NFM Inc, Santa Monica, CA, USA / Phone:(310) 564-6412 / FAX:(310) 802-3917 / www.nfminc.com

Overview of M2D Line Scanners

PRINCIPLE OF OPERATION

The Scanner M2D provides 2-dimensional measuring of profile heights. A laser line is projected on the target and the distance to various points on the object is measured by triangulation. The Scanner is suitable for the geometric profile recognition and distance measurement. The height (Z-axis) over a distance (X-axis) is measured.

The scanner features a very compact construction since all the linearization and distance translation is already handled completely in the scanner itself through an integrated intelligent hardware.

DATA OUTPUTS AND SYSTEM INTEGRATION

M2D was designed to suite the various needs of interfacing. M2D delivers the data in some analog and digital formats. An important feature of this series is the possibility to integrate a PC104 type PC-board right within the Scanner itself. With this, the customer can have the evaluation of the sensor's signals to be processed in-place. External, bulky , expensive and sensitive PC's or other Computers are not needed in most cases.

Available outputs of object profile are:

Analog
· X- and Z-axis 0...10 V
· X- and Z-axis 4...20mA (optional)

Digital
· EPP/PS2 Port (bi-directional printer interface or other 8 bit I/O)
· RS485 (for noisy environment)
· PC104 (for piggy-back PC inside the case)

The standard interface is the (parallel) printer port of a PC. This Port must be at least PS2 compatible. Most PC's nowadays support also the EPP mode, which allows the Scanner to transmit its data to the PC much faster. Due to the basic handshake, any 8-Bit input port may be used to interface this Scanner to virtually any µController, Mac or VME-Computer.

TYPICAL APPLICATIONS

Precision guidance of handling-robots
· disc mounting
· parts handling
· positioning of car-bodies
· gap adjustment

welding
· joint-guidance
· seam tracking
· quality control

wood
· tongue profile
· groove profile
· radius dimensioning

fast measurement of:
· quickly moving objects
· gaps
· edges
· width and depth of slots
· 3D shapes
· SMD components in the production process
· collision avoidance
· object presence and positioning

OPERATING MODES

This scanner has various operating modes to conform to different needs. The scanner can be programmed (by Dip-switches or via software) to work with different shutter speeds, or different modes whenever an external trigger signal is applied.
· Trigger mode
· Trigger Source
· Frame Rate
· Shutter Speed Adjustment
· and more...

SOFTWARE

A basic software package is delivered with the M2D scanner. Following modules are included:
1. Windows- and DOS-software to read in the data and for scanner control
2. Dynamic Link Libraries (DLL) for Win 3.1x and Win 95/NT (for windows NT a special Kernel mode device driver is required, which enables direct access to the interfaces.
The DLL's provide the following functions:

· data read in
· manual scanner configuration
· filtering data

In addition to the delivered basic software package additional software modules for data preparation and evaluation are available.

General data evaluation for :
· edge recognition
· gap measurement
· object recognition and measurement

We develop custom software and provide applications specific solutions. Software can be installed on an optional integrated PC104 -PC.