New probe out soon

[bahed]

I understand that there is a new SB probe that:
1. does not touch the object being digitized
2. is on back order

Can anyone tell me more about these 2 issues ?

Thanks

[grant]

Bret, there may have been a little miscommunication on that. There is a new SB probe, relatively new anyway. We have been making a similar probe for several months and it has tested well, we are making a few subtle design changes to optimize it from both a product performance and manufacturing standpoint.

The probe does touch the part, much like the older mechanical designs. However, we refer to it as the "optical" probe because it uses a light sensor to register a physical contact. This system has proven to last much better than physical / mechanical switch designs. Because it is casually referred to as the "optical probe" it could have been confused with a different type of digitizing technology that works by reflecting light off of an object. That type of digitizing machine is considerably more complex and expensive than our product and fundamentally unrelated.

I finished the drawings on the last component of the optical probe today, so they will be going out to production today or tomorrow. I don't have an ETA yet on parts delivery or shipment, we will undoubtedly need to test a first article to make sure everything is looking good before we put them in customers' hands.

I hope that helps to clear things up!

Regards,

Grant Bailey
ShopBot Tools Inc.
1-888-680-4466
grant@shopbottools.com (mailto:grant@shopbottools.com)

[den73160]

Grant,

Any news on the release of the new probe?