Have you heard of Line Confocal Imaging (LCI)? Perhaps not, since the technology is relatively new to the already high-tech, high-resolution 3D measurement industry. Companies like Axiom Optics are dipping their toes in the water with STIL’s line of noncontact, chromatic confocal sensors. These sensors offer a wide choice of measuring ranges and work on all materials (metals, glass, semiconductor, plastic, ceramics, paper, fabrics, rubber, wood, polymer, etc.), among other benefits like a high repetition rate (up to 2000 lines/s) and high axial resolution (down to 2nm in distance mode along Z-axis).
Meanwhile, FocalSpec, a supplier of optical 3D surface measurement systems with sub-micron level resolution, recently announced the offering of their 3D LCI sensors to systems integrators and automation providers as a way to, as they put it, “further enhance the ability to respond to the demanding marketplace.”