No-Contact Gap Measurement

The objective of this project is to design a device that measures the gap between two steel rollers without contact. The two steel cylinders are heated to around 300℉ and then used to roll material into thin films. The motivation behind this project is finding a more efficient and precise way of measuring the gap between the rollers, as the current method is touch based and employs the use of a srip of material with known thickness to estimate the thickness of the gap. The goal of this project is to design, build, and test a device that uses optical means to measurement of the gap. The device will be able to be easily installed onto the existing rolling machine and will utilize lasers and sensors to detect the amount and intensity of light that passes through the gap at several points down the length of the rollers. The prototype developed will comply with the spatial conditions of the current machine, the desired resolution, and the budget restrictions of the project.