Romer measuring arm ensures everything's fair and square in motor sport

DEKRA is one of the world‘s leading expert organisations. The company is currently active in more than 50 countries. Around 23,000 employees are committed to ensuring long-term safety, quality and environmental protection. In motor sport, DEKRA is the official technical partner for the DTM (German Touring Car Masters). A portable ROMER CMM is always in use at the racing track.
The measuring arm is right on the spot in every race.

Checking that the racing car dimensions and weight of each vehicle and driver comply with the regulations are among the duties for the DEKRA team of Wolfgang Dammert and Volker Noeske during the DTM racing weekends. The DTM speed merchants are invited on a random basis into the DEKRA pit for checking in the practice sessions too.

ROMER arm: Always at hand, always at the ready

At least the first three cars in qualifying and in the races themselves are investigated in detail by the DEKRA team on a carbon-fibre measuring plate, which was specially designed for the DTM and accompanies the team to every racing event. This measuring plate is the reference plane for the dimensional checks. DEKRA uses a ROMER Infinite 2.0 measuring arm to capture the dimensions of the bodywork. This portable coordinate measuring machine has been used at every DTM race all over the world since 2010 season. “The low weight of the ROMER arm means it is easy to take with us to every track. And when it is time for action, the arm is ready for use in a couple of minutes,” says Volker Noeske.

Safety and equality are paramount

The dimensions that have to be accurately checked on the cars are specified in the DTM technical regulations. Parameters such as the position of the rear wing spoiler, the angle of the diffuser or the height of the vehicle are checked in the DEKRA pit. With the help of the ROMER Infinite 2.0, the DEKRA team acquire a tightly specified series of up to 100 measured points or compare the position of any location on the car body with the original CAD data.

R2D2 is part of the action

The use of the ROMER measuring arm is a permanent part of the action at a DTM weekend. The racing team managers look on anxiously as the DEKRA staff measure the values with “R2D2”, the name by which the ROMER arm is known in DTM jargon because of its acoustic acknowledgement signal. Volker Noeske sums up: “The ROMER arm is precisely the right tool for us. The measured values are very reliable and reproducible, and we quickly became familiar with the operation of the arm and the software. In a sport where winners are decided on tenths or even hundredths of a second, it is essential to be able to measure very accurately – and here we have taken a great step forward with ‘R2D2’.”