Tracking the future -portable 3D laser metrology at the Max Planck Insitute0 pages

p6,8,10,12Fusion feature.qxp
24/10/2012
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LASER TRACKERS
Wendelstein
Fusion reactor at MaxPlanck-Institut für
Plasmaphysik
Greifswald, Germany
(Picture: Dietmar Gust)
Tracking the future
Portable 3D laser metrology play a key role in the build and assembly of the
Wendelstein 7-X plasma fusion energy system at the Max Planck Institute.
V
ery rarely is a research area as dependent
on 3D-measurement technology in the setup of its major experiments as fusion plasma physics. When one realises how highly complex these systems are, and how deeply industrial
3D laser measurement technology, and in particular the mobile variants – highly-developed laser
trackers, scanning and photogrammetry systems –
have become interwoven with this research area
in the meantime, one can imagine what the systems are now capable of achieving. One thing is
clear: without their sisters-in spirit – 3D CAD software – the Wendelstein 7-X fusion research system that is close to completion in Greifswald
could not have even been designed, let alone
constructed, without laser trackers. But the goal is
(almost) worth all the effort: power generation on
the basis of nuclear fusion, as has taken place in
the Sun for millions of years, and will also be
realised here on Earth in the not too distant future.
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Theory and practice
The Wendelstein 7-X fusion experiment that is
being constructed in the Max Planck Institute in
Greifswald is based on the Stellarator principle.
This special design, characterised in particular
through the irregular and highly complex, threedimensional shape of its coils, places special
demands on the development, design and construction of this machine. Wendelstein 7-X will
not actually create any fusion energy, but, within
a few years, should provide the proof that the
Stellarator principle is suitable for use in a power
plant. In a fusion power plant, deuterium and tritium nuclei are fused together to form helium. The
fusion of only 86 grams of this mixture results in
an amount of available energy equal to the combustion of 1,000 tons of coal.
This is the theory. In practice, the problems on
the path to this become much more concrete –
and a large portion of them can only be solved
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