Hexagon Metrology announced the release of its TubeShaper software for the portable Romer Absolute Arm tube inspection solution. TubeShaper is a completely new product designed specifically to apply the versatile measurement capabilities of the Romer Absolute Arm coordinate measuring machine (CMM) to applications such as tube production, tube and pipe inspection, reverse engineering of tubes and tube assemblies, and tube gauging. Leveraging three decades of metrology expertise in tube inspection, the product was developed in close collaboration with some of the world’s leading tube producers. The scalable system will meet the needs of engineers, quality managers and shop-floor users all around the factory.

TubeShaper offers a number of user-friendly features and is based on an intuitive graphical user interface with two operator access profiles. Measurement plans can be created automatically in first-part inspection or set up offline prior to measurement, making batch measurements faster while guaranteeing repeatability. An advanced CAD engine enables the import and export of tube data in various formats, as well as the inspection of full tube assemblies including welded brackets, hangers and flanges. The software can interface directly with one or more CNC tube benders. As a result, correctional data can calculated and applied within the production cycle, which streamlines operations and almost completely eliminates scrap.