Contactless 2-dim laser sensor for 3-dim wire position and tension measurements

We have developed a contact-free 2-dim laser sensor with which the position of wires can be measured in 3 dimensions with an accuracy of a few 0.001 mm and the tension of the wires can be determined with high accuracy. These measurements can be made from a distance of 15 cm. The sensor consists of commercially available laser pointers, lenses and color filters. In our application we have used this laser sensor together with an automated 3d-measurement table. The control and read-out of the table and the read-out of the laser sensor were made with LabVIEW. The precision of the position measurement was determined with wires of 0.2 mm and 0.3 mm diameter We use the sensor for the quality assurance of the wire electrode modules for the KATRIN experiment. We expect that the precision is at least comparable if not better if the wires are thinner. Such a device could be well suited for the measurement of a large, complex detector which consists of many wires e.g. a large wire chamber.