Patent ID: 8452564

Claim:
A method of determining geometric errors in a machine tool or measuring machine comprising a mobile unit for moving a target within a measuring volume, the method comprising the steps of: setting an interferometer measuring device in at least one fixed position in the measuring volume, the interferometer measuring device including a laser interferometer and a reflector controlled by an actuating device for deflecting a laser beam generated by said laser interferometer; setting a laser beam generated by the laser interferometer along a direction within the measuring volume by means of said deflector; moving the target into a number of discrete points along said direction by means of the mobile unit while keeping said direction fixed; measuring, by means of the interferometer, the abscissa of each of said points from an origin located along said direction; acquiring the coordinates of each of the points by means of said machine; repeating the foregoing steps for a number of directions within the measuring volume, said directions being defined by deflecting the laser beam, generated by said interferometer, by means of said reflector controlled by said actuating device, while keeping said interferometer measuring device in said fixed position; and determining error parameters of said machine on the basis of the abscissas measured by the measuring device and the coordinates of the points acquired by said machine.