Renishaw has released the XK20 alignment laser system, the successor to its XK10 alignment laser, for machine tool builders, CMM manufacturers, and makers of precision stages. The headline feature is a new long-range straightness measurement mode, available through the CARTO XK20 app, that Renishaw says guarantees repeatable measurement data "over unlimited axis lengths." Dan Throup, XK20 Product Manager at Renishaw, called it "a significant advancement in precision measurement technology" that supports "many of the measurements required for machine tool and stage assembly."
The XK20's launch unit, the system's laser reference, now measures up to 40 meters when paired with the M unit, up from 30 meters on the XK10. In an alternate configuration using the M unit and an S unit, both systems top out at 20 meters. The launch unit carries a calibrated pentaprism, a smooth 360-degree rotating head, and digital levels for straightness, parallelism, squareness, and flatness work, and both the launch unit and the wireless M unit run more than 12 hours on a rechargeable battery.
Engineers assembling large gantry machines or multi-axis CMMs will care about the repeatability claim specifically, since straightness checks on long beds have traditionally required re-referencing the laser at intervals, introducing cumulative error. Renishaw says the new mode removes that constraint regardless of axis length.
The system is built around ISO 230-11, the accuracy and reporting standard for laser-based machine tool measurement, and the CARTO XK20 app applies measurement tolerances compliant with ISO 10791 and ISO 3070. The app runs on Android devices or Renishaw's rugged XK20 display unit, with a built-in step-by-step guide of images and animations meant to let less experienced operators, not just calibration specialists, perform build checks.
Squareness and parallelism measurements, both usable to extract a straightness result in the same pass, round out the current feature set, and Renishaw recommends recalibrating the XK10 and XK20 every two years under normal conditions. Future CARTO XK20 app updates are planned to add flatness, spindle direction, and coaxiality measurement, capabilities the older XK10 already covers through separate hardware kits. Renishaw plans to demonstrate the XK20 system at EMO Hannover 2025, hall 5, stand D06.
