Laser trackers and the software that controls them have revolutionized the way metrology data have been taken. With software and hardware advances have come new and better ways to take measurements. One of these advances in metrology software is the ability to measure the angle normal to a mirrored surface with a laser tracker, something which was done with theodolites in the past.

Mirror measurements can be done two ways with laser trackers: indirectly using two measurements of a spherically mounted retroreflector (SMR), and directly by reflecting the laser normal to the mirrored surface. The indirect measurement was studied in a paper published by the CMSC in 2012 (see “Measurement Accuracy of a Mirrored Surface Using a Laser Tracker,” Robert Elliott, 2012).

 …