In aerospace, a defect, mismeasurement, or slight error can be the difference between a successful launch and mission failure. It’s because of this that aerospace companies have the most stringent requirements for quality and dimensional accuracy.

If January is the month of resolutions, April is the month of renewals, a time of spring cleaning. Like people, businesses of all sizes undergo a similar ritual. Instead of tackling overstuffed closets, C-suite executives update their quarterly economic forecasts and prepare for the second half of the year. 

For industries that regularly perform large-scale measurements, laser trackers offer accurate 3D measurements collected by a single operator. 

It would be an obvious understatement to say that technology plays a key role in just about everything we do, as well as how we do it.

The time is the late 1960s. Detroit muscle cars roam the streets. Woodstock is just around the corner. Passenger air travel is growing at an unprecedented rate. 

Compared to CMMs and articulating arms, laser trackers constitute a fairly young technology. In use for about 30 years, these increasingly portable and flexible devices are known for measuring large objects by determining the positions of optical targets, usually spherically mounted retroreflectors (SMRs) that a technician holds up against the objects.

Hexagon’s Manufacturing Intelligence division launched a brand-new laser tracker line, the Leica Absolute Tracker ATS600. This new product introduces a new concept in metrology-grade laser trackers, with targetless 3D scanning possible for the first time directly from the laser tracker.

Seems like everyone who fancies themselves an artist or performer uses—or overuses—the term “pushing the envelope” when describing their craft. However, if we journey back to the origins of the term we can regain the value of its meaning.

The manufacturing industry continues to push the conventional boundaries of creating larger and more complex parts. The potential for costly errors also increases exponentially when producing large-scale, intricate components and assemblies.