There is a 6-axis model for touch probing and a 7-axis version for multi-sensor metrology including laser scanning. Both are available in two accuracy levels and the four products come in six sizes with a reach of up to 5m. International sales and support is through the company's offices in the UK, North America, Belgium, France, Germany, Italy and China as well as via a worldwide distributor network.
Marketing manager Dave Robinson, who is based at the firm's CMM factory near Derby, England commented: "The solutions we can offer customers is greatly expanded by the new range of arms. Their portability especially well suits them to line-side measuring and inspection in factories, while their compactness makes them ideal for use on machine tools for in-process quality control.
"The platform is also particularly appropriate for reverse engineering applications, virtual assembly design environments and 3D modelling. Moreover, if very high precision tolerances do not have to be measured, a portable arm is a cost-effective way to progress from manual to CNC metrology."
Carbon fibre tubular construction ensures stability under challenging conditions. Infinite rotation and a proprietary counter balance makes manual movements light, which promotes ease of use even when trying to access awkward areas of a component. Wi-Fi connectivity and battery power allow completely portable wireless touch probing for maximum flexibility. The arm can be stowed and locked in place between measurements and when it is being relocated. Even the largest FREEDOM arm model weighs less than 11kg, making set-up and repositioning quick and easy.
A notable feature of the arms is the inclusion of absolute rather than incremental rotary encoders to feed back the angular position of every joint to the control software. The equipment may therefore be used immediately on start-up, avoiding the need to calibrate the probe before use every time. This raises productivity, as does the highly repeatable probe connection that allows them to be swapped quickly without interrupting the measuring process to recalibrate. Contributing also to efficiency and convenience is an LCD display with a quick-access menu on the probe wrist, putting the most useful information directly in the hands of the operator during measurement.
A strong line-up of third-party inspection software can be supplied by LK Metrology with its new FREEDOM arms, including InnovMetric's PolyWorks Inspector that has the ability to swap programs seamlessly between portable and static CMM platforms. ArcoCAD metrology software from Metrostaff is also available, as is Nikon Metrology's Focus Inspection for data acquisition and analysis, while the latter's CMM Manager inspection package may be used for touch probing only.
