Team GapGun blog

Third Dimension and GapGun support local enterprise and innovation

Third Dimension CEO Tim Monks and CFO Mike Dawes are both speaking at events in the BCS/BEN Tech Startup school in Bristol UK.

The Tech Startup School is a structured series of 11 events that will help aspiring and current entrepreneurs start or grow their own businesses. It is also for anyone else who wants to learn more about the business of innovation.

It consists of 6 core events that will help develop a business idea into a viable outline business plan, and 5 skills workshops that will give a range of personal skills that are particularly important for early-stage tech entrepreneurs.

This event series is jointly run by BCS (British Computer Society) and BEN (Bath & Bristol Enterprise Network), but is open for anyone to attend - not just members.

Events run Sep-Dec 2010; see http://tss2010-ideatoplan.eventbrite.com for more information.

Posted on Wed, 08 Sep 2010 12:52:01 GMT

Jet GapGun for checking fusion tiles

Jet have posted a great picture showing one of their GapGun systems being used to check fusion reactor tile alignment: Jet picture of the week.

Jet use a mixture of handheld and robot mounted GapGun sensors. For further information, check our Jet Fusion GapGun case study.

Posted on Wed, 04 Aug 2010 09:33:24 GMT

New GapGun YouTube channel

Here at Third Dimension HQ, we love developing new technology and sharing our discoveries with the industry when we do so.  In order to make it easier to find out what we're doing, we've created a YouTube channel where you can see our latest developments.  Check it out here:  http://www.youtube.com/user/GapGunTV.

More recruitment at Third Dimension

It's been an active year here at Third Dimension, with the company continuing to grow and develop, despite a challenging global economy. 

We've maintained confidence in our products though, as have our customers, and we have worked closely with them to develop solutions that really make a difference to quality control.  Of course like most companies, the more we develop, the more we grow.  To that end, we are once again looking to expand with a new technical sales engineer.  If you are interested in the role or know anyone that is, take a look at the job spec here: http://www.third.com/cgi-bin/vacancies.pl?id=20091216.

We're looking forward to a productive 2010, and continuing developing innovative solutions that will continue to improve quality and save money for our customers.

Entrepreneur question time

Come and quiz Third Dimenion's MD Tim Monks and his fellow panelists at BEN's Entrepreneur's question time on 26 November, 2009 - 18:00 - 21:00 (Bristol, UK).

The panel at this event consists of entrepreneurs with a fascinating variety of backgrounds and experiences, similar to television's Question Time. But instead of shifty politicians giving vague and evasive answers these entrepreneurs are here to give direct answers based on life at the business coalface.

Please visit http://www.bristolenterprise.com/events/entrepreneurs-question-time for further information.

LVMC 2009

This year's Airbus-sponsored large volume metrology show was well attended, with around twice as many delegates as last year: http://www.lvmc.org.uk/. A great event, although we would love to see better attendance from the UK automotive industry.

Third Dimension gave a preview of the new SPC3d 5.2 software release, and the GapGun FOV40x crosshair laser scanner, for measuring fastener placement (mismatch and angle), rivets, holes and counterbores.

The most interesting presentation was without a doubt geologist Dr Dougal Jerram's 3D Volcano. Dougal journeyed to Ethiopia (with film crew in tow) to scan a live volcano in 3D. This was impressive both as an expedition and a technical achivement - although it did look suspiciously like the prime objective was to get a 3D model volcano to spin onscreen for the delectation of discovery channel viewers!

At the climax of the show, Airbus presented Third Dimension's MD with a massive scale model of the forthcoming Airbus A350. Although we are sure it was a recognition of measurement services to the industry, they continue to insist that it was simply because we won the raffle! Well, at least the Airbus employee handing over the goods happened to have a GapGun brochure under his arm :-)

We would like to thank the organisers, sponsors and delegates for a productive and insteresting two days!

GapGun drop test

We've recently finished working on new materials for the GapGun range which take robustness to new levels. The video shows an informal arm's length drop (from an operator who clearly wasn't using the supplied wrist loop).

Beware of cheap imitations that show equipment in mid-drop but avoid showing the aftermath! 

GapGun live video demonstration

For those wanting to see a GapGun in operation, check out the recent video interview by QMT*.

In under 2 minutes, John gives a short overview of the GapGun, demonstrates the measurement process (measures gap and flush on a test panel) and shows how results can be sent automatically from the handheld GapGun to Excel over WIFI.

http://www.qmtmag.com/display_vidpic.cfm?videono=6106066

* QMT is a print and on-line magazine for the quality, measurement and test industry promoting improvements in manufacturing processes and products through quality control and quality management - from shopfloor to line and enterprise management.

GapGun at Control Stuttgart 2009

The GapGun team has just returned from Control Stuttgart 2009 - widely regarded as the best and certainly the largest quality control and metrology trade show in the world.

Despite global economy gloom, attendance at the GapGun booth was good, with more leads generated than in 2008, perhaps reflecting the addition pressure for manufacturers to achieve high quality output using lower levels of manpower.

Unsurprisingly, the biggest draw at Control was our new robot mounted GapGun solution (below). This solution is suitable for situations where labour costs are high or labour is in shortage, where the flexibility of a handheld measurement solution is not required, or for use in hazardous environments.

In order to help our customers during these difficult market conditions, we have added a new Cost Savings Calculator to our website which quickly and easily calculation of the cost benefits involved in implementing a GapGun measurment solution. The calculator allows you to enter the parameters appropriate for your process (part rate, shift pattern, labour rate, etc) and will output a detailed analysis of the time savings, in PDF format, suitable for inclusion in a business case.

All in all, the outlook for quality control in 2009 looks good and it looks like all sectors including automotive will be maintaining high build quality despite financial challenges in the sector.

GapGun web shop online

Third Dimension's web shop for GapGun accessories, consumables, calibration components and merchandise is now online.

The objectives of the shop are to cut our admin costs and simplify the ordering process. Cost savings from the increased automation have been passed on to the customer, allowing existing GapGun customers to buy at a cheaper price, with faster turnaround, and cheaper shipping.

• GapGun accessories - Cables, batteries, waistpacks, standoffs, etc.
• GapGun calibration - A range of calibration blocks with traceable calibration.
• GapGun merchandise

Third Dimension launches GapGun online forum

In response to a rapidly growing customer base, Third Dimension today launched a dedicated online forum. The forum, which is accessible to all GapGun operators, administrators, resellers and partners, provides a central location in which GapGun metrology and technical matters can be easily and openly discussed.

Head of Support Steve Rogers explained "We are constantly looking for ways to help our customers and partners improve productivity and by providing the opportunity to directly discuss the GapGun we feel we have opened a very valuable channel of communication for all concerned."

The GapGun is the world's leading handheld optical measurement system, used extensively across manufacturing facilities worldwide. More information can be found at http://www.third.com.

GapGun customers and Third Dimension's strategic partners can join the online forum at http://www.third.com/forum.

GapGun2 measurement system

The GapGun2 was our second generation system, launched in 2002 and used worldwide for a wide variety of aerospace, automotive and dashboard applications. GapGun2 was also the smallest and lightest system we ever made.

Superseded by the fully mobile and wifi enabled GapGun3, the GapGun2 quietly bowed out in 2004. We are proud to say that all GapGun2 users are now upgraded to GapGun3.

Although in many respects the original GapGun was quite similar to today's production GapGun3, its approach to the inspection task was entirely different.

Whereas today's GapGun3 systems rely entirely on a point-and-shoot approach, GapGun1 relied entirely on comparing the measured part to a pre-loaded IGES or VDA CAD section (typically from Catia v4 or v5). The GapGun would then report deviations from this ideal (nominal) value.

Although this seemed like a sensible approach, in the days of the original GapGun only very few manufacturers had accurate and complete CAD data available for inspection purposes. Even fewer could cope with a negative gap reading (ie a gap that is smaller than nominal)!

Today's GapGun3 systems can work either in a generic point-and-shoot mode, or can be used to verify parts against CAD data in the same way as the original GapGun systems.

The GapGun2 was built to and signed off against an exacting Volvo specification. The GapGun remains the only laser measurement system to meet this specification. This image shows some GapGun2 trials at Volvo Gent on the S60.

A lot of the GapGun2's early success was due to its ability to out-perform other types of measurement systems when measuring on interiors. Because the plastic parts used on dashboards will move when probed or measured with conventional equipment, a true-non contact measurement system gives a step change in both accuracy and measurement speed.

GapGun2 measurement sensors were originally available either in plastic or metal versions. Although the plastic version was just as accurate as the metal (and was also better suited to measuring on painted vehicles as there was zero danger of damage to the paint), we found that our customers expected metrology equipment to be in a metal housing; all GapGun sensors are now metal.

Coming soon - the GapGun blog!

The GapGun is a wireless laser gauge used extensively across the world by major manufacturing companies, primarily in aerospace and automotive markets, typically for gap and flush measurement.

The GapGun team trot the globe doing their stuff just so your car door will close correctly. Now that's dedication!

http://www.third.com/gap_gun.shtml