Equipment for the calibration of squareness standards

In dimensional metrology, the measurement of squareness is a basic task for many purposes. At the Centre for Metrology and Accreditation (MIKES), a squareness measuring machine for traceable calibration of squares has been developed. The machine is able to measure a squareness standard of 1000 mm × 1000 mm maximum size. The system consists of a rotary table and a tactile displacement transducer with horizontal and vertical linear guides. The error sources of the developed equipment are presented together with a brief description of the calibration procedure. Implemented error compensation of the rotary table and one linear guide is described. The uncertainty estimate is presented for squareness angle measurement. The standard measurement uncertainty for steel or granite squares is 0.2''. We also present the results of an internal comparison of squareness measurements made with the developed machine and a high accuracy coordinate measuring machine. The results show good agreement.