provides 0.5 m to 8 m range; LD-15 provides 1 m to 15 m range; and LD-25 provides 1.5 m to 25 m range.
"Previous laser radar technology required large sample averaging to obtain reasonable accuracy, effectively slowing data acquisition rates," said the spokesperson. "This left accuracy and performance highly dependent on surface reflectivity, incident angle and background noise in production environments. The new LADAR technology developed by API uses 20 kHz speed laser chirping to generate a wide spectrum for optical interference such that the target distance is detected accurately with 100x greater sensitivity and eliminates past issues associated with surface reflectivity, slow speeds, limited accuracies, restrictive incident angles and susceptibility to noise, obsoleting traditional laser radar systems."
API's Dynamic 9D LADAR delivers X, Y, Z, I, J, K data for each generated cloud point along with the addition of R, G, B data, allowing scanned data to be imaged directly onto the captured camera image. "This capability allows display of characteristics with distinct background color contrast, surface vectors, surface roughness, etc., which are difficult to isolate with only the standard 3D point cloud data," said the spokesperson.
The compact size and light-weight design of 9D LADAR allows the instrument to be taken directly to manufacturing locations, allowing automated measurement to be performed quickly and with minimum set-up times.
"Dynamic 9D LADAR can be seamlessly integrated with a large-volume gantry or bridge style CMM, offering a high-speed optical measurement solution and negating complex CMM programming while decreasing CMM measurement cycles times 10-fold," said the spokesperson.
"Noncontact laser radar technology has already proven its ability to measure automotive parts including full body-in-white, making it ideal for fully automated, CMM-style measurements adjacent to production lines," continued the spokesperson. "9D LADAR's precision automated high-speed raster scanning provides surface geometry point cloud data collection as well as gap and flush dimensional data. The enhanced speed and data collection rate of 9D LADAR increases the opportunity to pace production." Systems can be installed in-line or near-line.
API offers dynamic tracking of robot positioning using its 6DoF RADIAN Laser Tracker providing accurate real-time robot positioning.
9D LADAR's measurement scanning path is automatically generated within API's MeasurePro software which also captures the generated point cloud data real-time with dynamic on-screen representation. Geometrical analysis of features and surfaces from point-cloud data can be performed directly in MeasurePro, or inside all major third-party softwares, along with the creation of a digital twin of the measured part by direct comparison with nominal part CAD data.
The RGB data contained within the generated point cloud allows a full color representation of the scanned part with associated fidelity, highlighting surface discrepancies and replicating the authentic color of the physical part.
For more information contact:
API
15000 Johns Hopkins Drive
Rockville, MD 20850
757-210-9421
www.apimetrology.com/ladar