Tactile-optical sensors – WFP 2D

The direct optical evaluation of the position of the probe tip makes them the most accurate stylus on the market. As the glass shaft is only used for positioning, the smallest stylus diameters of 20 µm to 500 µm can be realized. The flexurally elastic shaft means that probing forces are negligible (up to < 0.001 N). The world's most successful micro-probe therefore also enables the measurement of sensitive and easily deformable workpieces.

An image processing sensor (a) camera, b) imaging optics) is used to measure the deflection ΔL of the stylus tip d) illuminated by an LED c) when the workpiece e) is moved. In the target deflection, the exact position of the stylus tip is superimposed with the coordinates of the machine's scale systems and stored as measurement points or used for the scanning process. Dual-sphere probes f) achieve a greater probing depth than single-sphere probes g).