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Vitana Strengthens Industrial Imaging Product Team

Product Manager Dedicated to Industrial Imaging Joins Company

Ottawa – August 17, 1999 -- Vitana Corporation, an emerging leader in the design and manufacture of 3D Scanning Systems, announced that it has hired Gary Roberts to accelerate the introduction of the company’s ShapeGrabber‰ product line to commercial markets.

"ShapeGrabber™ technology has been validated and the product is now being utilized with tremendous success by a variety of very demanding domestic and international clients" explained Joel Bisson, President and CEO of Vitana. "It is now time for Vitana to aggressively promote the product to key vertical sectors in key geographic regions. As a mechanical engineer with technical and marketing experience in a number of our target vertical sectors combined with international business development experience, Gary offers Vitana the combination of capabilities required to meet this objective".

In his capacity as Product Manager - Industrial Imaging, Mr. Roberts will be responsible for:

developing the marketing strategy required to ensure that ShapeGrabber™ is introduced to manufacturers and designers needing cost effective 3D scanning capabilities;
establishing the future direction of the ShapeGrabber™ product line based on input from Vitana’s customers;
responding to sales leads; and
establishing international distribution channels.

About ShapeGrabber™

ShapeGrabber™ is the first turnkey system designed for manufacturers and designers that need to rigorously inspect and develop complex parts in 3 dimensions. The tightly integrated ShapeGrabber™ system provides the customer with everything needed but the part. It includes the scanning head, translation stage, acquisition and inspection software, training, and the computer.

ShapeGrabber™ was developed based on four guiding principles:

speed;
accuracy;
ease-of-use; and
affordability.

The system introduces new technologies to simplify fixturing, to streamline scan alignment, and to reduce noise. ShapeGrabber™ system performance is highlighted by:

acquisition of 15,360 points/ second digitized with patented laser scanning technology;
measurement accuracy of 0.001" (25 micron);
interchangeable scanning heads with variable scan width and range;
a choice of motion platforms enabling parts of virtually any size to be scanned;
no-fixture scanning and easy-stitch image alignment providing fast and user-friendly data acquisition; and
powerful, easy-to-use alignment and inspection software.
Industrial Applications of ShapeGrabber™ 3D Scanning Technology
ShapeGrabber™ is ideally suited to a variety of industrial applications including: Computer-Aided Inspection; Reverse Engineering; and Replication since it incorporates:
new laser scanning techniques, which can acquire thousands of points per second – versus the 1 or 2 points per second of a traditional single point probe; and
sophisticated new alignment and analysis software, which can quickly and accurately manipulate large data files.

Computer-Aided Inspection

Computer-Aided Inspection is the process of comparing:

a physical object to a 3D CAD (Computer-Aided Design) file without the need for dimensional drawings - known as Part-to-CAD Computer-Aided Inspection; or

one physical object to another - known as Part-to-Part Computer-Aided Inspection.

In both cases free-form surfaces are scanned to produce high density "point clouds" consisting of hundreds of thousands or millions of closely packed 3D data points that entirely capture a 3D shape.

Part-to-CAD Computer-Aided Inspection is rapidly becoming the process of choice for first article inspection, tooling verification and numerous quality applications involving complex surface geometries. ShapeGrabber™ analyzes the "point cloud" and compares it to a CAD file. A color-coded 3D image of the part is produced which quantifies the deviation of the part from the CAD specifications. Green areas are within tolerance whereas areas in red and blue represent positive and negative error.

Part-to-Part Computer-Aided Inspection differs from Part-to-CAD inspection in that the primary "point cloud" is aligned and compared to a "point cloud" from another physical object. Once again, a color-coded 3D image is produced which quantifies the deviation of one part from the other. Part-to-Part inspection is utilized in applications such as "gold standard" part comparison, multi-cavity mold comparison and wear analysis.

Reverse Engineering

Reverse Engineering involves developing a new product using an existing product as a starting point. In order to accomplish this a digital CAD file is typically required.

ShapeGrabber™ facilitates reverse engineering by enabling users to:

scan free-form surfaces to produce high density "point clouds" capturing the 3D shape; and
create a 3D CAD file by using third-party software packages.

Replication

Similar in many respects to Reverse Engineering, Replication of existing parts does not require a 3D CAD file. In many industrial applications it is more efficient to simply scan an existing object rather than develop a 3D CAD file from first principles.

Using ShapeGrabber™ Technology, a physical object can be scanned and a digital file developed on which a CAM tool path can be based.

About Vitana Corporation

Founded in 1992, Vitana Corporation designs, manufactures and markets 3D Scanning Systems for use in first article inspection, quality control, tooling verification and wear analysis. In addition, the company supplies component hardware and software that enables OEMs to integrate custom laser-based systems into their applications. Initial customers of the ShapeGrabber™ System include the Ford Motor Company, Ontario Hydro, the National Research Council of Canada and On-Site Scanning Services. Vitana is headquartered in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada.

For more Information:
Joel Bisson, President
Vitana Corporation
Tel: (613) 247-1211 ext. 121
joel.bisson@vitana.com