Tekniker, the first organisation in Spain to receive ENAC accreditation for the dimensional calibration of laser tracker measuring instruments

Laser tracker measuring technology has become an essential element in the area of industrial metrology to ensure the quality of products, especially in those sectors where size makes it difficult to transport equipment to measuring laboratories.

As we are dealing with what is a mature and widespread technology in the industry, dimensional calibration for laser tracker instruments is indispensable to maintain and ensure the accuracy, quality and reliability of on-site measurements.

In this regard, the dimensional calibration laboratory of the Basque technology centre Tekniker, a member of the Basque Research and Technology Alliance (BRTA), is one of the first R&D organisations that introduced this technology at a national level and which has now achieved another outstanding milestone by being the recipient of Spain’s first ENAC accreditation for the dimensional calibration of laser tracking measuring instruments.

Sergio Gómez, a Tekniker researcher, underscores that “this accreditation is a quality label that confirms the technical competence of our workforce and our facilities, furthering our credibility and the extent to which companies trust our results. It also reinforces the position and competitiveness of our laboratory and makes it easier for us to reach out to national and international markets”.

A high level of specialisation

Over the last decades, the Tekniker technology centre has achieved a very high level of specialisation in the area of dimensional calibration for laser tracker technologies thanks to several doctoral theses and highly complex technical research projects and, above all, to a large number of projects carried out in different industrial sectors for which on-site metrology was required.

In order to obtain ENAC accreditation, Tekniker received the invaluable support of organisations such as the Centro Español de Metrología (CEM – the Spanish Metrology Centre), a reference laboratory in Spain, the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), and the Institute of Metrology of the United States to design and develop dimensional patterns used in calibration procedures to meet the requirements detailed in UNE-EN ISO 10360-10.

This standard addresses a number of requirements and procedures such as the most costly trial that must be performed to characterise length errors associated with laser tracker instruments.

“The researcher also states that “this recognition from ENAC does not only demonstrate that this calibration process meets internationally recognised standards but that it also makes it easier to accept the results obtained in our tests”.

See the scope of ENAC accreditation

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