Equator-X Sets New Benchmark for Shop-Floor Metrology at METALEX Thailand

At this year’s METALEX Thailand, Renishaw drew strong attention with the Equator-X, the newest member of its shop-floor gauging family designed for ultra-fast, high-accuracy production measurement.

Steve Bell, ASEAN General Manager of Renishaw said that the appearance of the Equator-X at METALEX marks its first major public exposure in Thailand. Prior to the show, Renishaw held several private customer events in the country to preview the system, but METALEX represents its first broad, open demonstration to the Thai market. The system is also scheduled for presentation at Manufacturing Indonesia, reflecting its growing regional rollout.

A Significant Evolution of the Equator Concept

Although the Equator-X retains the familiar external structure of the original Equator, Bell emphasized that it represents a fundamental redesign rather than a simple upgrade. The internal drive architecture and metrology systems have been re-engineered to support the speed, accuracy, and robustness required by today’s high-volume manufacturers.

One of the most compelling improvements is its exceptional measurement speed. Equator-X performs scanning at 250 millimeters per second, a rate that is more than ten times faster than the 10–20 millimeters per second typical of conventional three-axis shop-floor CMMs. When operating in comparator mode for repetitive part inspection, the speed increases even further to 500 millimeters per second, making it ideally suited to production lines where inspection must keep pace with machining.

High Accuracy and Shop-Floor Readiness

To achieve these high speeds without compromising metrological performance, Renishaw separated the machine’s drive mechanism from the metrology mechanism. This structural change deploys a drive frame with linear drives on each strut, and independently, a carbon-fibre metrology frame making use of absolute encoders, to ensure both rapid movement and consistent accuracy. The system delivers accuracy of 2.1 microns + L/300 which remains class-leading, most especially when coupled with the remarkable speed/throughput performance on a machine intended to operate on the production floor rather than inside a controlled quality room.

Equator-X is also equipped for the realities of shop-floor deployment. It incorporates temperature compensation as standard, enabling stable operation despite ambient changes. The machine includes a fully integrated enclosure that isolates it from surrounding activity. Renishaw also incorporated visual status lighting that changes color depending on measurement results. When a part or feature is within tolerance, the enclosure glows green; when a feature is out of tolerance, it switches to red. This gives operators an immediate understanding of part status without the need to check a monitor.

A Strong Fit for Automotive and Electronics Manufacturing

Bell summarized the advantages of Equator-X for high-volume automotive and electronics environments as a combination of speed, flexibility, and assurance. The machine’s speed allows manufacturers to inspect far more parts without slowing production flow. Its flexibility lies in its ability to switch between Comparator Mode, which is ideal for long, repetitive production runs, and Absolute CMM Mode, which is essential for varied part families that require traceability and full measurement reporting. Its assurance comes from the fact that Absolute Mode provides CMM-level accuracy to ISO10360-2, giving manufacturers the traceability needed to satisfy regulatory and compliance standards.

What Visitors Saw at METALEX Thailand

At METALEX, Renishaw presented both the Equator-X and the AGILITY inspection system to illustrate how the company supports a full spectrum of metrology needs. AGILITY serves manufacturers requiring sophisticated inspection capabilities using advanced sensor technologies, while Equator-X addresses the need for rapid, accurate shop-floor measurement of particularly automotive, semiconductor, and electronics parts.

Bell emphasized that the central message for METALEX visitors was the importance of moving metrology out of the controlled quality room and into the production environment. Manufacturers today depend on immediate feedback, automated decision-making, and continuous process monitoring. Equator-X supports this shift by generating measurement data quickly enough for machine tools to be corrected before errors propagate through production.

A Core Component of Renishaw’s Connected Manufacturing Vision

Equator-X integrates seamlessly into Renishaw’s connected manufacturing ecosystem. It can feed real-time measurement data to Renishaw Central or to any compatible factory monitoring platform. This connectivity allows measurement results to be used for automated offset adjustments, immediate process corrections, and continuous stabilization of machining accuracy.

For manufacturers striving to reduce scrap, shorten feedback loops, and maintain stable production conditions, Equator-X serves as a vital tool for achieving closed-loop manufacturing.