Used extensively in workshops, tool rooms, inspection departments and quality control laboratories worldwide, Taylor Hobson autocollimators are highly sensitive optical instruments designed to accurately measure extremely small linear and angular displacements, squareness, twist and parallelism. The Taylor Hobson line of autocollimators ranges from the simple, easy-to-use TA51 visual autocollimator to the new Ultra Series dual-axis, digital autocollimator that incorporates the latest CCD technology and optical analysis software. The most common application for the Ultra Series dual-axis autocollimator is the simultaneous two axis straightness measurement of machine tool slides.  

The device automatically measures both X and Y directions at each measurement position along a slideway. A typical 10-meter slide can be checked in less than five minutes—a considerable reduction in time versus more conventional methods.  Additional accessories allow twist (roll), parallelism and squareness also to be set and checked. A Talyvel electronic level is used in conjunction with the Ultra Autocollimator to measure the twist or roll of a slideway, while an optical square is used for parallelism and squareness checks.             

The new Ultra dual-axis digital autocollimator replaces the DA400 and DA20 series offering a wider range of application and greater accuracy.  Key features include a wide measurement range (1800 seconds), high accuracy (0.2 seconds) and simple touch screen operation. The high-precision version is ideal for ultra-precision measurements and indexing of small angles and is most commonly used for setting and calibrating polygons, rotary tables and encoders. It features ultrahigh 0.1 second accuracy and a range of 300 seconds. Both versions offer simultaneous dual-axis operation and display, a laser sighting aid for easy set up, standard optical display and analysis software and tablet PC.