RPI UK, a specialist in precision positioning devices for high-accuracy rotary and angular inspection systems, has enjoyed its best year yet at the recent Control show in Stuttgart.

Jim Palmer, RPI’s sales manager, says: “Our new look exhibition space and location drew many new visitors. In addition, we launched the QuadProfile system, which delivers new capability into the CMM market. Not only this, but we gauged plenty of interest by previewing the RotoScan concept, which was demonstrated at the front of stand. As always, this event is also a great opportunity to meet with our distributors and customers, and we’ve taken away some really interesting sales leads.”
The RPI QuadProfile is the company’s smallest and most accurate rotary table for turbine blade inspection on a CMM.
Also on the stand, the RotoScan device has been designed to automate the inspection of heavy-duty circular components which have a large diameter; examples include bearings, aerospace castings and rotors. The system used a robot to automate the inspection capability of components using traditional contact metrology techniques to improve the repeatability and reproducibility of the measurements. Developed with AccuScan software, the device also complements RPI’s other assembly platforms such as iMAP and GeoSpin.
In addition to these latest developments, RPI demonstrated its LabStandard range, which offers sub arc second angular accuracy and precision geometry for inspection and calibration labs, with the versatility of both single and dual-axis configurations.
For further information www.rpiuk.com

A thoroughly re-engineered Go!Scan 3D scanner has been released by Creaform: the Go!Scan Spark.

This third-generation version of Creaform’s patented, professional-grade Go!Scan portable 3D scanner has been specifically designed for product development professionals who need an efficient portable scanner to capture the 3D data of physical objects, anywhere.
The Go!Scan Spark device features four inline cameras for fast 3D scanning and colour acquisition. The system also offers an ergonomic design that allows for different types of hand positions, enabling full-field dimensional measurements on an array of surfaces and textures for various product development applications.
Set-up is not required, with the device offering robust positioning using geometry, colour or targets. In comparison with previous units, the latest generation product offers four times better resolution and three times faster measurement. The scanning area features 99 stripes that take up to 1.5 million measurements per second, ultimately cutting down the time to get usable mesh files, which users can import into 3D modelling and 3D printing software without post-processing. Reliable measurements of up to 0.05 mm are possible.
“The work of product designers has greatly evolved over the past few decades,” says Simon Côté, product manager at Creaform. “Today, product development teams are under increasing pressure to innovate more quickly, work with multi-disciplinary, remote teams, and launch products faster than ever before. Go!Scan Spark generates quality 3D models, facilitates the design iteration process, mitigates errors and accelerates reverse engineering. Without a doubt, Go!Scan Spark is a key tool in designing products to maintain a leadership position in innovation and a manufacturer’s specific market sectors.”
For further information www.creaform3d.com

Research findings described in a new article by University of Huddersfield scientists will enable engineering firms to make major gains in productivity and efficiency by reducing the often considerable time lag between the manufacture of components and checking their precision on a CMM.

To ensure complete accuracy, CMMs are housed in a strictly temperature-controlled environment. However, manufacturing processes often lead to big increases or decreases in the temperature of components. Until they are stabilised, they cannot be checked.
‘Temperature soaking’ is the term for this scenario, and a play-safe attitude means that larger components can be set aside for as long as 24 hours, causing a log jam in production, with costly CMMs standing idle.
At the University of Huddersfield’s School of Computing and Engineering, however, a research project headed by Dr Naeem Mian has comprised a series of experiments that provide engineering firms with a technique for calculating how long it takes for a component’s temperature to be stabilised so that it can safely be measured on a CMM.
It has been found that the waiting times can be considerably lower that generally thought – potentially a reduction of many hours. For example, Mian and his team carried out various experiments with a heated venturi – a component used in the oil and gas industry – and discovered that the time required for temperature soaking, so that it could be placed on a CMM, was as low as 7.6 minutes.
Findings from the range of experiments, including the mathematical formulae that will aid manufacturers seeking to calculate temperature soaking periods, are given in the new article, which is titled ‘Reducing the latency between machining and measurement using FEA to predict thermal transient effects on CMM measurement’.
For further information https://is.gd/xetazi

Rather than acquiring manufacturing plant on a piecemeal basis, the practice of companies purchasing and using machine tools of various categories from single, preferred vendors is now firmly established.

A case in point can be seen at Glenrothes-based A&D Precision Engineering. Engineering quality manager Harry Fernando explains: “In addition to reaping the benefits of favouring the products of certain manufacturers in each of the machine-tool categories we use, we have extended this way of working across all of our quality and inspection endeavours. As we consider that a component is not made until it is inspected, it makes sense that we treat quality and inspection as integral parts of our production processes.
“In the company’s early days we used metrology equipment from several sources,” he continues. “However, the reliability, accuracy and repeatability of our first Mitutoyo products and the excellent service we received from the company, meant that as the company grew, and our older metrology equipment needed to be replaced, we invariably invested in further Mitutoyo products. This has resulted in our measuring system inventory now consisting of 99% Mitutoyo equipment.
“We now use examples of Mitutoyo technology in all of our measurement and testing areas, from digital hand tools, through height gauges, vision equipment and surface roughness testing, to quality department and shop floor-based CMMs.”
Just as A&D Precision Engineering uses premium quality machine tools that deliver high levels of accuracy and productivity, the company’s management expect the same levels of precision and efficiency from its inspection equipment. These critical requirements are reflected in the company’s latest Mitutoyo acquisition, a Crysta-Apex S CNC CMM.
“Following a trouble-free installation, the Crysta-Apex S is now delivering the promised levels of speed and accuracy,” concludes Fernando.
For further information www.mitutoyo.co.uk

OGP UK and Verus Metrology Partners have shaken hands on a formal partnership designed to help customers improve their production processes.

The deal will see all bespoke jigs and fixtures for OGP UK supplied by Verus Metrology Partners, alongside an agreement for OGP UK to supply V-FIX – the modular metrology fixture product from Verus – for non-bespoke fixture solutions.
Following the inception of Verus in 2008, the company’s relationship with OGP UK has been critical to its success in establishing a global customer base. From its headquarters in Sligo, Ireland, and a laboratory in Nottingham, the business designs and manufactures metrology fixtures and performs subcontract measurement for clients in medical device manufacture, the consumer goods industries, and the aerospace and automotive sectors.
Verus owns and operates 13 OGP SmartScope machines from the CNC and ZIP ranges, using them to provide customers with metrology fixture and programme packages, and helping to accelerate new product introductions.
UK operations director for Verus, Jon Banner, says: “We’ve used OGP from day one and the majority of our key clients also have OGPs. The optics, I believe, are best-in-class. With optical measurement, if you can see something, you can measure it. We often find that the accuracy can comfortably be sub-micron, and we rely on the machines to measure with repeat accuracy every day.
“We’re delighted that we’ve signed a partnership agreement with OGP UK for the supply of V-FIX,” he continues. “V-FIX was designed predominantly around OGP SmartScope capabilities; it allows light through so that the optics are easy to use. It also holds the parts firmly so you can actually use touch probes as well, making it a full multi-sensor metrology kit.”
For further information www.ogpuk.com