Onto Innovation’s Tucson-based subsidiary 4D Technology announced today the launch of the 4Di InSpec™ SR roughness measurement system – a novel, portable, vibration-immune optical system for high-precision 3D surface roughness measurement at the point of use.
The 4Di InSpec SR employs patented technology for rapid surface measurements unaffected by vibration. Rugged and easy to use, the system accurately measures roughness right on the shop floor, in a wide range of environmental conditions.
Until now, companies have typically relied on 2D stylus-based systems or large, microscope-based optical profilers that can be time consuming and extremely sensitive to environmental factors, typically confining them to quiet lab environments outside of the shop floor.
The 4Di InSpec SR transforms how precision surface measurements are achieved by enabling surface finish and roughness measurements down to 12 nm Sa in seconds, right on the shop floor. The system can directly measure roughness on large components – without the need for replication. Scratch-free optical technology eliminates surface damage, enabling measurements on most materials including carbon fiber, metals, composites, plastics and silicon.
With a roughness Sa accuracy of better than 0.5% and its small, portable form factor, the 4Di InSpec SR can measure in virtually any orientation to reach difficult-to-access locations, tight corners, and large surfaces on applications including:
- Aviation & aerospace parts such as engine rotors, turbine blades, shafts, and gears
- Medical implants
- Automotive parts including engine cylinders, cranks, bores, gears, brake pads, and EV batteries
- Precision bearings
- Shot peen surfaces
- Bare and processed semiconductor wafers
- In-situ surface finish processing (grinding, polishing, lapping) and precision machining
- Additive manufacturing
- Fillet surfaces
“This launch represents a new class of shop-floor optical surface roughness measurement technology,” said Craig Manning, VP of Onto Innovation. “By expanding our product portfolio with a portable, vibration-immune optical profiler, we’re giving customers a powerful new way to solve some of their most challenging surface roughness problems – delivering lab-quality, 3D roughness data directly on the shop floor for faster decision making.”
Product Announcement
The system includes the robust 4Di InSpec SR software which offers an intuitive, touchscreen interface for setup, operation, analysis, and data transfer to quality control systems, and compliance with standard ISO filters and 3D roughness parameters, including S-parameters.
The 4Di InSpec SR system comes in multiple configurations, including tabletop, workstation-mounted, armature-mounted, or robot-mounted for fast, automated inspection of surface quality on large and hard-to-reach components.
The new 4Di InSpec SR surface roughness gauge will be showcased at IMTS 2026 in booth # 134480 in Chicago, IL from Sept.9 – 14, 2026.