Ultra-light and ultra-accurate portable coordinate measurement machine

A portable coordinate measurement machine (CMM) comprising:

• a manually-positionable articulated arm having first and second ends, the articulated arm including a plurality of arm segments and a plurality of rotary joints, the first end including a connector configured to connect to a measurement probe and the second end including a base;
• wherein at least one of the rotary joints includes:
• first and second bearings;
• a shaft that engages an inner diameter of the first bearing and an inner diameter of the second bearing, the shaft configured to rotate about an axis of rotation of the first bearing and the second bearing;
• a housing having at least one port that engages at least one of an outer diameter of the first bearing and an outer diameter of the second bearing;
• and
• at least one transducer configured to output an angle signal corresponding to an angle of rotation of the shaft relative to the housing about the axis of rotation, wherein
• the shaft has no portion whose diameter is larger than the inner diameter of the first bearing or the inner diameter of the second bearing.

A portable coordinate measurement machine (CMM) comprising:

• a manually-positionable articulated arm having first and second ends, the articulated arm including a plurality of arm segments and a plurality of rotary joints, the first end including a connector configured to connect to a measurement probe and the second end including a base;
• wherein at least one of the rotary joints includes:
• first and second bearings;
• a shaft that engages an inner diameter of the first bearing and an inner diameter of the second bearing, the shaft configured to rotate about an axis of rotation of the first bearing and the second bearing;
• a housing having at least one port that engages at least one of an outer diameter of the first bearing and an outer diameter of the second bearing;
• and
• at least one transducer configured to output an angle signal corresponding to an angle of rotation of the shaft relative to the housing about the axis of rotation, wherein
• the at least one port of the housing has no portion whose diameter is narrower than the outer diameter of the first bearing or the outer diameter of the second bearing.