Fraunhofer Institute for Applied Solid State Physics IAF
Modern production technologies, which make it possible to manufacture more and more individual products in ever shorter cycle times, require 100% inspection in or near the line, and this quickly, highly automated and over the entire surface of the object. New, optical measuring methods are increasingly gaining acceptance in industry. These systems are still limited by the accuracy with which two adjacent data points can be identified.
The key to the breakthrough of digital holography lies in the laser light source required for measurement. It must be possible to switch between different wavelengths very precisely and quickly.
MIAME is developing the world's first optical coordinate measuring machine for fast, full-surface measurement of complex-shaped, large objects with sub-micron accuracy. The central component is a completely new light source based on whispering gallery mode resonators, which allows reproducible, controlled tuning of the emitted wavelength in the range of several 100 GHz. This will enable a self-configuring, digital-holographic sensor system which - operated in a multi-axis handling system - can acquire up to 500 million 3D points per second with a single-point accuracy better than 0.1 μm at an accuracy range of up to 1000 mm.