Micro-Epsilon Holds Precision Measurement Workshop

Precision measurement specialist Micro-Epsilon held the first of a series of new technology workshops in Reading last month. The one-day workshop, which was held at the Holiday Inn, Reading South, on 12 May 2011, attracted more than 40 delegates from a range of industry sectors, including food and beverage, metal processing, automotive, aerospace, defence, power generation, energy management, FMCG and Formula One.

The workshop, entitled 'Non-Contact Measurement Techniques and Best Practices', included both theoretical presentations and practical demonstrations of non-contact displacement and non-contact temperature measurement (infrared) techniques. On the day, delegates were introduced to the four primary non-contact displacement measurement techniques: eddy current, capacitive, laser triangulation and confocal. The objective was to demonstrate the pros and cons of each measuring method to delegates, therefore enabling them to select the most suitable sensor technology for their applications.

Delegates also heard from one of Micro-Epsilon's customers. Andrew Ashton-Smith, project development manager at Stable Micro Systems, gave a presentation on how his company is using Micro-Epsilon's OptoNCDT 1700 laser triangulation sensors in its new Volscan profiler. This special-purpose machine is a bench-top laser-based scanner that measures the volume of bread and other bakery products. The machine provides the rapid, precise, three-dimensional digitisation of products, allowing bakery companies to control and monitor bread-making conditions and ingredient performance.

Presentations from Micro-Epsilon were provided by managing director Chris Jones and sales Director Horst Bathke. In addition, Glenn Wedgbrow, sales manager, gave a presentation on infrared temperature measurement. In the afternoon, delegates were split into groups and given practical demonstrations of the various non-contact measurement techniques using a range of Micro-Epsilon sensors.