(HEIDENHAIN Corp.: Schaumburg, IL) -- The conditions surrounding production-environment metrology place special demands on position measuring systems used for workpiece inspection. The principle of inductive systems involves disadvantages such as temperature sensitivity or nonlinear behavior. A length gauge recently developed by HEIDENHAIN now combines the benefits of incremental optical devices and absolute-measured value acquisition. Its advantages over previous position measuring systems make it an useful alternative for shop-floor length measurement.

The requirements for quality, precision, and function of products and their components exercise increasing influence on their manufacture. To fulfill these requirements and ensure economic production, more effort must invested in monitoring the manufacturing process to precisely measure tolerances and deviations from the nominal condition and then correct them.

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