Warwick Manufacturing Group (WMG) engineers at the University of Warwick have developed and installed a new robotic measuring system capable of accurately and repeatedly measuring large objects on a production line (such as car body-shells) in a fraction of the time traditionally taken to measure them on co-ordinate measuring machines (CMMs).

Installed in WMG’s International Manufacturing Centre, the system comprises a large long-reach robotic arm — supplied by Kuka (www.kuka.com) and mounted on a 5m track — that can be used with various non-contact measurement technologies.

Nikon Metrology’s Laser Radar (www.nikonmetrology.com), which is capable of accuracies better than 0.01mm over distances of several metres, is the first technology to be trialled. Combined with the WMG system, it offers a fast and accurate solution for automotive quality control, whether in a metrology lab or on the production line.

Mark Williams, head of the Product Evaluation Technologies Group at WMG, said: “The scale and flexibility of our new robotic measurement system — housed in the same metrology lab as our benchmark twin-column CMM — gives us a unique capability within a UK university.

"We can not only trial ‘state of the art’ measurement technologies in a real-world application but also verify system performance against what is currently the gold-standard CMM for automotive measurement.

“This means that we can work with our industry research partners to both integrate technologies and trial solutions in a controlled and independent environment, and help them to select the right system for their business.”