Multisensor Measurement

Carl Zeiss' O-Inspect multi-sensor measuring machine uses contact, camera and white light sensors to enable rapid measurement of very small parts and features.

Carl Zeiss (Oberkochen, Germany) is said to allow fast, accurate inspection of complex parts ranging from electronic and plastic components to parts for medical, automotive and precision engineering applications.

Zeiss’s latest addition to the system is a white light sensor, which it says enables measurement of parts and features that cannot be captured using a contact sensor or camera, such as very small and sensitive workpieces that feature a transparent, glossy or low-contrast surface. The white light sensor eliminates potential issues caused by reflections or lack of contrast, which can impede the correct focusing of a camera.

The new inspection capability uses bundled white light and special optics with chromatic aberrations in the probe to split the light into its spectral colors. A spectrometer analyzes the reflected light and determines which color has the highest intensity, allowing the machine to determine the distance from the sensor to the surface using the spectral color and derive the exact topography of the part from this information.

Results are displayed using the company’s CAD-based Calypso measuring software, which is said to enable extensive size, form and position measurements with systematic user guidance. The machine also 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.