FEATURE ON METROLOGY

Measurement software boosts quality control

Faro Technologies has released its CAM2 2018 software platform for the company’s portable co-ordinate measuring machine products. Along with new reporting dashboards, the software offers improved quality control through Repeat Part Management (RPM) smart tool functionality.

RPM enables a specific inspection process to be created once and then repeated and executed by anyone on the factory floor. Accordingly, this ensures resource-efficient quality control of inspection routines without the need for highly skilled metrology professionals to drive and manage the process.
CAM2 2018 also features integrated web-based dashboard reporting that delivers real-time inspection results and insightful trend analysis in a user-friendly set of adaptable visual reports. As a result, RPM control
centre information can be shared across the organisation in real time, accelerating the ability to take immediate corrective action as required.
“As a full service, high accuracy, portable co-ordinate measuring solution provider, we can provide great value for our customers,” states Pete Edmonds, vice president of factory metrology. “Subsequently, we are focusing our platform development to ensure that our software enables customers to realise the full operational potential of their Faro hardware, ranging from small to large volume measurement. CAM2 2018 is a further evolution of our strategic direction to deliver the tight alignment of our hardware and software portfolios.”
For further information www.faro.com

No stone unturned in pursuit of excellence

As part of its quest for continued growth, excellence and product diversification, CMS Cepcor of Coalville has recently invested in the latest Creaform HandyScan3D from Measurement Solutions.

CMS Cepcor says it is Europe’s largest aftermarket manufacturer and supplier of stone crusher, screen and asphalt plant spare parts. The company provides its products and services globally to the mining, quarrying, demolition and recycling industries, exporting to over 100 countries.
To maintain its market status, operations director Chris Sydenham is constantly looking at new technologies and capabilities to drive efficiencies, customer satisfaction and product diversification.
This has been exemplified in recent years with around £7m invested in CNC, milling, turning, boring, slotting, grinding, drilling, welding, co-ordinate measuring and materials testing.
CMS Cepcor has made significant investments in three portable measuring and scanning arms during the last decade. However, the portability, and scanning capability in particular, resulted in the need to assess complementary technologies capable of increasing measurement efficiency
and usability.
“The Measurement Solutions team were able to visit our facility and demonstrate a device which is truly portable,” says Sydenham. “Although we design and manufacture in the UK, having the ability to take the HandyScan3D overseas is a major advantage, as the whole system is transported in a carrying case no larger than aircraft hand luggage. This gives us a whole new capability of scanning on-site, with the ability to send data back to the UK and begin the reverse engineering or inspection processes before our engineer has even boarded the plane home.”
Due to the scale of the components, the large field of view and scanning speeds generated by the HandyScan3D’s 14 laser lines far surpassed any other system considered, says the company.
For further information www.measurement-solutions.co.uk

Laser projector optimises manufacturing

The TracerM laser projector from Faro Technologies enables users to perform positioning, alignment and assembly tasks, quickly, accurately and safely.

Faro’s TracerM projects a laser on to a surface or 3D object, providing a virtual template that allows companies to improve productivity, reduce waste and eliminate rework. The laser template is created using a 3-D CAD model that facilitates the projection of a detailed laser contour of components or areas of interest, removing the need for physical templates and tools, and reducing the potential for human error.
TracerM provides long-range projection from 1.8 to 15.2 m. The device includes Faro’s Advanced Trajectory Control (ATC) function, which ensures fast projection with dynamic accuracy and a rapid refresh rate, minimising the ‘flicker’ associated with other systems.
Faro’s 3D laser projector can also be used in series for use on large assemblies; multiple TracerM devices can be controlled from a single workstation to provide a virtual template in a single (or shared) co-ordinate system.
For further information www.faro.com

3D scanning CMM introduced

Creaform, which is represented in the UK by Measurement Solutions, has launched the Cube-R automated dimensional inspection solution.

This optical 3D measuring machine utilises the Creaform MetraScan 3D-R metrology scanner for parts ranging from 1 to 3 m in size. The company says that Cube-R delivers both speed and volumetric accuracy, offering a realistic and comprehensive alternative to CMMs and other robot-mounted, structured-light 3D scanners.
According to Creaform, Cube-R can inspect several hundred parts a day, even on dark or reflective parts with complex geometry. Importantly, the machine offers simultaneous operation of data acquisition and analysis as part of a continuous and uninterrupted measurement flow. There is said to be no accuracy drift over time.
“Quality control managers are looking for integrated solutions that enable the detection of assembly problems earlier in the manufacturing process, all while reducing waste and downtime to ensure better productivity and higher product quality,” says Jérôme-Alexandre Lavoie, product manager at Creaform. “The Cube-R was designed with that in mind. It is the latest addition to our R-Series automated inspection solutions, which also include technology integration for clients seeking customised dimensional measurement solutions.”
For further information www.creaform3d.com

CT for process control in AM

Metal additive manufacturing (AM) company Sintavia has installed a Nikon Metrology computed tomography (CT) system at its facility in Florida, US to help control the AM process.

Using powder-bed AM with electron and laser-beam melting, Sintavia currently manufactures components from Inconel 718 and 625, aluminium, titanium, cobalt-chrome, stainless steel and other proprietary powders.
AM allows special internal designs to be realised, such as conformal cooling channels, lattice networks, hollow members and other complex geometries. Both additive and traditional manufacturing can result in microscopic voids and gaps within the structure, which can cause stress fractures and reduce the longevity of a component’s lifecycle. All of these internal features can only be inspected non-destructively with CT scanning.
Sintavia has installed a 450 kVA micro-focus CT (micro-CT) system from Nikon Metrology. By converting 2D pixels to 3D voxels, supplying a full 3D density map of the samples, the technique presents information in a visual, easy-to-interpret format and shows any departure from the CAD model. It is said to be straightforward to detect and measure powder residues blocking channels, porosity, contamination, cracking, warping, and dimensions such as wall thickness to an accuracy within tens of microns. Given a 100 mm sample and a detector 2000 pixels across, the limiting resolution would be 50 µm, for example.
Micro CT is now much faster and more suitable for production-line use, while CT scanning of similar parts can be automated using loading and unloading equipment. Scan times down to a few tens of seconds per part are possible.
For further information www.nikonmetrology.com