Lumafield introduced Saturn, a large-format industrial X-ray CT scanner built to inspect large, dense parts that were previously too big or too dense for in-house scanning. The company announced the system September 10, positioning it as the top of its scanner lineup alongside the existing Neptune and Triton machines.
Saturn scans a volume up to 580 millimeters in diameter and 1,100 millimeters tall using offset and helical scanning, and the machine still fits through a standard double doorframe when uncrated, according to Lumafield. Its 225 kV closed-tube X-ray source penetrates up to 100 millimeters of light metals like aluminum and magnesium, and up to 25 millimeters of steel or iron, with a maximum payload of 100 kilograms.
For a shop floor that has spent years sending transmission cases, engine blocks, and aerospace weldments out for scanning, or skipping non-destructive inspection altogether, closing that gap in-house could cut First Article Inspection and Production Part Approval Process cycles that currently depend on outside CT bureaus and shipping turnaround.
Saturn runs on Voyager, Lumafield's cloud-based analysis software, so porosity, wall-thickness, and CAD-comparison studies built for Neptune or Triton scans carry over without a new tool. Voyager's metal dimensioning tools pull distance, flatness, diameter, and profile measurements directly from a scan, letting a large casting get checked for GD&T conformance in the same pass as its internal inspection, without separate CMM programming. Lumafield says an auto-scan feature lets teams operate Saturn without a dedicated CT technician, with training completed in a single day, and the closed-tube source requires no routine maintenance beyond Lumafield's annual servicing.
Andreas Bastian, co-founder and chief technology officer at Lumafield, said the company built Saturn for "the parts that kept showing up on the list of things we couldn't do," citing engine blocks, large battery packs, and aerospace castings that teams had stopped trying to scan internally.
Saturn targets automotive, aerospace and defense, and data center manufacturers, with government cloud and on-premises options for controlled aerospace and defense programs. Lumafield's own Cost of Quality Report found that more than 40 percent of North American manufacturers say quality-related costs eat up over 5 percent of revenue, the kind of figure driving pressure to catch porosity and weld defects before parts reach the line rather than after a warranty claim. Saturn is available now on a subscription pricing model rather than a standard equipment purchase.
