New Starrett Digital Comparator

Starrett Kinemetric Engineering Inc., a subsidiary of the L.S. Starrett Co., announces its all new HDV300 digital comparator that combines the features of a vision metrology system and an optical comparator. It includes a 5-megapixel digital video camera and is available with a choice of seven telecentric lenses that provide micron-level resolution and optical distortion down to 0.001% for accurate field-of-view (FOV) measurements.

With the HDV300, field-of-view measurements can encompass an entire small part up to 2.47” x 1.85” or a feature of a larger part. Field-of-view measurements can be seamlessly integrated with stage motion to measure larger parts. The HDV300 is also available with 6.5:1 zoom optics. The telecentric optics and zoom optics are mounted by means of a bayonet fitting and can be changed by the user in a matter of seconds.

The HDV300 comes with MetLogix M3 touch screen software with the new M3 DXF/FOV option pack. With this software, the HDV300 can import DXF CAD files over a network and make automatic 2D “go-no-go” comparisons to an engineering design by using video edge detection (VED), with no need for the Mylar overlays that would be required with an optical comparator. 2D geometric functions include points, lines, circles, arcs, rectangles, distances, slots, angles, and skew.

The HDV300 is a rugged bench top machine that is equally at home in a quality lab or on the shop floor. The housing is built of welded steel like other Starrett comparators. The workstage is the same as for Starrett’s HB400 top-of-the-line horizontal projection optical comparator, which features a 21” x 5” top plate, 12” x 6” of travel, and 110 lb workload capacity. Linear glass scales provide 0.00002” (0.5 µm) of resolution to read stage motion. The computer and M3 controller are located inside the comparator housing, resulting in a clean design with minimal external wiring. The housing is maintained at a positive pressure to prevent the entry of oil and dust particles in machine shop environments.

The main operator interface is a 24” touch screen video monitor that displays a live video image of the part in addition to geometry tools and digital readings. The part image can be resized using pan and zoom and measurements are taken by simply tapping a feature on the screen. An environmentally sealed keyboard and a pointing device are also provided but are normally only used to enter file names.