[Calico]

looking for digitizing coordinate like Microscribe but they only have short arms, I'm looking for longer arm that can reach a car's length at once ?

any website for this company ? no need laser CMM, very costly.

regards
ruddy

[Graham S]

http://www.faro.com/

[HenryCNC]

I know this reply is a few months late, but I'm new

There are a few brands of contact probes - Faro was mentioned above, Romer is another common brand. The larger arms can loose accuracy. One company placed the arm on a linear rail so that it could reach further. You may find used arms around - but make sure to contact the manufacturer to check if all the software licenses are still valid.

Generally, people will just glue a few spheres on the vehicle and measure them; then move the arm to a different position and re-measure the spheres. The sphere centers can be used to transform the different arm positions to a common coordinate system.

Henry

[Calico]

can you explain in drawing about the spheres ?
actually what I'm looking for is Faro 3d digitizer with low price like US$ 7000 or someting.
so far it cost US$ 20.000.

about the sphere looks cheap but is it accurate ? how accurate ?

regards
rud

[HenryCNC]

The spheres are just an easy way to put data from different arm positions into the same space. Don't make fun of my diagram... if you put the arm at position 1 and measure whatever you can reach including the spheres on the hood and body side. Then move to position 2 and measure the same spheres on the body side, etc. I think that most software can handle the sphere to sphere (or point to point) transformation. I believe that Rhino has support for an arm (probably Faro) and you could construct geometry as you go.

I suppose I should have asked this question up front - what are you trying to measure and to what accuracy do you need? Accuracy cost money, but if you really need it then maybe you have to hire somebody to do the measuring instead of purchasing something that will make life difficult. It all depends on your needs.

Henry

[Calico]

well my problem is this,
I would like to make a dashboard from fibre glass.

first I have to digitise the existing dashboard.
my problem is I can't afford buying faro, but microscribe is fine price.

as you know microscribe is short arms, could not reach whole dashboard to digitize.
if I take 2 or 3 takes/position to digitize the dashbord this means accuracy will decrease, not mentionthe error.
correct me if I'm wrong.

regards
ruddy

[HenryCNC]

If you can reach from the left side of the dash to the right side with two positions then I would give it a try. Is there any chance that you could rent one for a day before you buy one?

Here is one idea:
1) remove the seats
2) make some small metal targets about 10mm square with a very small "dimple" in them. Best if the dimple matches the diameter of the probe tip. If you have a 2mm diameter probe, then make the dimple with a 2mm ball end mill.
3) Use a hot-glue gun to attach the targets to the car - instead of spheres
4) The probe tip should rest in the dimple and you can record a point.
5) Put the arm in the center of the car
6) Measure as much as you can; but place 4 targets on the left side and four on the right side. Don't use just three in case one moves or gets measured badly
7) move the arm to the left and to the right
8) use the points measured from the targets to put things together

Also, it is common to need the attachment points for the dash. So you may want to glue some targets onto the glass and any other areas that will not move (center console). Then remove the dash and measure any attachement points and obstructions that will cause you problems. The targets on the glass will help you transform the exterior of the dash into the same coordinate system as the attachment points. You should be able to make a full model from this information.

Did I explain this so it made sense?

[Calico]

yes it make sense but I think microsribe won't reach the dashboard in 2 position.

unfortunately there is no one has microsribe in my country, so sad, but they have for rent the faro arms
it cost very expensive just to rent for one day.

curious if microscribe won't reach dashboard in two position, what if it won't ?
what if I need to mod. bumpers ?
I'm sure it won;t reach in two position, say three then the accuray will go down.

but does anyone try this ?

how accurate ?

it's easier to have money and buy it

regards
ruddy