FARO
Hands-off Digitizing Leads Engineering Firm Into New Business
BE-Technologies (Dallas, TX) has developed a mastery of shape. The company's creative capability stems from controlling the virtual environment in which parts are manufactured, from concept and model to finished product. One day BE technicians will execute the plans of an interior designer for a high-level makeover of an executive jet. The next, they will construct a precise model of a human cranium injured in an accident for a legal presentation. Following that, they may find themselves developing body and side moldings for fire trucks and ambulances.
ScanArm Technology
A primary tool that enables BE to define shapes and recreate them in a
digital environment is the new ScanArm from FARO Technologies. This
instrument combines the features of a laser scanner with those of an
articulating measuring arm (portable CMM). In scanner mode, it is a
no-contact means of digitally capturing and recreating just about any
physical shape.
In the laser scan mode, the ScanArm can bring in a data cloud of more than 19,000 points per second. It has an operating range from a target surface of 3.5 to 7.25 inches, with a collection path width of 2.5 inches. To use it, an operator simply guides the scanner over the surface to be inspected. An integrated LED rangefinder tells when the operator is within range.
Where only basic geometry or single point of data is needed, the instrument can also be used as a conventional contact-type (hard probe) measuring arm, complete with a ball stylus. Both features are incorporated into the measuring head of the instrument and no hardware has to be exchanged to switch from one mode to the other. Given the nature of the industries that they serve, accuracy is critical to BE engineers. The ScanArm generates data with extreme accuracy.
The files that BE-Technologies generate with the Arm fit seamlessly into their workflow. From a design and manufacturing concept, the company is fully integrated. Files produced by the ScanArm are converted to CAM files which, in turn, drive CNC cutting equipment to form parts or molds or models.
X-37 Spacecraft
One example of BE-Technologies' use of FARO ScanArm technology is in
its work on the experimental X-37 proof-of-concept spacecraft, a
reusable satellite launching vehicle that is being developed by NASA.
The X-37's design, materials, and manufacturing processes require
careful evaluation during and after production. Particular focus is on
the control surfaces (Flaperon and Ruddervator) made from a material
that, while strong and heat resistant, is sensitive to oils in human
skin. Building the control surfaces to design specifications is no easy
task since surface uniformity and dimensional tolerances are so
important. Even small irregularities in shape could result in hot spots
and/or unpredictable flight behavior. "NASA's team of contractors, led
by Boeing, called us in to inspect the dimensions over the entire
airfoil & keeping physical contact to a minimum," explains
BE-Technologies owner Mike Berdan.
The design files for both the Flaperon and Ruddervator control surfaces were supplied to BE engineers so that they could to work with the ScanArm to capture the actual surfaces digitally. Software in the Arm is specifically designed to enable users to compare design (CAD) files to measured files. "The scanner was able to detect dimensional variances of five to 10 thousandths of an inch," affirmed Berdan.
For more information visit www.faro.com/tct151.
