AICON's automotive tester measures engine movements
-- Test & Measurement World, 9/17/2008 1:00:00 PM
An optical measuring system from AICON 3D Systems, called EngineWatch, acquires engine movements in six degrees of freedom and can be used during a test drive and in a test station. Replacing conventional devices, such as mechanical travel sensors, EngineWatch depicts the position and orientation of measured points with absolute values in the vehicle coordinate system.
With EngineWatch, it is also possible to monitor movements of other relevant parts in the engine bay, for example, movements of the battery box. The noncontact optical measuring system works without a mechanical connection between the sensor and engine block, delivering reliable measurements under extreme dynamic conditions. It works at a measurement frequency of up to 490 Hz and records data for an unlimited period of time.
EngineWatch is built around the TraceCam F high-speed camera. The camera comprises a high-resolution CMOS sensor, integrated flash, and image analysis processor. It also provides shutter speeds of just a few microseconds, necessary for long-duration tests. TraceCam F mounts on a fixture and directly focuses on the engine block. The measuring principle is based on the detection of relative movements of two solid bodies. Reference targets are placed on the engine block and on the car body in a way that the camera will focus all targets at the same time. Setup and calibration of the system takes less than 30 minutes. The position of the camera to the engine block does not need to be stable, as the EngineWatch system recalculates the position continuously using the reference targets.
Digital data from the measured images is transferred to a notebook computer in real time. Measurement results can also be exported to a post-processing software program.
AICON 3D Systems, www.aicon3d.com.
