In motorsports, a measurement system must be able to provide accurate information about the condition of a race vehicle very quickly so that engineering teams can optimize both their designs and assemblies.
Whether assessments are conducted in the factory during the pre-season or directly in the pit lane at the racetrack, the power of the measurement system is crucial to guarantee highly accurate vehicle measurements and comply with race regulations.
Designers and quality control experts begin fine-tuning their race cars during the pre-season. For this purpose, the complete vehicle is usually measured from the inside and out.
BMW Motorsport, located in Munich, chose the fourth generation of Creaform’s MetraSCAN 3D scanner as well as the HandyPROBE with the dual-camera sensor C-Track to conduct its vehicle inspections. The new generation of C-Track features built-in photogrammetry, which allows a target model to be easily acquired at the highest volumetric accuracy without the need for add-on systems.
The MetraSCAN BLACK | Elite is the leading metrology-grade 3D scanner and was perfect for BMW Motorsport’s needs. Thanks to its dynamic referencing, the vehicle and measuring system can be moved easily during the scanning process. Vibrations or leapfrogging issues do not impact measurement accuracy or reliability. With its 30 blue laser lines, the MetraSCAN 3D quickly detects all surfaces and generates high-resolution results, including on glossy finishes. What’s more: chalk spray is not needed—even with black paint or chrome under sunlight.
In a second step, the HandyPROBE tactile coordinate measurement system is used to capture 3D measurements of the vehicles with high single-point accuracy. The HandyPROBE is ideal for easily measuring geometric features on parts of any size directly on the production floor without a physical connection between the probe and the C-Track, ensuring maximum adaptability.
The recorded data can be evaluated in any quality control software. Creaform offers VXelements software with the VXscan module for this purpose. It can also be keyed and scanned directly into leading measurement software, such as PolyWorks or Metrolog.
File size is often an issue in complete vehicle measurement in motorsports. “We recommend the Smart Resolution feature in VXinspect to address file size challenges. The user is guided and given visual feedback on whether they have collected enough data for their resolution settings. In addition, the function offers Adaptive Meshing, which means that the resolution is intelligently increased in the case of curvatures,” said Harald Ferge, Account Manager at Creaform.
The combination of MetraSCAN BLACK | Elite, coupled with HandyPROBE, C-Track and the VXelements software, offers a comprehensive solution for all measurement tasks for complete vehicle measurement that can be used regardless of location.
