Robotics and CMMs

The way our parts are they usually have 1 or two datums, but they're on one side or another. If I can chuck the non-datum end into the rotary I will, but if I can't I'll make a fixture or something so that I can.
We have a 3-jaw chuck. Some of our parts have tangs on the end so I can't easily grab that side (sorry, our parts are round, cylinders if you will) so I'll get (something that the machinists use to grab the tang in their machine when they do secondary work; I don't know what it's called as I'm not a machinist!) and bolt it to the part or something.

But yeah, our parts are pretty small so I don't know about that. If they're round, then having a rotary might beneficial. If they're not, or as you say take up most of the work environment, then I agree a robot arm might be a better option. That being said, a robot arm to lift something like that would be pretty big in and of itself, right?

By the way, we make hydraulic valve spools for oil/gas valve bodies so that's pretty cool
I've heard of setups where the CMM is in a cell with a tray or so of parts and a robot arm that loads everything, checks it, and spits out the report. That would be snazzy!

My parts stay chucked during inspection, yes. I laod them in with instructions on what to align upright (usually crossholes or a notch or something) so I know (since I'm pretty much the only one who uses the CMM) which way to load it every time. I get fancy and put some error checking and variables in there because why not, but that's extra. I'll measure a notch at 0°, rotate 45 and realign (our parts are sort of long, 13 inches sometimes, and the chuck only grabs about an inch or so of the part, so it's tilted and sways a bit, sometimes .100"!) and measure the next set. It works really well for our applications actually. I couildn't program these parts without it. (I mean I could, but it would basically turn this into a manual CMM!)

My parts stay chucked during inspection, yes. I laod them in with instructions on what to align upright (usually crossholes or a notch or something) so I know (since I'm pretty much the only one who uses the CMM) which way to load it every time. I get fancy and put some error checking and variables in there because why not, but that's extra. I'll measure a notch at 0°, rotate 45 and realign (our parts are sort of long, 13 inches sometimes, and the chuck only grabs about an inch or so of the part, so it's tilted and sways a bit, sometimes .100"!) and measure the next set. It works really well for our applications actually. I couildn't program these parts without it. (I mean I could, but it would basically turn this into a manual CMM!)