Bruker Alicona presents innovations at Control 2024

After two years of research and development, the time has finally come: the FocusX, the new addition to the Bruker Alicona measurement technology family, can be tested live for the first time at Control 2024. For users, the Advanced Focus-Variation technology revolutionizes precision measurement. It combines the functionalities of a roughness measuring machine and a coordinate measuring machine. In other words, one device for all measuring tasks. Components with steep flanks, different reflection properties and structured roughness can be displayed and measured in high resolution. But that's not all: in addition to the Advanced Focus variation, the "Vertical Focus Probing" technology is also available for the FocusX, which increases the maximum measurable flank angle to over 90°. The developers of the Austrian measurement technology manufacturer have succeeded in positioning the FocusX in a price class in which no other measuring device with similar precision features can compete. In doing so, Bruker Alicona wants to dispel the myth that optical 3D measurement technology is more expensive than tactile methods. In addition to the price issue, the focus at this year's Control will also be on the user-friendliness of the systems. And this is where the FocusX scores particularly well with a new software feature: One Click Roughness. Experience over the last few decades has shown that roughness measurement in particular is perceived by users as complicated and restrictive. And "One Click Roughness" is just as simple as it sounds. With just a single click, the FocusX delivers ISO-compliant profile roughness values, with the minimum measurable roughness being 0.06 μm.

Another innovation that Bruker Alicona will be presenting at Control 2024 is Round Tool Alignment. This is a software feature that takes automation in the field of round tools to a whole new level. The operator plans the interesting measuring positions for edge rounding directly on the CAD of the milling cutter or drill. The next step is to clamp the tool and go for the measurement. An automated routine of the sensor recognizes the orientation of the tool and aligns it with the CAD data. "We use a unique combination of the optical sensor, the automatic nosepiece and software intelligence to determine the cutting edge of the tool and thus the orientation," explains Reinhard Danzl, Head of Software at Bruker Alicona. The 3D measurements and the evaluation of the edge rounding are then carried out fully automatically at the positions defined on the CAD. Both One Click Roughness and Round Tool Alignment are components of Bruker Alicona's MetMaX software, version 4.0 of which will be presented for the first time at Control. Particularly noteworthy is the combination of hardware and software, which makes Bruker Alicona's measurement technology so easy to understand and, above all, independent of other products. In addition to the FocusX, Bruker Alicona also has the μCMM with Pick and Place, InfiniteFocus G6 and SL systems and the Edgemaster in its luggage. Bruker Alicona's measurement technology can be found at Control in Hall 10 / Stand 1203.