VTube-LASER

Connect to a FARO ScanArm, measure tube shapes, and correct benders.

Quick Links

• VTube Software Updates page
• VTube Software Maintenance Plan page
• VTube-LASER Videos page
• Remote Demos - GotoMeeting page
• Exit to the Main VTube-LASER web page
• Also see the VTube-STEP page
  
  

• Executive Summary
• Clients and Applications
• Key VTube-LASER Features
• See the Model-based Definition page to learn how VTube uses this concept and why it is so important.

Partners and Distributors

• FARO - FARO is the world leader in articulated arms. The FARO Americas division is our exclusive VTube-LASER distributor for North and South America. Other divisions of FARO also sell VTube-LASER as non-exclusive distributors.
• Horn Machine Tools - HMT Benders and CSM Benders
• UNISON - All electric benders from the UK
• SMI- Italian line of Silver benders
• CRIPPA - Italian benders

Executive Summary

VTube-LASER uses the laser scanner and/or ball probe to: Measure tube, pipe, and wire shapes Qualify the shape or path of the part based on centerline tolerances Correct bending machines Reverse-engineer existing parts Print reports Quickly import and export tube data from other software Remove the need for tube fixtures and gauges to qualify parts. Example VTube-LASER Clients and Applications Airlines VTube-LASER is used by British Airways to measure tube from planes for retrofit. See the FARO blog for details of the British Airways application. VTube-LASER is also used at US-based airlines for the same purpose. Aerospace VTube-LASER is used to inspect tubes for military drones. The tubes are aluminum, titanium, or inconel. Sometimes these tubes are longer than the reach of the arm, so this customer uses the VTube-LASER Leapfrog capability. Excavators VTube-LASER is used to check the hydraulic lines for excavators. The tubes usually have baked-on yellow or black paint. Truck Frames VTube-LASER is used to measure pre-hydroformed truck frames to adjust benders so that the pipe fits into pre-crush presses. Truck Fuel and Brake Lines VTube-LASER is used to measure tube for the large truck industry. This customer replaced a MM5000 measuring center with a FARO-VTube-LASER system to adjust a bank of benders that are connected directly to VTube-LASER. Mining VTube-LASER measures tubes for the mining industry. This customer measures very long large diameter pipe on the shop floor. Undersea Oil VTube-LASER is used to measure tubing that surrounds undersea oil caps with hundreds of hydraulic lines.

Some Key Features of VTube-LASER

Benefit 1 - Super Quick Project Setup Other measurement programs are often more generic in their approach to geometry. In order to measure a tube, it is necessary to build up individual elements and create a script for the process. Because VTube assumes that you will be measuring a tube shape, the project setup is very quick and easy - saving hundreds of steps required in other programs.

Benefit 2 - Built-in Automated Process for Measuring Tubes You don't have to guess at the order of the steps to measure a tube. When you measure a tube with VTube, the methods for gathering the information and calculating the centerline, intersection points, and bend data are preprogrammed as a series of consistent steps that never change and never have to be scripted. VTube knows what you should give it, and it will always request that data in order using the Measure a Tube control window.

Benefit 3 - Built in Feedback to Increase Confidence in the Data VTube-LASER has special procedures that help anticipate the level of confidence you will have in the incoming data. There are series of crosschecks just for measuring tubing, both mathematical and on-screen, that allow users to know if the data is good. For example, the Cylinder Fit Data window shows the accuracy of the centerline calculated from cylinder points by reporting the X and Y wobble deviations.

Benefit 4 - Built-in Bender Correction VTube-LASER knows how to correct benders - and has special menus and procedures for doing that well. See a list of benders for communication

Tutorials and Information

BENDERLINK: Linking to Benders for Bender Setup and Corrections

• Read about VTube-LASER Bender Corrections in general
• About VTube Communication for Robomac Wire-form Benders
• See Eaton Leonard Lightspeed Communications Setup
• About VTube Communication for Winton Benders
• About BendPro Setup for Communications
• How to Setup VTube for Supravision Network Communication
• Read about VTube Communication with YLM Benders
• How we connect VTube-LASER to Eaton Leonard Benders - Premier,EL-2000, and VE-LOG
• Damping Bender Corrections with VTube-LASER
  
  

SOLIDWORKS Related

• Setup of SolidWorks Template File Paths

Performance

• Recommended VTube-LASER Screen Resolution
• Recommended VTube Computer Specification
• How to check OpenGL Drivers versions
• See Measuring Center Accessories for turnkey components recommended
• Ideal Windows Font Size for VTube

Setup

• Recommended VTube-LASER Laser Scanner Settings
• Read about the VTube Language Editor
• How to Import VTube Report Templates
• How to find the VTube Report Template Location
• How VTube Handles Data Storage for Multiple User Logins
• How to Activate the VTube-LASER Hardware Key
• How to Setup VTube-LASER for the Network License Manager
• How to find the VTube Bender Template Location
• How to Setup Reports to Show Bender Plus Adjusted Data
• How to Adjust the VTube License Type in the Config File
• How to Set the Number of Values Beyond the Decimal for VTube
• How to Change the VTube User Interface Language
• How to Change the VTube Default Setup
• How to find the VTube configuration files
• How to BACKUP and RESTORE VTube configuration files
• How to Change the default linear units in VTube

How To Use VTube

• About VTube-STEP and VTube-LASER Project File Compatibility
• How to Create Mirror Image Part
• How to Reverse Engineer with Split Bend (for 180 degree bends)
• About VTube-LASER Leapfrog
• About VTube-LASER Cut Planes
• About Ball Probe Setup
• About the FARO Version 6 Scanner
• About the VTube-LASER Spike Filter
• Read about the VTube-LASER Calibration-Leapfrog-Move Targets
• Read about the VTube-LASER Tube Clamp
• How To Calculate Cut Lengths in VTube
• About VTube Intersection Point Tolerances
• About VTube End Length Offsets
• What are Centerline Tangent Points and Why Are They Important in VTube-LASER?
• Windows Floating Point Setup for VTube
• See VTube Overbend Calculations for Springback
• VTube-LASER - End Scan Diameter Qualification Tolerance
• Read about measuring VTube Rectangular Tubes
• See the list of VTube-LASER Advantages
• How to Measure a short end-straight with a flange
• Explain Sigma as it relates to errors.
• End-Scan Technique Research
• Surface Coating for LASER Scanning
• Technical Document: How to Measure Copper Tube with a FARO Edge Scanner
• How to Convert from TubeCalc Elongation to VTube Elongation
• VTube-LASER Model Colors
• Best-Fit Alignment Versus Hard-Point Alignment
• How to Measure Large Diameter Tubing
• How to Import the Split Bend with STEP Version of "VTube-LASER Demo CAD Model 2"
• See how CAM2 can work with VTube-LASER to measure components around tube shapes. See FARO CAM2

VTube Related Program IDs Used for Licensing

PID	Program Licensed
354	VTube-STEP
356	VTube-LASER
360	VTube-LASER Programmer

Other Pages

• VTube-LASER Home Web Page
• Read the VTube Software License
• Recommended CAD Conversion Tools
• Measuring Center Accessories