Design Engineering – May-June 2019

May/June | 2019 http://www.design-engineering.com

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MEET YOUR NIGHT SHIFT

M EDIA

CIAL

TORONTO | MONTRÉAL | VANCOUVER | SEWCAN.CA

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portable technologies. The company needs

were clear: An intuitive and truly portable

device that could scan various surfaces

(such as carbon fiber, epoxy, virtual mir-

rors, polished aluminum) with simple-to-

use software.

After a few experiments, Smith real-

ized that the two major portable arms on

the market had the same limitations: They

were still too difficult to move and oper-

ate around an object. He then considered

an optical solution, the Creaform

MetraSCAN 3D and HandyPROBE,

which quickly proved to resolve all the

issues previously experienced with mea-

suring arms.

Smith had already used a MetraSCAN

3D version at a previous company, which

made him familiar with the benefits of

Creaform products. “These solutions had

superior scan speed, maneuverability and

consistent accuracy,” he noted, adding

that the latest developments of the device

resulted in exceptional scan quality even

with mirror-like surfaces and carbon

parts.

ACE Technology purchased a 3D scan-

ning system comprising a MetraSCAN

3D, a HandyPROBE as well as the VXele-

ments software. According to Smith, the

ease-of-use of this system quickly became

a major selling point for the company.

“Our core business is product design

and manufacturing,” he said. “We didn’t

want to dedicate a specialist to this equip-

ment. Therefore, we were seeking a prod-

uct with a relatively friendly learning

Creaform’s handheld and wireless HandyPROBE dynamically reports a Cartesian co-ordinates of

a component or tool datum, which can then be used to build tools, set nominal positions and

report surface deviations to a CAD file.

3DScanning

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