Fraunhofer ILT develops compact laser scanners for industrial applications

Developed by Fraunhofer ILT, the compact galvanoscope laser scanner is designed to accommodate new applications in 3D printing, micromachining or medical technology.

According to the designers, the scanner occupies only 50 cubic centimeters and its architecture combines the scanner driver and mirror substrate, saving up to 90 percent of normal installation space.

"A commercially available vibroscope scanner with a 10 mm aperture requires 10 to 50 times the mounting space of a planar vibroscope scanner," commented Fraunhofer ILT.

"As the space shrinks, so does the weight of the scanner unit, an advantage that opens up many new applications and productivity opportunities."

In particular, the weight and volume reduction can help integrate new scanners into pastors that manually guide laser processes in medical technology and laser drilling processes without sacrificing accuracy or dynamics. The device is also suitable for all handheld laser marking and engraving systems.

The new Fraunhofer ILT design builds on the research center's work on a vivoscope scanner, where laser scanning operations are performed by rotation and orientation of planar reflective surfaces, as a complement to the polygon scanner, where polygon mirrors are used instead.

According to the designers, the galvanoscope method dynamically directs the laser beam to focus and approach the profile along the surface of the component, and Fraunhofer ILT is now developing special components and controls specifically for these systems to shorten cycle times.

On display at Laser Photonics World

The compact design also allows multiple scanners to be integrated into a single processing head, for which the Fraunhofer researchers built and characterized a demonstrator with four 2D deflection units. The overall structural volume of the scanner array is 140 x 140 x 90 mm.

In trials, the Fraunhofer ILT uses a system of up to 150 watts of laser power per scanning head for laser marking and engraving applications, where it provides accuracy and dynamics comparable to traditional galvanometer scanners. Other tests include 3D printing, micromachining, paint stripping and paint stripping, where the presence of four or more scanners allows processing tasks to be parallelized, thereby increasing productivity.

The Mini scanner uses commercially available model-based control electronics to facilitate integration into existing production lines using standardized communication protocols. According to Fraunhofer ILT, the closed-loop control of the new scanner is more powerful, more accurate and faster than traditional controllers, and can provide a system tailored to the specific needs of the customer.

Source: Laser Net