Large-volume metrology in shipbuilding: structured comparison of innovative measuring instruments

Recent technological innovations make some measuring instruments – that would have been considered unthinkable one/two decades ago – available in the shipbuilding industry, where dimensional errors of a few millimeters are generally tolerated. This article offers a structured comparison of three of these state-of-the-art instruments: a wireless laser tracker with (non-)contact measurements, a hybrid total station, and a portable high-speed laser scanner. The comparison is performed by referring to a real application on dimensional control of cruise-ship modules, based on several qualitative and quantitative criteria, including simplicity of use for operator, time of acquisition/analysis of measurement data, metrological performance, and cost. The major contribution of this article is the experimentation of three highly innovative instrument models in a relatively “difficult” and little explored industrial context.