The phrase - “The whole is greater than the sum of the parts” - could have been coined to describe the remarkable advantages gained through the interaction of three advanced FARO® technologies. The synergy between the company’s FaroArms, Laser Line Probes and FARO’s unique 8-Axis Scanning Platform, resulted in the creation of the ground-breaking FARO 8-Axis ScanArm range - the first and still the only eight-axis portable metrology solution.
The FARO 8-Axis Quantum FaroArm sets new industry performance standard for measurement consistency, reliability and speed. The use of an 8-Axis rotary scanning platform removes the need for an operator to move around an item to scan it. Instead, the object under inspection can be securely mounted onto the rotating platform and revolved as it is scanned. Each time the component is repositioned, precise data related to its orientation is transmitted to the system’s software. In addition to reducing operator fatigue, FARO’s ergonomic innovation delivers impressive reductions in inspections times of up to 40%.
With the intention of advancing the company’s scanning capabilities, increasing its precision standards and boosting inspection throughput speeds, Darchem Engineering recently implemented the use of the ‘revolutionary’ FARO system. A wholly-owned subsidiary of USA company, TransDigm Group Incorporated, Darchem Engineering is a world-class engineering company that provides a range of products and services primarily aimed at meeting the needs of customers for engineered solutions related to high-temperature and thermal engineering problems.
Since its inception in 1954, the County Durham, UK based business has developed into a world leader in its chosen fields and now serves a range of technically demanding industries, including the aerospace, motorsport, marine, on/off highway, marine, power generation, defence, nuclear and oil and gas sectors.
Explaining the purchase and use of the advanced FARO 8-Axis QuantumS FaroArm, Darchem Engineering Metrologist, Adam Clark said. “In collaborating with our customers across multiple industries, we design, develop and manufacture a variety of intelligent engineered solutions. Our products are made from a wide range of materials, including Titanium and ‘exotics’ such as Inconel, and are suitable for the most challenging of applications, such as high-temperature lightweight thermal and fire protection fabrications.
“Given the important protective functions that our manufactured products are intended for and the safety critical roles they perform, we carry out meticulous quality control checks at all stages of manufacture, then before dispatch we undertake thorough final inspection routines.
“Although we have been enthusiastic users of FARO Arms for many years, as an increasing number of our products are flexible and deformable, the contact probes of our previously used FARO Arms had the potential to deflect some of our parts whilst they were being inspected and to cause dimensional errors to occur. To remedy this situation, we decided to contact FARO UK and to check-out the company’s latest technologies.
“In addition to looking to purchase FARO equipment that had both contact and non-contact scanning capabilities, we hoped to further improve our precision capabilities and also to boost the efficiency of our inspection routines. FARO’s technical staff suggested that a FARO 8-Axis QuantumS FaroArm was would satisfy our needs and a demonstration was arranged.
“Having been happy with the performance of our previous FARO Arm, in the course of the successful demonstration that was performed on a cross section of our products, it was interesting to see the many technical developments that had been made to the company’s latest generation technology and an order was placed with FARO UK
“On delivery, it helped that our staff were already skilled in the use of our older FARO Arm, therefore, following product training our operators soon mastered the new instrument. Now in regular use, in addition to delivering the advanced non-contact scanning abilities we require, the FARO 8-Axis QuantumS FaroArm has enhanced our precision standards and significantly increased our inspection efficiencies.
“Before starting a scanning routine we fix the component being inspected onto our new FaroArm’s integrated 8-Axis rotary scanning platform. Then, instead of moving around the part and manipulating the FaroArm into position, our operators are able to remain in a relatively static position and rotate the component to ensure that all parts of the component can be easily accessed and quickly scanned. In addition to speeding-up our scanning routines, the use of FARO’s 8-Axis rotary scanning platform has reduced operator fatigue.
“It also helps that our FARO 8-Axis Quantum FaroArm interfaces very easily with Polyworks, as we use this 3D dimensional analysis and quality control software throughout our factory.”
For over 40 years, FARO has delivered the most trusted 3D Measurement Arm technology, allowing manufacturers to quickly collect precise 3D measurements for verification of product quality during inspections, tool certifications, CAD comparison, dimensional analysis, reverse engineering and more.
The FARO 8-Axis Quantum FaroArm, as purchased by Darchem Engineering, represents an all-inclusive, contact and noncontact metrology solution that allows users to significantly speed up and simplify their measurement and scanning activities. The superior resolution system provides high-accuracy, rapid data capture and is ideal for a multitude of inspection and quality control tasks. The advanced FARO system is the perfect solution for point cloud comparison with CAD, rapid prototyping, reverse engineering and the 3D modelling of free-form surfaces.
Darchem’s 8-Axis Quantum ScanArm combines three innovative elements, a Quantum FaroArm, a FAROBlu Laser Line Probe (LLP) and an 8-Axis Scanning Platform.
The FARO Laser Line Probe provides the perfect balance of speed and accuracy, with the added benefit of colour scanning, it features an extensive laser line width of 150mm enabling the scanning of a larger area resulting in fast and efficient scanning. The extra-wide scan stripe and fast frame rate boosts productivity by increasing coverage and reducing scanning times.
The Laser Line Probe is able to seamlessly scan across a multitude of challenging materials with diverse surface characteristics regardless of contrast, reflectivity or part complexity without the need for special coatings or target placement.
The most recently introduced element to the FARO 8-Axis Quantum ScanArm is its integrated 8-Axis rotary scanning platform. The ingenious, industry exclusive accessory decreases scan time by up to 40%, while maintaining accuracy. Whereas previously a user would need to register multiple point clouds together via post processing in point cloud software, through the use of FARO’s 8-Axis table, the most complex of scanning tasks can all be performed and captured in a single point cloud.
