Loughborough Facilities and Equipment

Metrology Lab

We have a suite of Coordinate Measuring Machines (CMMs), both contact and non-contact, that allow us to measure down to an accuracy of 0.7μm. They provide X, Y, Z coordinate data that can then be transferred into our Siemens NX PLM CAD and Mountains metrology software to allow direct analysis of geometric specification. 


Surface texture can play a crucial part in improving or reducing engineering performance characteristics of machined surfaces. Our Alicona IFM G4 and nine other surface analysis instruments allow examination and measure of surface topography down to the nanometric scale. 

Nikon Ultra CMM  

Alicona Infinite Focus G4

  • Measurement of surface form and roughness based on a focus variation principle. 
  • The measurement principle is ISO-certified in EN ISO 25178 and allows for measurements with high repeatability including quality information for evaluating the measurement uncertainty.   

OGP Smartscope Flash 200  

  • Full-featured automatic dimensional measurement system. 
  • 12:1 zoom lens. 
  • SmartRing LED array backlight. 
  • AccuCentric zoom lens that auto-compensates with magnification changes. 
  • 200mm x 200mm x 150mm XYZ travel. 


Bruker NPFLEX coherent scanning interferometer microscope  

  • Flexible, non-contact, 3D areal surface

Taylor Hobson Form Talysurf 2000   

  • Stylus profilometer

Siemens NX PLM CAD software  

Mountains 3D metrology software  

Phase Vision Quartz 3D scanners  

  • Multiple industrial grade 3D shape measurement instruments. 
  • Based on projected structured light technique. 
  • Measurement volume up to 1m x 1m x 1m. 
  • Accuracy better than 1/10,000 of measurement volume diagonal. 


Ximea high-speed camera  

  • 1.1Mpix monochrome CMOS camera with Luxima LUX13HS sensor. 
  • 3,500 frames per second at 10-bit using PCIe Gen3 interface bus. 


Vialux STAR-07 high speed projector   

  • 8-bit projection at up to 290 frames per second. 
  • 1-bit projection at up to 22,727 frames per second. 
  • Based on 0.7” DLP chip consisting of 1024x768 micromirrors.