Hexagon Manufacturing Intelligence has recently introduced the Leica Ats600, described as the first direct scanning laser tracker. It can digitize surfaces up to 60 meters away without a reflector, giving metrology-grade results.
Its point-grid density is customizable, letting the operator control the balance between data quality and processing speed.
How to use the ATS600?
The Leica Ats600 is the first-ever direct scanning laser tracker, enabling the digitization of large surfaces and components that are too far away to reach with traditional handheld 3D laser scanners or touch probes. Designed to be part of a metrology-grade quality assurance process, the ATS600 incorporates conventional laser tracker reflector measurement functionality and pioneering contactless scanning functionality, giving users access to data that is impossible with other systems.
The point density of the surface measurement grid the ATS600 produces is fully customizable, allowing users to optimize their workflows between accuracy and speed. In addition, the ATS600 features Leica’s PowerLock function, which allows an interrupted line-of-sight to a measurement target to be automatically re-established.
This functionality reduces the time needed to digitize large parts, allowing users to maximize throughput in their production processes while ensuring quality standards are met and exceeded. With its robust and easy-to-use design, the ATS600 offers a powerful solution for industrial measurement applications.
Getting started with the ATS600
Designed for speed, the Leica Ats600 offers as much accuracy as targeted metrology applications require. Surfaces that would previously have taken hours to scan manually are digitized in minutes, and even difficult-to-reach areas can be measured without the need for tracker repositioning.
Hexagon Manufacturing Intelligence develops and maintains the Leica Absolute Tracker series of industrial laser trackers alongside other industrial measurement products such as industrial theodolites and laser stations. Martin explains that laser tracker technology has moved beyond the traditional aerospace and automotive markets into other sectors, such as railcar build inspection, where non-contact direct scanning accelerates the performance and stability of massive steel weldments.
The ATS600 is the first-ever laser tracker capable of direct scanning, which allows it to locate a point in 3D coordinate space either with or without a reflector. This is achieved by sequentially measuring a user-definable grid of points across the target measurement surface, with the operator able to control the point density to optimize measurement usability and precision.
Using the ATS600 with SFx
The Leica Ats600 is fully compatible with Hexagon’s industry-leading asset management platform, SFx | Asset Management, providing complete transparency of measurement performance across your entire factory. SFx | Asset Management is optimized for laser tracker-based systems and provides a clear view of system health and overall performance.
Built on the established Wave-Form Digitiser technology, the ATS600 uses the first ever Scanning ADM to accurately locate a point in 3D coordinate space either with or without a reflector – providing standard laser tracker single-point measurements alongside its unique ability to digitize a surface from up to 60 meters away without a target at the measurement point. The point density of the surface measurement grid the ATS600 produces is also user-configurable, giving operators complete control to find the perfect balance between data quality and process speed.
