TUBE STATION

Tube measurement, gauging and production with the Hexagon Absolute Arm

Available as a turnkey hardware and software package, or as an upgrade to existing portable measuring arm units, the system uses the powerful Hexagon Absolute Arm portable coordinate measuring machine (CMM) alongside specially designed non-contact tube probes and the state-of-the-art TubeShaper software to accelerate the measurement and inspection process, with the absolute minimum of intervention.

Hexagon Metrology’s Tube Inspection System is a total solution for all measurement needs associated with tube, pipe and wire production:

  • Tube productionTube and pipe inspection
  • Reverse engineering of tubes and tube assemblies
  • Tube gauging

The easy-to-handle Hexagon Absolute Arm uses non-contact tube probes, available in six different sizes, to measure tube length and bend angles as XYZ, LRA or YBC values, while standard touch probes ensure that full tube assemblies – including any welded fixtures like brackets or hangers – can be measured.

The state-of-the-art TubeShaper measurement software has been designed specifically for tube inspection with the Hexagon Absolute Arm, and represents a totally new beginning in software use in this sector. Using a completely original interface, TubeShaper has been designed with some of the world’s leading tube producers to create a product that brings you valuable measurement and process information as simply and quickly as possible.

CAD models of tubes and tube assemblies can be imported directly, while interfaces to CNC tube bending machines ensure real-time correctional data is transmitted directly to the bending machine itself. Measurement plans can be created offline prior to measurement, or even automatically during first-part inspection. These routines can be recalled and run at any time, meaning that batch measurement is both fast and easy. All measurement data can also be exported in IGES file format for reverse engineering applications, without the need to manage complex point cloud data.

Tube measurement has never been so complete.

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