Arm-free probe tool for quality inspection

 Quality control (QC) operators and managers in MENA who are more familiar with mechanical technologies, must be convinced that optical technologies are at least as accurate as other mechanical technologies being used in QC.
 However, there are limitations with all optical technologies--it's not possible to measure directly behind something as lines of sight must be cleared. Operators and managers are looking for an optical technology that can measure and reach the highest achievable accuracy in shop floor conditions, a system that is able to track the part and the probe at the same time.
 Creaform developed HandyPROBE, a handheld, armless probing device with a wireless data-transmission process that allows the user to move freely around a part. Its portability makes it possible to inspect or reverse engineer simple parts to complex assemblies, with precision--whether employed in a lab, on the shop floor or off-site.
 HandyPROBE is used the same way as other portable CMM or manual CMM. Points are taken using the probe and the 3-D coordinates of these points are used by the software to compute the parameters of geometric entities--the centre and diameter of holes, planarity, angles--and compares these parameters to the theoretical values coming from blue prints or CAD files.
 The performance of HandyPROBE in less-than-ideal conditions is also helped along by the fact that the HandyPROBE does not require a rigid set up. "Vibrations coming from trucks, moving cranes or machining centers, for instance, have no impact on the accuracy of the measurement, which is quite a revolution in the field of QC. Arms, just as mechanical technologies, need a rigid setup to provide a good accuracy in a factory environment.

Development
The HandyPROBE is the results of more than 20 years of development and innovation at Creaform and international research centres. At first, the idea was to take accurate 3-D measurements where it was not possible to setup mechanical CMM. The challenge was to use only video cameras to make the measurement. Luckily, photogrammetry had already been invented, and it made it possible to take such measurement using an argentic camera. It was possible to reach the necessary accuracy, but the process was very slow.

 The true innovation of the HandyPROBE is related to the combination of video camera, advanced image processing software and optical triangulation techniques, like photogrammetry, in a fully-integrated product. One of the main challenges in developing the HandyPROBE was to reach the level of accuracy required for QC applications.
At the same time, computers were becoming more and more powerful and image-processing techniques were making huge progress. The way has paved the way for the development of an optical portable CMM. Development started in the 1990s in research centres in France and Canada and a first generation of portable optical CMM was released in 2005 by the French company ActiCM, which was later acquired by Creaform in 2008. The first version of the HandyPROBE, taking advantage of all the innovative knowledge developed by Creaform for the Handyscan 3-D lineup, was released in 2009.

New version
The new version presented today shows smoothed out and sophisticated lines. The sturdier and slimmer device also shed a little more than 0.5kg in the process, and now offers increased reliability. These changes are part of the continuous improvement program implemented by the company to ensure that it fine tunes its technologies so as to keep the lead in portable 3D optical measurement technologies and strengthen its position of developer and manufacturer of premium quality metrology and quality control devices.