DotScan

[[Da...]]

Those that use the DotScan sensor, do you find it useful? What kind of applications do you use it for? Any advantages or disadvantages compared to tactile probing?

[[Cl...]]

We use the DotScan on our 543 O-inspect. We have a long cylindrical part chucked in the vertical rotary. There is some very complex geometry at the tip of the part that won't allow for tactile due to the part bending and the very small size. The point density and speed of the DotScan cannot be matched. I doubt that we could measure this part without it.

[[Da...]]

I have one, and it has been useful occasionally. But I have not spent a ton of time using it, so take my opinion with a little caution.

There are some limitations.
-The surface needs to be within 17 degrees of normal to the beam.
-I found that getting good results requires that the part have good surface finish - but not polished. Polished is challenging.
-metal works much better than plastic. Plastic always seems to give "noisy" data.

Advantages: it is fast, way faster than tactile probing. It doesn't touch the part, so it can't deflect, even if the part is very flexible. You can also probe very small features, smaller than tactile probing would allow.

[[Da...]]

Thanks for the feedback! Much appreciated.

[[Cl...]]

BTW, we also have (on a different machine) the older version of the
DotScan (called CFS), which is not compatible with the newer DotScan.
So a program written with the CFS will not work with the DotScan.