HEIDENHAIN's ACU-RITE brand of digital readout (DRO) products for the machine tool marketplace has introduced a line of three innovative DROs with new software features and robust hardware, which is reportedly making a difference for milling, turning, grinding and boring applications.

Models DRO100/203/300 all support many new innovative software features, including an "Installation Guide" that appears at first-time power up that all DRO users will appreciate.

The DRO100 unit has been designed as a functional yet simple digital readout that can be easily understood by the operator.

The DRO203 offers all the basic functions of the entry level DRO100 plus common features for both milling and turning applications, such as bolt-hole calculations for milling and vectoring/ taper ratio for turning.

And the DRO300 high-end model provides even greater functionality. It is available in 3- and 4-axis variants and is programmable. The DRO300 is the only unit offering the connector for external switchiing functions. One completely new innovation is the option of expanding the DRO300 to servie as a 6-axis digital readout.

Some overall new features on these DROs include the "Dynamic Zoom," where once activated, the display values for the axis currently being moved are maximally enlarged. The user can immediately see which axis is currently in motion.

Other new software features common to all include improved file management where users can save and/or load firmware, configuration files, graphic files and instruction manuals. Also, a simpler user management system has been introduced, and up to nine users can operate the DRO203 and DRO300 units.