Laser tracker

The accuracy of laser trackers is of the order of 0.025 mm over a distance of several metres.

The technician places the target against the object and triggers measurements to be taken at selected points, sometimes by a remote control device.

Measurements can be imported into different types of software to plot the points or to calculate deviation from the correct position.

One type of target in common use is called a spherically mounted retroreflector (SMR),[5] which resembles a ball bearing with mirrored surfaces cut into it.

[6] The first laser tracker was invented in 1987 by Dr. Kam Lau, CEO of API (Automated Precision, Inc.) while at NIST[7] and made commercially available by API Metrology in 1988 with its first production unit being made available to Boeing under a 9-month lease agreement.