faro news 2011
DESCRIPTION
in EnglishTRANSCRIPT
news
Visit us @ www.faro.com
More freedom, thanks to shared coordinates >> Page 10
automotiVe - BmwtoP story - airBusSuperlative confidence
>> Page 3
rail industryThe perfect flight path for Spain’s bird train>> Page 4
Things to know and important links.
>> Page 12
Brand newFARO Edge & FARO Laser Scanner Focus3D
>> Page 2
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Product newsWireless and touchscreen technology on new FARO hardware make measuring life even easier
>> Page 2
Technology Leap
news
suBscriBe to the monthlye-newsletter to receive interest-ing news and tips & tricks on how to measure more efficiently.
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fairs & roadshowsFind out about upcoming events to meet the FARO team.
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faro measurement systems Our 3D measurement systems make measuring complex objects easy. Find out more about our products.
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get a free demo! We measure your parts on-site and show you how measuring tasks can be solved with portable 3D systems.
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online-suPPort center Find the answer to your questions in our Online Support Center.
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imProVe your hardware and software knowledge for free! Find out which webinar is com-ing up.
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Questions & answers Do you want to learn more about quality control, measurement methods and software systems? Then improve your knowledge by visiting our website.
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free white PaPers Improve your knowledge about 3D measurement.
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roi calculator Save time and money by using FARO measurement equipment. Our ROI calculator shows you how much you can save.
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headQuarters euroPegermanyFARO EUROPE GmbH & Co. KGLingwiesenstr. 11/2 70825 Korntal-MünchingenT: +49 7150 97 97 0F: +49 7150 97 97 [email protected], www.faro.com/germany
BeneluxFARO BENELUX B.V.Flight Forum 35025657 NL-DW EindhovenT: +31 4023 42 31 0F: +31 4023 40 40 [email protected], www.faro.com/benelux
france FARO FRANCE Paris Nord 2 - 9, rue des trois soeursBP 65110 Villepinte95975 Roissy CDG Cedex T: +33 14 86 38 90 0F: +33 14 86 38 90 [email protected], www.faro.com/france
italyCAM2 S.r.l. Corso Allamano Canonico, 34/a 10095 Grugliasco (TO)T: +39 011 95 88 55 8F: +39 011 95 88 59 0 [email protected], www.cam2.it
PolandFARO Technologies Polska Sp. z o.o. ul. Grabiszyńska 241a53234 WrocławT: +48 71 33 93 27 6/8F: +48 71 339 32 [email protected], www.faro.com/poland
sPain FARO SPAIN S.L.Gran Vía de les Corts Catalanes, 133 Ático C 08014 BarcelonaT: +34 93 43 11 26 8F: +34 93 42 22 57 [email protected], www.faro.com/spain
switzerland FARO SWISS Holding GmbH Wiesengasse 20 8222 Beringen, SchaffhausenT: +41 52 687 19 22 F: +41 52 687 19 [email protected], www.faro.com/swiss
ukFaro Technologies UK Ltd9-10 The Cobalt CentreSiskin Parkway EastMiddlemarch Business ParkCoventry, CV3 4PET: +44 2476 21 76 90F: +44 2476 30 55 72 [email protected], www.faro.com/uk
turkeyFARO Turkey Ölçü Sistemleri Ltd. ŞtiAkatlar Mah. Çiğdem Sokak 5. Gazeteciler Sitesi No: 6, 34330 Beşiktaş, İstanbulT: +90 212 279 81 60 F: +90 212 279 81 58 [email protected], www.faro.com/turkey
all other emea countriesFARO DistributionT: +49 7150 97 97 0F: +49 7150 97 97 44 [email protected]/distribution
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Things to know & important links
Revised: 20 April. 2011 © 2011 FARO EU-EN-4REF203-170.pdf
Dear Readers,
Laptops are great, but how often do you wish you could take a quick set of scans or a simple string of measurements, without wires, without a computer and with no compromise. Thanks to the new built-in touchscreens of the FARO Edge and FARO Laser Scanner Focus3D those dreams are now a reality. Both products represent technology leaps and usability breakthroughs that reflect FARO's commitment to understanding and responding to our users' needs.
There has never been a bet-ter time to start 3D scanning than now, with the arrival of the revolutionary FARO Focus3D. Significantly more affordable than its predecessor, the Focus3D will add momentum to the growing interest in disruptive technologies based on advances in 3D. Our Special Report looks at two Euro-pean consortiums that are laying the technological foundations for interactive 3D experiences in sports broadcasting and tourism.
From fast cars and large drive units in Germany, and from forklift parts in Belgium to railway sleepers in Spain, this FARO News leaps around Europe to report on the companies using FARO products to set new standards and create new opportunities. And don't forget a French innovation that could revolutionize the way we buy liquids in the supermarket.
Yours,
imPrint
editorial
“The Airbus decision is a superlative vote of confidence for FARO and its products.”
Juan-PaBlo lemaitre Vice President sales & marketing
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Superlative confidence With 14 different models ranging from the 100-seater single aisle A318 to the 525-seater double-decker A380, Airbus is one of the world’s most important and innovative air-craft manufacturers.
The A380, the largest civil airliner in service, represents the culmination of a gigan-tic vision, born in the early nineties, which has required a pan-European collabora-tion of the best suppliers and engineering firms. Now, with over 40 superjumbos in serv-ice and more than 200 on order, both passengers and airlines are enthusiastic.
It is an achievement that FARO is also proud of: since 2002, Airbus has been us-ing 33 FARO units also in the assembly of the A380’s main body section. At the beginning of 2010 Airbus and FARO signed a fresh five-year agreement: For the new A350 assembly, Airbus will take delivery of 62 FARO Laser Tracker ION units. As a result, FARO Laser Track-ers will be installed in every European Airbus manufac-turing facility.
Airbus aims to provide the aircraft best suited to the market’s needs and to sup-port them with the highest quality of service.
www.airBus.com
faro NEWS | 2
PuBlisher: FARO Europe GmbH & Co. KG, Lingwi-esenstrasse 11/2, D-70825 Korntal-Münchingen,
Phone: +49 7150 9797-0, Fax: +49 7150 9797-44,
[email protected], www.faro.com
editors: Alberto Castiglioni, David Taylor, Dorien
Beckers, Malgorzata Krol, Soafara Menke, Grit Schimpfermann
layout: StuderGuldin GmbH CH-6300 Zug;
FARO: Vanessa Sevil Kizilelma
Print: SV Druck, D-72336 Balingen
Photos: iStock, FARO, customers
date of issue: May 2011 in German, English,
French, Italian, Dutch, Spanish
Alberto Castiglioni,Chief Editor
The FARO Focus3D is the smallest and lightest 3D Laser Scanner ever built. The FARO Edge is the first meas-urement arm with built-in touchscreen and on-board operating system.
Product news
In autumn 2010 FARO intro-duced the Focus3D and in spring 2011 the brand new FARO Edge measuring arm. Plus im-portant new software releases.
The FARO Focus3D is the small-est and lightest laser scanner ever built. It also has a revolutionary price tag and amazing new fea-tures. Thanks to a built-in touch-screen you can now start scanning without a laptop or obtrusive wires. But the integrated colour camera is a real game changer. Now you can have photo-realistic 3D colour scans with up to 70 MP parallax-free colour overlays almost effort-lessly. With storage to standard SD cards, the transfer to your PC takes seconds and the built-in battery allows up to five hours of operation without mains power.
Our second revolutionary product that offers advances in usabil-ity, mobility and performance is the brand new FARO Edge: with its built-in touchscreen and on-board operating system, a laptop is no longer needed to perform quick and simple dimensional checks or to optimise system per-formance. You also have all the benefits of wireless connectivity, based on networking protocols, so putting one or more FARO arms into operation is easier than ever.
“This is what users have been
asking for,” explains Jay Free-land, FARO’s President & Chief Executive Officer: “Unparalleled simplicity and new features that build on the benefits of our exist-ing product line.”
The FARO Edge offers as stand-ard: Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, USB, and Ethernet; Smarter Sensor Technol-ogy; better ergonomics based on patented internal counterbalanc-ing; and seamless accessory inte-gration thanks to a quick-change Multi-Function Handle port. A further significant update: the latest version of the FARO Gage offers Bluetooth technology.
Just because you do not own one of the new FARO products de-scribed above it does not mean that you cannot benefit from our usability and mobility leaps. With the CAM2 Q Remote Apple App, iPhone, iPod Touch or iPad device owners can communicate with their CAM2 Q software via Wi-Fi and thus conduct remote meas-urements.
With CAM2 Q Remote you can run commands, change scanning modes or take points and see the results in real time. It also supports multiple operators and QuickTools.
Finally, the new CAM2 Gage Soft-ware has arrived which makes repetitive measurement of serial parts easier than ever with inspec-tion plans and image attachments.
In the FARO News these icons
will guide you through the differ-
ent application fields of our 3D
measurement technology:
insPection Parts inspection and
providing measurement
reports are essential in today’s
lean manufacturing environment.
They help reduce production
waste and losses or down time
due to nonconformance.
alignment
Precise alignments of any
machine, fixture or part
can make all the difference in the
quality of the finished product.
caliBration Calibration is required if
initial setups of e.g. ma-
chine tools can’t stand the test of
time and deviations appear.
reVerse engineering Reverse engineering al-
lows us to create virtually any-
thing we can touch. To record and
reproduce real items, they are
digitized and displayed as fully
surfaced CAD models using our
3D measurement technology.
as Built documentation Our measurement devices
are able to easily and quickly de-
liver documentation data of digi-
tized buildings, process plants or
objects.
why PictograPhs?Touchscreens and wireless connectivity
–faro international–
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“In the past we used an MMS and in our opinion, certain measurements could not be made cor-rectly. So using the FaroArm is very innovative in this field. Firstly, we can get highly accurate meas-ures of planes and angles that define each type of sleeper without resorting to mechanical templates. Secondly, the data handling of the whole process is seamless,” says Ignacio Ucar, Head of the Quality Management Department at GIC FÁBRICAS, S.A.
“The CAM2 Measure X software sends the data directly to our own statistics and quality control application. That is a technological leap for us, because we used to have someone typing in every measure. Therefore, the FaroArm Fusion is replacing a number of work steps and several different tools, reducing our time, mainte-nance, service and documentation requirements.”
Overall GIC FÁBRICAS, S.A. estimates that they can cover the same number of inspections – currently about 40 per day – with the equivalent of one in-stead of two full time positions.
faro NEWS | 4 faro NEWS | 5
engineering Innovative French sustainability specialists have hit on a disruptive technol-ogy that could redefine our definition of bottle recycling and impact consumer behaviour worldwide.
DMS PROJECT, designed the liquid dispensing ma-chines in a CAD process that included a FARO La-ser ScanArm. “There were some parts, like the liquid pumps and sensors for which we did not have any CAD data. That’s where we used the FARO Laser ScanArm.
Few people remember the days when you took your old bottles to the shop, not for recycling, but to have them refilled! In France, an engi-
neering company and an ecological distribution firm are reviving the idea for the modern supermarket con-sumer.
In December 2009, DMS PROJECT and Eco2distrib joined forces to begin developing a liquid dispenser for the mass consumer market. The machine is like a coffee vending machine, except that consumers re-use their own bottles. After selecting the product, the bottle is filled and the price label printed. Any kind of liquid can be dispensed, but the initial tests are being conducted with liquid detergents. Eco2distrib was able to secure Henkel, the German multinational behind brands like Persil as a product partner.
Want a refill?
Spain already has the longest high-speed rail network in Europe and the second in the world, after China, but the Spanish still have
extensive and ambitious expansion plans. When an AVE (bird) train is travelling at over 300 km/h the slightest inaccuracies or fluctuations in the track alignment could prove disastrous. Therefore, the rails are supported by concrete sleepers at intervals of 0,6m that are built to tolerances of +2/-1mm.
One of the companies meeting the AVE’s large de-mand for concrete sleepers is GIC FÁBRICAS, S.A., based in Luceni, Aragon. GIC FÁBRICAS, S.A. makes 5.000 concrete sleepers per week at its factory in Luceni, which are then transported all over Spain to be added to the end of the growing railway lines.
There are 5 different types of sleepers covering straight and curved sections as well as for points or station sections. The most important geo- metric dimensions are confirmed during the pro- duction process with an optical measurement system. However, due to inherent variabilities in the concrete pre-stressing process, GIC FÁBRI-CAS, S.A. has to inspect one in fifty sleepers and submit statistical reports to the Spanish Railway Authority ADIF. At least twenty different geometric dimensions need to be checked for each sleeper. Thanks to the acquisition of a FaroArm Fusion in autumn 2009, the sleeper inspection process in the Quality Department could be enhanced and automated creating significant improvements and savings. www.isoluxcorsan.com
The FARO Laser ScanArm facilitates
contact and non-contact measure-
ments in one operation. It’s perfectly
adapted to CAD comparisons, rapid
prototyping, reverse engineering and
3D modelling.
www.faro.com/scanarmThe FaroArm is the portable
alternative to a fixed Coordinate
Measuring Machine (CMM) -
available in different versions,
accuracies and lengths with up
to 3.7m measurement volume.
www.measuring-arms.faro.com
GIC FÁBRICAS, S.A. was founded in 1962 by
CORSAN, a Spanish-based civil construction com pany.
Today, it is a subsidiary of Isoluxcorsan - the Spanish-
based multinational civil engineering and construction
company and employs around 40 people in two facto-
ries. Total annual revenues of around EUR 16 million
are earned mainly from government contracts.
gic fÁBricas s.a.
summary
A new liquid dispenser vending machine designed to
reuse consumer's bottles, could enable a minor ecologi-
cal retail revolution. The design engineers often employ
a FARO Laser ScanArm for reverse engineering.
dms ProJect
Formerly called Altair, DMS PROJECT now employs
6 people and provides consulting and engineering
services to a wide range of clients in the areas of
automotive, rail, biomedical, recycling and sustainable
development.
Prior to acquiring a FaroArm Platinum with Laser Line
Probe, DMS PROJECT used vernier callipers or other
traditional tools. Now, thanks to a new automotive
contact they are considering upgrading to a FaroArm
with a longer reach.
1 Accuracy: Precision is a
basic requirement for any
method of quality control,
but we especially like all the
features that add reliability –
like dust seals for example.
2 Portability: The FaroArm is
normally fixed in a rail-
guided gantry, which can
be locked in position for the
measurement of sleepers in
groups of four.
3 Ease of use: Besides all the
basic operations, which are
easy to learn, features like
auto-temperature compensa-
tion and overload sensors
make it really easy to achieve
consistent results.
4 Connectivity: the seamless
connection to the CAM2
Measure X software and
beyond saves us lots of time.
All the reports can be gener-
ated almost automatically.
1 Portability: As consultants
our application is always
changing and we cannot be
tied down to one position or
location.
2 Ease of use: As a small
company with everyone
multi-tasking, it is vital to
have equipment that can be
learnt quickly.
3 Support: If we have a ques-
tion, we can always call the
FARO France team. They
don’t even mind replying out-
side office hours. So they are
very serious about supporting
us, which is wonderful.
4 Sensors and speed: We don’t
have to waste time worrying
about environmental effects
or strains and we can work
really fast.
four good reasons four good reasons
Mr Ignacio Ucar, Head of the Quality Management Department at GIC FÁBRICAS, S.A. says:
Stéphane Chevallier, Director General of DMS PROJECT says:
The perfect flight path for Spain’s bird train
Thanks to the FaroArm Fusion the sleeper inspection process in the Quality Department could be enhanced and automated.
rail industry Cruising at over 300 km/h, Spain’s AVE high-speed trains need a flawless track. That is why GIC FÁBRICAS, S.A. uses a FaroArm Fusion to guarantee the perfection of their concrete sleepers.
–rail industry– –engineering–
That allowed us to build a complete 3D model of the whole machine in SolidWorks,” explained Stéphane Chevallier, DMS PROJECT. “After the market test, we might make a few improvements. If we alter the de-sign or position of a part physically, then we will use the FARO ScanArm to update the CAD model. This approach allows us to work intuitively while keep-ing the precise digital records needed for the series production.”
Currently 15 prototype machines are being tested in French hypermarkets dispensing Henkel liquid wash-ing powders. If these market tests are successful, then Henkel could roll out the idea globally via its network of 75 international subsidiaries.
a sought-after consultant DMS PROJECT was founded in 2008 by Stéphane Chevallier, after a successful career in the automotive industry. As a Programme Director, for Oxford Auto-motive, he was managing around 13 body-in-white projects across Europe. That’s where he first saw a FaroArm in action. Based on that positive experience, he bought a FARO Laser ScanArm for his own com-pany at the first opportunity.
Recently, the FARO Laser ScanArm was used on a job for Buffet Crampon, the French clarinet maker. “We were asked to scan the keys of a particularly good clari-net, to standardise the manufacturing process at a very high level,” explains Chevallier. “The small, size and complex shapes of clarinet keys made it a particular challenge in which the ScanArm head excelled.”
Stéphane Chevallier using the FARO Laser ScanArm in the DMS PROJECT workshop.
www.dms-ProJect.com www.eco2etdistriB.com www.henkel.com
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FARO NEWS | 7faro NEWS | 7
faro laser scanners are at the heart of a paradigm shift as European scientists start adding an immersive dimension to sports broadcasting and photo-sharing.
Future Immersive Experiences
Immersive experiences is a buzzword used by event technology companies who enhance the quality of an event
with excellent sound systems and lighting to create a memorable atmosphere.
But now projects are underway that will add a new dimension to the meaning of immersive ex-periences, by merging the worlds of user-gener-ated content, mobile smart phone interactivity and 3D modelling.
At the same time, we are witnessing a para-digm-shift in terms of consumer involvement: broadcasters will put viewers in the TV direc-tor’s chair at football matches or concerts and tourists will experience augmented reality by simply pointing their camera at an object of interest.
One could argue that the projects covered in this Special Report are simply the next step in the evolution of interactivity and user-generat-ed content. After all, DVD fans have long been able to select an alternative camera angle, and tourists routinely upload their geo-tagged pho-tos to Google Earth. However, the FascinatE and the VISITO projects demand a technologi-cal leap because the consumer interactions and databases are based on 3D models. With insti-tutional funding, entirely new concepts, meth-ods, scripts and tools are being developed by research groups from universities and specialist companies, that will create the foundation for the new era of immersive interactive experi-ences.
Given the complexity of the tasks in hand, the FascinatE and VISITO teams were keen to start with the best possible tools and data for their research. Unsurprisingly, FARO Laser Scanners were the 3D scanning tools of choice for both projects.
Visito
“VISITO Tuscany” is a project co-financed by the Regione Toscana and the European Region-al Development Fund, carried out by a consor-tium of research and industrial partners includ-ing the Italian National Research Council (CNR
ISTI), Alinari, Hyperborea and 3Logic.
The aim of VISITO Tuscany is to enhance the tourist experience before, during and after travel by allowing interaction with a 3D model based database of historic photos and information. The ground-breaking feature is that the VISITO system will be able to work out where the users are pointing the camera of their smartphone in order to augment their reality during the visit. Thus for example, if you take a photo of “Her-cules and Cacus“, in Florence using the VISITO App, then it will tell you the statue was com-pleted by Bandinelli in 1534 etc. This feature will be realised using GPS positional informa-tion from the smartphone and by comparing a compressed upload of the user’s photo with the existing image database.
When you return home, after uploading your full resolution photos to your favourite photo site, you will be able to enter the 3D model of the VISITO location. As you spatially browse your photo collection, the system will render your pictures onto the 3D model in the appro-priate position in real time.
Dr Marco Callieri, member of CNR ISTI’s Vis-ual Computing Laboratory (VC) explains: “Our group is responsible for getting the 3D dimen-sional data, aligning the photos and creating the software of the spatial browsing user inter-face.”
“Scanning the Piazza della Signoria in Flor-ence, one of the three VISITO sites, took 2 days using a FARO Laser Scanner. It is a very complex environment with rows of huge stat-ues, so data processing took about 3 weeks. We scanned our first site with a TOF camera, but we were much happier once we purchased the FARO Laser Scanner.”
Once the 3D model was created, the next step was to manually prime the system with a selec-tion of photos from the massive historic Alinari photo library. Thereafter, the system takes over and can automatically recognise other photos and add them in the correct position.
–sPecial rePort–P
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FascinatE, standing for Format-Agnostic SCript-based INterAcTive Experience, is an EU-funded research project that aims to allow end-users to interactively view and navigate around an ultra-high resolution panorama of a live event. The output will be intelligently adapted to suit anything from a mobile handset to an immer-sive panoramic display and the audio will intel-ligently match the chosen shots.
On the production side, this requires the de-velopment of new capture, scripting and for-mat transformation systems. New methods and hardware will also be needed to allow viewers to control and display the content. Eleven part-ners, all leaders in their respective technolo-gies teamed up to advance this vision.
Work on FascinatE began in February 2010. As a test scenario for the software development, the project members decided to capture a Pre-mier League football game with a novel array of cameras and microphones. One of the part-
ners in the FascinatE project is the legendary Munich-based Arnold & Richter Cine Technik GmbH (ARRI). Having gained experience of combining camera footage with 3D scanning data for CGI purposes, ARRI recommended a FARO Laser Scanner Focus3D for the geometri-cal calibration of the camera and microphone
positions and the scan of the whole stadium. This will serve as the basis for creating virtual camera movements.
Dr Johannes Steurer, Principal Engineer at ARRI, explained: “After the stadium was cleared, we scanned the whole stadium and captured the positions of the microphones and cameras using reference cards and spheres. Thanks to a short rain shower before we began, the air was clear, giving excellent results. After 2.5 hours we had all 17 3D scans on the SD card.”
an immersiVe future
The FascinatE system will take the experience of a sports match or concert to a whole new level. For example, thanks to the accurate po-sitional information gathered with the FARO Laser Scanner, the system will accurately and automatically blend the audio from different microphones in order to suit the viewer’s cho-sen camera shot.
“FascinatE represents a paradigm shift where directors surrender control to the end-viewer. However, the use of precise 3D positional in-formation to create a sense of actually being there will play a big part in the quality of ex-perience,” says David Homewood of Faro Tech-nologies UK, one of the project’s enthusiastic supporters.
Meanwhile, the VISITO project is focused on the user’s curiosity, bringing to life archive ma-terial and personal memories through 3 dimen-sional browsing. The combination of these two approaches promises some truly exciting and revolutionary new 3D immersive experiences.
Piazza della Signoria in Florence, one of the VISITO sites, has been scanned by a FARO Laser Scanner.
faro NEWS | 8
“After 2.5 hours we had all 17 3D scans on the SD card.”
dr Johannes steurer, PrinciPal engineer at arri
summary
• Research into interactive immersive technology is driving developments in the application of 3D models to broad-casting and information services.
• In the past broadcast directors called the shots depending on assumptions about the end user’s preferences and viewing devices.
• The FascinatE project will put the viewer in the director’s chair and allow immer-sive exploration of the available camera angles during a live concert or match.
• Smartphone users know you can use GPS to locate a pizza, but the VISITO App will allow create a seamless link between your camera phone and a rich database of historical information and photos.
• FARO Laser Scanners are the tools of choice for the scientists who are open-ing these new dimensions of augmented reality.
www.fascinate-ProJect.eu www.Visitotuscany.it www.faro.com/focus
faro NEWS | 9
The German-based industrial multinational Siemens needs no introduction as a glo-bal leader in drives, automation, transport,
building technology, lighting and industrial solu-tions. Within the Drive Technologies Division, the Large Drives Business Unit makes motors and the associated transformers and control components that are found in railway locomotives. Further prod-ucts include drive systems for machines used in the textile, packaging and printing industries.
About 210 employees are involved in the unit's me-chanical manufacturing department on Vogelweiher-straße in Nuremberg. Supporting them is a team of 8 metrologists in the quality control / measuring de-partment. In 2005, they acquired their first FaroArm Platinum, to replace a conventional 3D coordinate measuring system and a range of manual methods. Excited by the substantial timesavings, Siemens added another four FARO arms when the Quantum became available.
“We heard about FARO products at an exhibition and then attended an Open House event organized by FARO Europe. Having seen the equipment demon-strated we were no longer surprised by the astonishing time savings that we were able to achieve with FARO arms,” explained Karlheinz Leitner, Head of CNC Pro-gramming in the Mechanical Production department. "We estimate that we are now making time savings of 50 - 60% over our previous methods of measurement. Furthermore, using the FARO arms has many wider benefits.”
Parts are made in batches, and every time a new batch is started, the first part needs to be taken to the quality control department and approved be-fore the rest of the batch can be completed. With a FaroArm, the time required for measuring is sub-
stantially reduced; so smaller batches have become more economical. This increases production flexibil-ity. Parts can even be measured while still mounted in the manufacturing machine thanks to the port-ability of the FARO arms.
Normally parts to be measured range between 0.2 and 1.2m in size, but sometimes parts exceed the standard 2.4m volume of the FaroArm Quantum. However Leitner is unperturbed: “Using the leapfrog method with magnetic reference points, the range can be easily extended.”
The Siemens Large Drive Business Unit works with Delcam PowerINSPECT software, which integrates seamlessly with the FaroArm. When a new part is introduced, the quality team creates a measurement program based on the available 3D plans. This defines the required measurements and tolerances. Thereaf-ter, the operator can simply take the measurements and automatically generate a report. “All in all, we are very pleased with the productivity increases that we could achieve thanks to the ease of use of the FARO arms.”
Speed and flexibility gains in electrical motor production
The manufacturing quality control department of Siemens Large Drives Business Unit uses five FARO arms.
Siemens AG is a global powerhouse in electronics and
electrical engineering, operating in the industry, energy
and healthcare sectors. For over 160 years, Siemens
has stood for technological excellence, innovation,
quality, reliability and internationality. In fiscal 2010,
revenue totaled some €76 billion and net income €4.1
billion. At the end of September 2010, Siemens had
around 405,000 employees worldwide.
www.siemens.com
siemens ag
mechanical engineering The German industrial manufacturer Siemens is well equipped with a number of FARO arms to speed quality control and increase production flexibility in the Large Drives Business Unit.
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The Faro Laser Scanner Photon makes it pos-
sible to accurately scan large spaces indoors or
outdoors in very little time.
www.measuring-arms.faro.com
1 Accuracy: This is paramount
in quality control. It is the
basis for everything else.
2 Speed: We estimated that we
have been able to make total
timesavings of 50-60% in the
measurement department.
3 Price: All the FARO arms we
have bought are very good
value for money, especially
when you consider the mas-
sive timesavings.
4 Sensors: The overload and
temperature sensors ensure
that we can totally rely on
the data output from the
FARO arms.
four good reasonsfascinate
Karlheinz Leitner, Head of CNC Programming in the Mechanical Production department says:
On the Vogelweiherstraße in
Nuremberg, the manufacturing
quality control department of
Siemens’ Large Drives Business
Unit uses five FARO arms to
make significant timesavings and
increase production flexibility.
summary
–mechanical engineering––sPecial rePort–
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faro NEWS | 10 faro NEWS | 11
Eliminating customer frustration on shipped spare parts
More freedom, thanks to shared coordinates
second-hand forklift trucks are sold each year.
The need for pre-sales repair and after-sales care of thousands of dif-ferent forklift trucks led to the ex-plosion of the spare parts business, which is now the mainstay of the company.
FARO NEWS ASkEd EvEliNE dEpOORtERE, mEASuRiNg EN-giNEER, AbOut hER jOb ANd Why ShE uSES A FARO gAgE.
Eveline Depoortere: 20,000 cus-tomers in over 162 countries make use of our stock of 450,000 dif-ferent parts. If we send a part to a customer on the other side of the world and they have difficulty get-ting it to fit, then that creates a lot of frustration, costs and delays. So my job is to ensure that all incom-ing mechanical parts are within ac-ceptable tolerances.
I joined TVH in 2000 after com-pleting my BA in Mechanical En-gineering at the KATHO Highschool of Kortrijk. The first seven years, I was using conventional methods to measure parts and there were many dimensions that I could not check. In particular, we had remarks about ovoid brake drums, concentricity and misaligned holes. So in 2007, we purchased a FARO Gage; it in-creased my productivity by about 50% and the suppliers have no-ticed it.
SO yOu cOuld gO hOmE AFtER luNch?
I wish...! (laughs). Actually we got the FARO Gage at the perfect time because business really took off since we launched our e-commerce platform. Perhaps more firms want-ed to save money by buying on the free market. Thanks to the FARO Gage I was able to keep up with the growth of the company.
hOW mANy pARtS dO yOu mEASuRE pER dAy?
On average about fifty – brake drums take longer and it depends if I am creating a new programme or calling up the measurement pro-gramme for an existing article.
What interesting develop-ments have you experienced since Working With the Faro gage?
Thanks to the FARO Gage I can measure the concentricity of the brake drums and the position of the pitch circle, so all the brake drums we ship are now perfectly balanced and we rarely have customer ques-tions about these parts.
The work is actually very varied with such a range of parts. There is always something new to learn, or a new programme to create. Re-cently, FARO offered us the new Aberlink software. We decided to go for it because it allows me to see the results of a measurement im-mediately on the screen. That has increased my productivity by an-other 20%. Right now, my second baby is on the way and as with the first child, I expect to keep work-ing until shortly before the birth. Thankfully the FARO Gage is very ergonomic. With features like the internal counterbalancing it is re-ally no effort to use. Also it is very easy to learn, so we can easily train a back-up to cover my role when I am on maternity leave.
TVH – Group Thermote & Vanhalst is the worlds leading supplier of pre-
owned forklift trucks, aerial plat-forms and industrial in-plant vehi-cles. Founded in 1969, the firm began purchasing, reconditioning and selling old military lift trucks in Belgium and Germany, but with the limited availability they soon turned to Japan. During this first major ex-pansion period, thousands of new and second-hand forklift trucks were bought in Japan for repair, overhaul and sale on the European market. Today, TVH has on average, 1,900 second-hand forklift trucks in stock and over 5,000 new and
interView Using a FARO Gage to verify incoming spare parts quality standards, Eveline De-poortere, a Belgian mechanical engineer plays a key role in an interesting success story.
Thermote & Vanhalst (TVH) was
founded in 1969 by Mr. Paul
Thermote and Mr. Paul Vanhalst.
Trading secondhand, new forklift
trucks and spare parts they estab-
lished first an European and then
a global base of suppliers and
customers with a workforce of over
2,200 people and subsidiaries on
all continents. TVH is organised
into 5 divisions: Forklifts, Parts,
Handling Equipment, Rental
Equipment, Service And Repair.
The Quality Approvals Department
of the Parts Division is led by Rog-
er Arits, and Eveline Depoortere is
the Measuring Engineer.
www.tVh.com
thermote & Vanhalst
The BMW Group with the three
brands BMW, MINI and Rolls-
Royce Motor Cars is a global
leader in premium car sales with
25 manufacturing sites in 14
countries. FARO arms have been
in use for well over a decade at
the car factories in Regensburg
and Dingolfing.
www.Bmw.com
Bmw grouP
–heaVy machines–
Eveline Depoortere,Mechanical Engineer
–automotiVe–
automotiVe FARO has suc-cessfully integrated three prov-en measuring systems into one product – the Track ScanArm. It is a mobile system with par-ticular efficiency advantages for interior and exterior measure-ments of vehicles.
At BMW's Dingolfing and Regensburg plants, in Germany, the FARO Track
ScanArm is being used. It com-bines the FARO Laser Tracker, the 7-axis FaroArm Quantum and the Laser Line Probe V3 into one sys-tem. With shared coordinates and PolyWorks software handling the front end, all three devices can op-erate seamlessly together allowing an unprecedented level of measur-ing flexibility.
For the BMW metrologists who measure components and fittings during pilot and production phas-
es, the Track ScanArm system represents a ma-jor step forwards. “In
the past, there was always an interruption to your workflow,” explains Roland Schlüßl, Key Ac-count Manager at FARO. “Either you scanned the outside with a laser scanner giving you the vol-ume coverage and speed, or you used a measuring arm to go for measurements inside the vehicle. To combine these two approaches introduced complications.” But the FARO Track ScanArm solves the problem elegantly. The coor-dinate system is shared between the Laser Tracker, scanner and arm, giving the ultimate flexibil-ity. “The FaroArm which can be moved around, receives the coor-dinate system wirelessly from the Laser Tracker (or vice versa), so you can measure anywhere inside the vehicle using all seven de-grees of freedom without having to worry about cables, sight lines or references!”
The initial presentations of the
1 Accuracy: The FARO Gage
is much more accurate
than our previous methods,
so now we can be 100%
confident when we despatch
a spare part.
2 Speed: I am significantly
more productive since I
began using the FARO Gage
and the new Aberlink soft-
ware gave me a further 20%
boost. The investment pays
for itself in a short time.
3 Possibilities: Important
dimensions that were previ-
ously impossible or impracti-
cal are now child's play.
4 Ease of use: We could easily
train someone else to cover
me during maternity leave.
So many steps are now
automatic thanks to great
features like article code
programmes, overload and
temperature sensors.
Eveline Depoortere says:
four good reasons
FARO Track ScanArm date back to 2006, but BMW was looking for a system that would also in-tegrate with their wireless vehicle network. In 2009, FARO came back to BMW as the first metrol-ogy company to offer this capabil-ity and the project began to take shape. During the installation phase, both FARO and BMW spe-cialists contributed their exper-tise to the custom development.
In Dingolfing, the Laser Tracker is suspended from the ceiling, which ensures good coverage of several work areas and means that it won't be knocked or moved inadvertently. “But if you need the Laser Tracker elsewhere, it only takes about five minutes to take it down and use it anywhere else,” says Matthias John, Senior Laser Tracker Account Manager at FARO. Referring to the mobil-ity and flexibility of the system, he states: “You can use any one of the system components indi-vidually, which is often done to
The Laser Tracker is suspended from the ceiling in Dingolfing. As a result, the possibility of any 'outside contact' can be excluded.
The FARO Track ScanArm seam-
lessly combines laser tracking,
measuring arm and laser scanner
capabilities into a single package
that solves the problems of sight
lines and coordinate sharing.
1 Integration: The combination
of FaroArm and Laser Tracker
in one system gives the ideal
combination of range and
precision. Only one laptop is
necessary for the control of
both products.
2 Freedom: Each device shares
the same reference coordi-
nate system allowing you to
instantly switch to the tool
that is most suitable for the
required measurement.
3 Connectivity: The FARO sys-
tem integrates with the BMW
wireless vehicle network.
4 Flexibility: The Laser Tracker
and the ScanArm can also be
used individually for differ-
ent jobs.
four good reasons
BMW's choice of the FARO Track ScanArm was based on these benefits:
www.faro.com/laser-tracker www.measuring-arms.faro.com
alleviate bottlenecks all over the factory. We learned substantially during the implementation. The FARO Track ScanArm is now a re-fined system that other car manu-facturers are starting to use.”
The FARO Gage is a compact,
high-performance coordinate
measuring machine that can be
conveniently mounted in just
about any area of the shop floor.
www.faro.com/gage
• TVH has built a global business
around pre-owned industrial in-
plant vehicles and lifts.
• A FARO Gage is used at goods-in
to approve the quality of spare
parts and ensure customer sat-
isfaction.
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