ASME B89 Standard Adds Laser Tracker Interim Field-Testing Process

Maintaining confidence in laser tracker and laser radar accuracy took a significant leap forward in recent days with the release of the updated ASME B89.4.19-2021 Standard. The ASME B89 standard defines a simple field test for laser trackers and laser radars that will scrutinize instrument performance versus the manufacturer’s specifications.

Brunson’s KinAiry Field-Testing Solution is the only commercially available system capable of executing this new B89 field check. “Metrologists need to trust their data and they need a way to maintain confidence in their instruments’ performance in the field,” said Mark Meuret, Brunson Instrument Company’s Director of Engineering. “The recent announcement is further validation of KinAiry’s effectiveness in delivering a trustworthy field-test and valid measurement data to the end-user,” he added.

Brunson’s KinAiry supports both the new ASME B89 process as well as the ISO 10360-10-2021 field-testing procedure published in August 2021. The ASME field-testing procedure mirrors the recent ISO standard, and this testing process varies slightly from the earlier NIST field-test. NIST pioneered  the laser tracker field-testing process, first publishing the IR-8016 standard in 2014. Each of these procedures can field-test a laser tracker or laser radar unit in approximately 30 minutes using the KinAiry System.

The KinAiry System features hardware custom-designed for the precise requirements of interim field-testing. The three-piece, easily transportable 2.3-meter reference bar is kinematically mounted at its airy points to provide the required stability.  KinAiry software guides the user through the process, which produces a graph illustrating tracker conformance to manufacturers’ specifications.

Why Is Interim Testing Important?

According to the newly released ASME B89 standard, shipping an instrument, wear and tear from frequent usage, environmental hardships, multiple end-users, and simply the age of the instrument can create internal misalignments that degrade measurement accuracy and challenge the data integrity of past and future measurements.

When the accuracy of a laser tracker diminishes, it can cause serious concerns for the metrologist – leading to bad parts and unhappy customers, time-consuming research to validate past instrument performance data, re-work driving up both labor and material costs, instrument down-time and, potentially, mission failure. Therefore, maintaining confidence in laser tracker and laser radar performance is critical to metrology professionals in the field.

Brunson Instrument Company designs, manufactures, and markets portable measurement and alignment solutions for high-precision industrial applications. The company’s product line includes metrology instrument stands, laser tracker target holders, calibration equipment, optical tooling instruments and scaling artifacts.

For more information: www.brunson.us