Re: [CAD_CAM_EDM_DRO] Re: Digitizers, Renishaw

>> Wouldn't it be cool if someone could come up with a really tiny side
>> scanning radar system that would work on these little machines. All

>> need to do is runa a single pass across the part from above and the
>> sensor(s) would be able to detect all the minute variations of the part.
>> Then all, you'd need is to covert the image into 3D, import it to Rhino

>> something other program to build an .stl, .dxf or whatever file and then
>> send that to your software used for generating the gcode.
>
>Radar clearly won't work for this, as the waves are WAY too big.
>You can't even measure a swimming pool with conventional radar
>(10 GHz and under) as that is only a few wavelengths wide.
>
>Light, however, is a pretty good wavelength. Lasers produce coherent
>waves, which may not be necessary for this purpose. but, they are
>also bright and collimate easily. if you pulled the rotating mirror
>assembly out of a laser printer, used a 5 mW 650 nM wavelength
>laser and mounted it all on a carriage that could traverse vertically
>while the mirror swept the beam horizontally, you could do a pretty good
>job. You could have a camera that picks up the point where the laser
>hits the part, and solve the geometry pretty easily with one beam
>hitting one point and showing up at one point on a camera.
>
>Jon