Hexagon Metrology Inc. announced the availability of their new white light measurement products in North America. The manual measurement system Cognitens WLS400M and the automated measurement system Cognitens WLS400A replace all former white light products from Hexagon Metrology. Hexagon Metrology developed both hardware and software for these new systems.

Customers can choose between a portable configuration and an automated system which can be operated with all common industrial robots. Cognitens systems are always turnkey solutions including the software suite CoreView by Hexagon Metrology. CoreView version 5.0 software has been configured to achieve improved utilization of the operating system, memory management, and 3rd-party 64-bit software. This enhancement is critical in speeding up large point cloud processing and CAD utilization.

In one case study, processing time was cut by 80 percent. The WLS400 uses digital stereo vision technology to generate highly accurate 3D data. The automotive and aerospace industry has embraced this technology because it accelerates quality control, and performs well in vibration-prone shop floor environments. The problem of vibration is resolved by the WLS400's ability to shoot and capture 3D surface data in less than 10 milliseconds, as compared to the competitor's rate of 1-2 seconds. Due to the ultra-fast data acquisition rate, any vibration in frequencies up to hundreds of Hz do not affect the results. The outcome is higher data integrity (no ghosting) and no repeat measurements.

The device's performance is also not impacted by variable lighting or temperature changes, states Eric Hollenbeck, North American Portable Business Manager. The new product generation comes with innovative, reliable, and safe Blue Light, LED technology which enables a greater variety of surface finishes to be measured or reverse engineered. This advancement virtually eliminates the use of spray-on developers in all but the most extreme cases.