Customizable touchscreen indicator brings the power of multiple indicators into one device

In a booth full of technology ranging from multi-sensor vision systems, video-based inspection and measurement systems, and even old-school optical comparators, it was a small indicator that packed a lot of punch.

That versatile indicator was the Starrett W4900 Touch Screen Indicator from The L.S. STARRETT CO., manufacturer of precision measuring tools and gages, and metrology systems.

James Clinton, inside sales manager at Starrett in Athol, Massachusetts, was on hand at IMTS 2024 doing demos on the wireless touchscreen indicator.

“Being customizable is one thing that makes this tool popular,” he said “If you have got a small inspection station and a limited amount of space, you can do a lot of different operations on this one stand."

Built for quality labs, inspection areas, and in-process applications where access is not always available, Clinton said the W4900 is highly accurate, fast, intuitive, easy-to-use, and rugged. Its principal features include multiple resolution and color settings, digital and analog readouts in the same indicator, seven languages, and wireless output.

The big new thing with this is the touch screen and the digital dial face. The tool can be set up like any digital or analog indicator that Starrett makes. You can go to the English analog version or the metric analog version. It also gives you the ability to change graduations or the resolution going into the settings as well as intuitively change the settings.  

“It can be both a traditional drop indicator – digital -- but it can also be a dial indicator,” Clinton said. “If we have a simple part and we want to measure the height of the part, that is a common easy function to do with an digital indicator in a comparator stand. However with the W4900, we can quickly swap modes to the dial face. Many of our customers prefer  dials when probing the flatness of a part so they can watch the dial indicators' hand move.”

Hands-on demos

Supporting Industry 4.0, IoT and the Digital Factory, the W4900 Indicators were integrated with the Starrett DataSure 4.0 Wireless Data Collection System for automated wireless measurement data capture and transmission. Attendees collected and transmitted measurement data instantly for analysis to Starrett associates in the booth who ran the DataSure mobile application. They could review the results and discuss any specific application requirements and questions.  

Ease of use and versatility are attributes of the indictor that was very evident during the demos. Two W4900 Indicators were on hand for attendees to use firsthand and experience the simple navigation.

The startup process, for instance, is as simple as a Smartphone. Touch the screen, and the user chooses from seven languages. After choosing, the user goes to the home screen where you begin.

In addition to the hands-on demonstrations, a bank of W4900 Indicators were displayed and set up in a variety of configurations that were running continuously, taking measurements of a rotating crankshaft.

"They are all the same indicators, but they are just set up in different configurations," Clinton said, pointing to the devices. "We got them on a CAM shaft to show a little bit of movement. For instance, the first dial goes to yellow and then red when out of tolerance."