Bluebird chooses Phase Vision for cutting edge test and measurement 16 August 2011

The Bluebird Electric vehicle – which failed in tests aimed at breaking the 500mph speed barrier for an electric vehicle at Pendine Sands this weekend – is using white light scanners specialist Phase Vision for accurate measurement of the vehicle exterior.

Leicestershire-based Phase Vision's Quartz white light scanners use sine wave technology that projects a series of light stripes onto the object. An integral camera then develops a representation based on millions of points, to an accuracy of a few microns, in just a few seconds.

The equipment is designed to deliver rapid virtual representations of large and complex objects – far quicker than could be achieved with a laser scanner or co-ordinate measuring machine.

The Bluebird electric vehicle is 21 feet long – creating a densely populated point cloud, containing many millions of points that are compatible with CAD software, and making finite element analysis and reverse engineering easy and accurate.

"As [Bluebird] moves into their centenary year, we are extremely proud to be selected to support them with the most modern, high performance metrology systems available to the automotive and aerospace market today," comments Ralph Weir of Phase Vision.

"It is difficult to capture accurate, as-built data on a vehicle as large as Bluebird," states Martin Rees, Bluebird Project Director. "Using the Phase Vision Quartz scanner, we managed to capture data very quickly, and we will be using it to identify areas for improvement as we move towards the 500mph challenge car."

The Bluebird Electric project is still seeking sponsors – engineering partners and others. For information call 01646 687771.

Brian Tinham

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