The Siempelkamp Foundry recently unveiled the world’s largest robotic 3D scanning measuring cell.
The new robot measuring cell is the special pride of the world’s leading hand-casting manufacturer. It allows for the fully automated, non-contact and reliable 3D scanned inspection of finished components up to a weight of 240 tons. Even though the robot measuring cell is nearly as large as a tennis court, its measuring accuracy is less than 0.6 mm due to the generation of up to twelve million 3D measuring points.
“With this unique and highly innovative technology we are further advancing our comprehensive digitalization strategy. We are now able to track the entire component geometry of our products, from model to casting mould, all the way to the finished casting, in a digitised manner,” explains Dr. Georg Geier, the foundry’s managing director. “This system is the most advanced and powerful of its kind and helps us further optimise our casting and production processes through digital technology.”
The foundry’s customers also benefit from the new metrology: owing to the millimetre-accurate inspection of components which are several meters long and weigh several tons, the quality of the components increases in terms of sustainability and efficiency in processing and operation.
The measuring cell was produced by the metrology specialist ZEISS Industrial Quality Solutions and has a measuring field of 2,000 mm by 1,600 mm. Ground-breaking technology enables the system to scan complex components, such as ship engines, grounding bowls, or presses in no time at all.
With a total of two measuring rooms, the automation system provides maximum flexibility as well as the greatest possible efficiency. The use of the most advanced robot technology allows for the fast and user-friendly production and analysis of a complete ‘digital twin’ of the inspected component on the screen.
In the future not only the finished cast components of the Siempelkamp Foundry will be inspected to comply with the highest quality standards. The foundry will be employing 3D metrology at the beginning of the process chain.
A handheld laser scanner will check the dimensions and geometries of wooden models that constitute a positive of the finished cast component with great precision to avoid errors at the very start of component production. In this way, target and actual values can be mapped very transparently for customers in the early stage of the production processes. This opens up previously unimagined potentials in terms of construction precision.
The entire component development can also be seamlessly tracked throughout the entire process in the foundry. The foundry’s customers benefit from a wealth of information gained through the digital processes concerning the manufactured components, which can serve them in their further use.
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