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Three dimensional (3D) laser projection is accomplished by steering a single laser beam accurately through a series of specific points in 3D space. The laser beam is directed at a pair of mirrors that are powered by a set of galvanometers computer controlled servo motors which are capable of extremely rapid movement. The effect that is produced is a highly visible, glowing three dimensional template that is used as a location guide during a manufacturing process.
Laser Projection Technologies Inc. manufactures a wide variety of 3D laser projectors that are designed for many different manufacturing and metrology applications. Laser Projection Technologies Inc. 3D laser projectors are primarily used in manufacturing assembly applications where the 3D laser projector produces a glowing template. The 3D laser projected templates are used in manufacturing processes as 3D laser projected assembly templates. Certain models of Laser Projection Technologies Inc. 3D laser projectors have the ability to scan and measure the position of the part that has been placed using the 3D laser template as a guide. From the smallest and fastest 3D laser projection systems to the longest range 3D laser projector on the market, Laser Projection Technologies Inc. has a laser projector product designed to meet the demanding challenges of today's high speed assembly, manufacturing and metrology applications.
Laser Projection Technologies Inc. 3D laser projection systems replace conventional assembly methods and hard manufacturing templates in a wide variety of applications. Laser Projection Technologies, Inc. 3D laser projectors are used for 3D component or part placement, paint masking and templating, vehicle and structural assembly, composite ply layup and core placement where Laser Projection Technologies, Inc. 3D laser projection systems replace either Mylar templates or hard ply alignment tools. Laser Projection Technologies, Inc. 3D laser projection systems are also used for hole drilling, edge of part cutting or trimming, viewing invisible sub-structure on the surface of a part or hidden components in many of today's difficult manufacturing processes. Laser Projection Technologies Inc. 3D laser projection solutions are extensively used throughout the aerospace, automotive, construction equipment, industrial manufacturing, and marine industries. One of the primary design goals at Laser Projection Technologies Inc. is to design and manufacture 3D laser projection and 3D laser metrology systems that deliver extremely high accuracy and speed within robust industrial enclosures that can be used in a industrial manufacturing environments.
The LPT1 is the most accurate and longest range 3D laser projector in the world and is protected by United States patent number 6,547,397 and various European patents. Since its original introduction in 2000 the LPT1 long range 3D laser projector was the first 3D laser projector in production to utilize a modulated, pumped, solid state Nd:YAG frequency doubled laser producing a 532 nm green laser beam with internal power feedback and power control to maintain the laser power level at or below 5 mw. All other laser projector manufacturers at the time of the release of the LPT1 were using a much higher power continuous wave (CW) laser source (above 5mw) with the laser beam modulation and laser projector output power provided by an inefficient acousto-optic modulator (AOM). As none of the Laser Projection Technologies Inc. laser projector designs incorporated the use of an AOM for laser beam modulation or laser projector power control a modulated, pumped, solid state Nd:YAG frequency doubled laser producing a 532 nm green laser beam with internal power feedback and power control has been incorporated into the design of all LPT laser projectors since the year 2000. This advanced laser with internal power control has been incorporated into all models of Laser Projection Technologies Inc. standard 3D laser projectors to meet the requirements of the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA), Center of Devices and Radiological Health (CDRH) Class 3a and the European International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC) 60825-1 Class 3R laser safety regulations and requirements. Since the introduction of the LPT1 every Laser Projection Technologies Inc. 3D laser projector has been designed in a sealed and thermally controlled enclosure. These laser projector enclosures provides Laser Projection Technologies Inc. customers with unmatched performance and reliability with a rugged, sealed and temperature controlled industrial enclosure. The LPT1 is also enjoys the largest install base of sealed 3D laser projectors by any manufacturer of similar types of laser projection equipment in the world. With hundreds of successful customers worldwide this system enjoys the position of 'Best In Class' 3D laser projector in the world.
In April of 2003 Laser Projection Technologies Inc. introduced the LPT5 medium range 3D laser projector at the JEC show in Paris. This innovative 3D laser projector design offered a unique enclosure with the optics and electronics separated by a centrally located active thermal cooling chamber tunnel (advertised as an active thermal cooling matrix). This cooling chamber tunnel is actively cooled by a series of electric fans that are located at one end of the cooling chamber tunnel to remove the heat generated by the internal power supplies and motor controllers of the laser projector. This cooling system keeps the laser projector at nominal operating temperatures and keeps the heat generated by the electronics from disturbing the optics located within the projector even in harsh or higher temperature shop environments. This advanced Laser Projection Technologies Inc. design passes ambient shop air across aluminum fins that are enclosed within the cooling chamber tunnel thus exchanging the heat generated by the electronics within the laser projector directly to the shop air that is exhausted out of the cooling chamber tunnel directly to the shop lowering the internal temperature of the laser projector. The internal power supplies and other heat generating components are mounted directly to the opposite side of the aluminum extrusion that comprise the fins assembly within the cooling chamber tunnel. This unique Laser Projection Technologies Inc. design utilizes no filters of any kind and can be used in extremely harsh shop environments. Since the introduction of the LPT5 3D laser projector many competitors have tried to imitate this innovative design but the original concept, design and implementation was accomplished by Laser Projection Technologies Inc. in early 2003. Beware of copycat imitators, since the summer of 2003 Laser Projection Technologies Inc. has delivered hundreds of LPT5 laser projectors to an extremely large customer base across the world.
The Laser Projection Technologies Inc. laser projectors LPT1, LPT5 and the LPT10 3D laser projectors are all designed with sealed temperature controlled enclosures and contain not only an embedded computer for system control but a high level main system computer that runs a Windows operating system for overall 3D laser projector system and process functionality. All Laser Projection Technologies Inc. 3D laser projectors are provided to customers with the RayTracer Software Suite with each projector at no additional charge.
With the introduction of the LPT100 (patent pending) Laser Radar Projector Laser Projection Technologies Inc. has changed the world of three dimensional laser guided assembly and measurement. By combining the feature detection capabilities of the LPT10 3D laser projector with feature detection (United States patent number 7,306,339) with a extremely accurate laser radar range detection system this leading edge device is positioned to drive advanced manufacturing and measurement applications well into the 21st century.
Embedded within the LPT100 is a fully functional highly accurate laser radar which is capable of scanning 3D objects and returning a high density point cloud that is an accurate representation of that object. Using its unique intensity based detection system the LPT100 can also detect and measure features of an object with respect to a model to determine the position or location of each feature. The LPT100 Laser Radar Projector will also produce single point measurement within the field of view. Feature detection and measurement can be set up as an automated inspection routine at each step in the manufacturing process. The operator is guided through the manufacturing process by the means of a glowing laser templates. Each 3D laser template is a unique 3D wire frame (a type of 3D hologram) of the items or features to be assembled (Bracket Placement). Once the items or features are assembled the LPT100 can scan and measure the assembled components and then compare them to a model to determine if they have been assembled correctly.
When used as a Laser Radar scanning device the LPT100 can collect 100,000 points per second at an accuracy of +/- 0.005". Each scan makes up a point cloud that defines the article that is scanned. There is no other device available anywhere in the world that can achieve a scan at this rate with this level of accuracy. LPT100 Laser Radar Projector can be operated by any of the commonly used Metrology Software Programs that are in use today to collect and analyze the point cloud data obtained by the LPT100 Laser Radar Projector. Once the scan data is obtained by LPT100 Laser Radar Projector the point cloud can be surfaced and fit to a design model to obtain a deviation point cloud. This deviation point cloud can then be fed into the Laser Projection Technologies Inc. patented RayTracer TOPO Software which can produce perimeter boundary lines that define areas where the as built product deviates from the design master. The LPT100 Laser Radar Projector can then project the areas where the that are out of tolerance directly onto the surface of the as built product.
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March 1, 2010