(Taylor Hobson: West Chicago, IL) -- Taylor Hobson, a global leader in ultraprecision measurement instrumentation, plans to unveil the latest addition to its line of autocollimators at the International Manufacturing Technology Show (IMTS) at Chicago’s McCormick Place, Sept. 10–15, 2012.

Used extensively in workshops, tool rooms, inspection departments, and quality control laboratories worldwide, Taylor Hobson autocollimators are highly sensitive optical instruments designed to accurately measure extremely small linear and angular displacements, squareness, twist, and parallelism. The autocollimators range from the simple, easy-to-use TA51 visual autocollimator to the Ultra Series dual-axis, digital autocollimator that incorporates the latest charge coupled device (CCD) technology and optical analysis software.

The most common application for the Ultra Series is simultaneous, two-axis straightness measurement of machine tool slides. The device automatically measures both X and Y directions at each measurement position along a slideway. A typical 10-m slide can be checked in less than five minutes, a considerable reduction in time vs. more conventional methods.

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