Hexagon's Portable Metrology Division has added a wireless contact probe to its HYPERSCAN large-volume laser scanning system. The new accessory, called HYPERPROBE, extends the platform to hidden-feature measurement and alignment tasks without requiring a separate setup or coordinate system.
The probe connects via Bluetooth and delivers probing accuracy down to 0.05 mm. What's new here is the shared coordinate frame: HYPERPROBE operates within the same optical tracking infrastructure as HYPERSCAN, so operators can switch between scanning and contact measurement without re-registering or realigning. If the part moves or the operator repositions, the system's intelligent optical tracker maintains dynamic tracking automatically.
HYPERPROBE works across HYPERSCAN's full measurement volume, up to 5.5 m with the Ultra model and 7 m with the Super. Darren Goh, Product Director for Handheld Scanners at Hexagon, pointed to bolt housings in a transmission casing, composite mould alignment, and fixture checking before scanning as examples where the combined workflow saves time. The probe weighs 0.72 kg, supports up to 4 hours of continuous probing on a single charge, and uses thumb-operated controls to switch between modes including circle and plane.
Software support covers Hexagon's HHscan and Geomagic Control X, as well as select third-party metrology packages. Because the probe and scanner share a coordinate system, post-processing and reporting work against a single dataset rather than two files merged after the fact.
Hexagon positions HYPERPROBE as an add-on for existing HYPERSCAN customers rather than a standalone instrument. The combination targets mixed-mode inspection tasks in automotive powertrain and aerospace composite manufacturing, sectors where a single part often requires both surface scanning and discrete point measurement of features that a laser alone cannot reliably resolve.
