Measure Once, Cut Once

Imagine using a laser measuring device to measure a room and have software draw the room as quickly as you work. That’s what Hexagon Manufacturing Intelligence in Tuscaloosa, Ala., has made possible. The company has teamed its Leica Disto devices with its Cabinet Vision software to help woodshops make perfect drawings – and perfect cuts – every time.

Integrating this specialized software and hardware means that as measurements are being taken with laser accuracy, the room is automatically being built in real time on the screen. All the details are included and precisely placed in 3D space.

Beyond the extraordinary level of accuracy and the reduction in errors (which often occur when manually measuring and entering data), woodshops also gain by being able to send less skilled individuals to take room measurements. Before this, shops would have needed someone very skilled and experienced to do the layout because it’s such an important part of the process.

Cabinet Vision is the most widely used design-for-manufacturing software for woodshops. It delivers custom cabinet and room designs, photo renderings, material optimization, bidding, costing, cut lists and bills of material. It can generate machine-ready G code for flat table routers, point-to-point machines, panel saws, drill and dowel machines, chop saws and other specialized CNC machinery.

Leica Geosystems is the industry leader in measurement and information technologies, and Leica Disto is a precision Laser Distance Meter (LDM). Because Cabinet Vision and Leica are both part of the Hexagon group of companies, there is a seamless and direct link between the products.

Setting up the Leica Disto on a jobsite is quick and easy, and it can be connected wirelessly or a physical cable to a device such as a laptop. Once connected, the woodworker can use the Leica utility in Cabinet Vision. This is a dialog box that walks the user through taking measurements, which is essentially just a point and shoot process. If a woodworker is using a 3D Disto, he/she can control the laser from within Cabinet Vision itself.

As measurements are accumulating, the software is automatically drawing the walls and then placing everything from doors, windows, light switches, electrical outlets and plumbing markers exactly where they need to be.

Once the room is measured, the designer can start placing cabinets with drag and drop ease. It’s really that fast, easy, accurate and seamless.

Cabinet Vision and Leica Disto… a perfect pairing.