Air Bearings Are Critical In CMM And Metrology Applications

Air bearings have played a crucial role in the development and construction of coordinate measuring machines (CMMs) and other metrology tools for decades. Since they are inherently frictionless and highly stable, air bearings play a key role in delivering the precision required in metrology equipment. Performance criteria, such as repeatability and minimized error motions, geometric precision straightness and flatness for linear bearings, and axial and radial runout for rotary bearings, favor air bearings over mechanical ball and roller bearings in applications where the ultimate precision counts. Using high quality standard and custom air bearings designed and manufactured by PI, companies can develop world-class metrology equipment with sub-micron precision.

History

Development of the modern CMM began in the 1960’s, and with the advent of the Renishaw touch-trigger probe in the 1970’s, the industry boomed. The vast majority of CMMs built in the following decades have used air bearings for the guidance of the probe and in many cases to also move the part being measured.

To learn more about the history of the CMM, see:

• http://www.wenzel-cmm.co.uk/history-of-cmm/118
• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coordinate-measuring_machine