Z Axis Calibration for Disc Stylus

We had some putty, but our components seem to be too complicated for it to work. We are measuring bores with undercuts and holes all over the place. Once we put the putty in (on one side of the bore) it gets trapped in the holes and we can't get it out. We are looking into some technology from Germany that might be able to measure internally using interferometry, and best of all it only costs £100,000 *cough*.

I am self taught so far, been spending every waking hour just reading up on basics of metrology and engineering. Used the empty office on christmas day to come in and practice programming. I do have training lined up, but I am having to alternate between CMM, vision systems, surface measurer's, interferometry, SPC and overlooking shopfloor inspection (All this with a Philosophy degree). Hopefully this forum can help me in-between training.

Any help on the assignments aspect? Maybe someone could link me to another thread I have overlooked elsewhere?

Welcome to the world of the "demon". With a degree in Philosophy you are poised for success in this position. You are a student of philosophos, a lover of learning. I likewise have a double degree in Psychology and Foreign Language. How did that get me here? As a fellow philosopher it allowed me to adapt and expand my thinking. I loved every subject that I took in college and could have majored in any one of them. Psychology served me well for a while; counseling, psychological assessment, behavior modification programs, etc. all moved me toward customer service and therefore to quality assurance. The winds of change would have me move from the public service domain to the private one. What a shock in income potential. I had an opportunity to join a local company as a receiving inspector because a close neighbor was the Quality Manager there and asked me to consider. Things moved rather rapidly from there. That was 14 years ago. Our company purchased a manual CMM and was looking for someone to learn how to use it. I jumped at the chance. This was the beginning of my still continuing learning experience. I got a brief, maybe 3 day intro to pcdmis as a complimentary to our purchase of the CMM. Like you, all else has been self taught throughout the years. I now program exclusively offline from CAD files as well as run the CMM to inspect these parts. I moved from receiving inspector to Quality Manager, back to my current position because of my philosophical nature. I make no public secret of the fact that I love what I do, that's what it is all about. For me, offline programming is like playing a video game. I am constantly challenged, no so much by the software as by the interpretation of engineering intent as presented on blueprint. As you learn you will no doubt face the same questions. What do they really want? Pcdmis is really quite awesome and overwhelming sometimes, but I hate when I try to tell it something the engineer wants in his drawing that I know can't be done. It always alerts me to something that I already know. That will be your main challenge.

The love of learning the interrelationships of all aspects of existence will go far for you. Measurement is all about geometry, and yes, Pythagoras is my hero. Know cubic geometry and you are in the driver's seat here. Our very perception of existence is based upon a premise of level, plumb, and square. That is how we perceive existence amongst the muck that comprises the universe. Locating an inspection part is understanding the 6 degrees of freedom that any object has in the universe. I always tell my machinists that I'm going to put it in a box, that way I know where it is. A box always has a corner. With X (left to right), Y (front to back), and Z (bottom to top) we can define where that corner is. As the stand alone anyone of these three can move up and down and they can spin in any direction. A point, absolute zero, with no mass can spin in infinite directions. 2 points joined together by a common spin can create a vector line segment. 3 points sharing a common vector angle create stability and a plane is born. It can no longer move up and down or back and forth but it can still wobble. We have leveled something. We still need plumb which allows us to stand up straight. Pythagoras and my body tell me so. A right angle, a perpendicularity is what we need to stop the wobble. 2 points create a vector line segment that will stop the wobble as well as any shift left to right or front to back. Finally we need to stop the spin by focusing on a point. This is analogous to square, a focal point for our perception of reality. We engineer technology as well as we are physically equipped to do so. Our software now knows where 0,0,0 is and we can let the magic begin. Its a wonderful world and a wonderful life.

Welcome again and Happy New Year to you and yours,

Jim

p.s.: Try using some dental putty, the kind that you mix for getting into those non reachable features. It pulls out well but you likely will need to measure with a vision system. Touch probe is not real conducive to gel like substances. Assignments rely on an understanding of Visual Basics terminology and I am not the expert on that yet, though I try to learn each and every day.

We had some putty, but our components seem to be too complicated for it to work. We are measuring bores with undercuts and holes all over the place. Once we put the putty in (on one side of the bore) it gets trapped in the holes and we can't get it out. We are looking into some technology from Germany that might be able to measure internally using interferometry, and best of all it only costs £100,000 *cough*.

I am self taught so far, been spending every waking hour just reading up on basics of metrology and engineering. Used the empty office on christmas day to come in and practice programming. I do have training lined up, but I am having to alternate between CMM, vision systems, surface measurer's, interferometry, SPC and overlooking shopfloor inspection (All this with a Philosophy degree). Hopefully this forum can help me in-between training.

Any help on the assignments aspect? Maybe someone could link me to another thread I have overlooked elsewhere?

Welcome to the world of the "demon". With a degree in Philosophy you are poised for success in this position. You are a student of philosophos, a lover of learning. I likewise have a double degree in Psychology and Foreign Language. How did that get me here? As a fellow philosopher it allowed me to adapt and expand my thinking. I loved every subject that I took in college and could have majored in any one of them. Psychology served me well for a while; counseling, psychological assessment, behavior modification programs, etc. all moved me toward customer service and therefore to quality assurance. The winds of change would have me move from the public service domain to the private one. What a shock in income potential. I had an opportunity to join a local company as a receiving inspector because a close neighbor was the Quality Manager there and asked me to consider. Things moved rather rapidly from there. That was 14 years ago. Our company purchased a manual CMM and was looking for someone to learn how to use it. I jumped at the chance. This was the beginning of my still continuing learning experience. I got a brief, maybe 3 day intro to pcdmis as a complimentary to our purchase of the CMM. Like you, all else has been self taught throughout the years. I now program exclusively offline from CAD files as well as run the CMM to inspect these parts. I moved from receiving inspector to Quality Manager, back to my current position because of my philosophical nature. I make no public secret of the fact that I love what I do, that's what it is all about. For me, offline programming is like playing a video game. I am constantly challenged, no so much by the software as by the interpretation of engineering intent as presented on blueprint. As you learn you will no doubt face the same questions. What do they really want? Pcdmis is really quite awesome and overwhelming sometimes, but I hate when I try to tell it something the engineer wants in his drawing that I know can't be done. It always alerts me to something that I already know. That will be your main challenge.

The love of learning the interrelationships of all aspects of existence will go far for you. Measurement is all about geometry, and yes, Pythagoras is my hero. Know cubic geometry and you are in the driver's seat here. Our very perception of existence is based upon a premise of level, plumb, and square. That is how we perceive existence amongst the muck that comprises the universe. Locating an inspection part is understanding the 6 degrees of freedom that any object has in the universe. I always tell my machinists that I'm going to put it in a box, that way I know where it is. A box always has a corner. With X (left to right), Y (front to back), and Z (bottom to top) we can define where that corner is. As the stand alone anyone of these three can move up and down and they can spin in any direction. A point, absolute zero, with no mass can spin in infinite directions. 2 points joined together by a common spin can create a vector line segment. 3 points sharing a common vector angle create stability and a plane is born. It can no longer move up and down or back and forth but it can still wobble. We have leveled something. We still need plumb which allows us to stand up straight. Pythagoras and my body tell me so. A right angle, a perpendicularity is what we need to stop the wobble. 2 points create a vector line segment that will stop the wobble as well as any shift left to right or front to back. Finally we need to stop the spin by focusing on a point. This is analogous to square, a focal point for our perception of reality. We engineer technology as well as we are physically equipped to do so. Our software now knows where 0,0,0 is and we can let the magic begin. Its a wonderful world and a wonderful life.

Welcome again and Happy New Year to you and yours,

Jim

p.s.: Try using some dental putty, the kind that you mix for getting into those non reachable features. It pulls out well but you likely will need to measure with a vision system. Touch probe is not real conducive to gel like substances. Assignments rely on an understanding of Visual Basics terminology and I am not the expert on that yet, though I try to learn each and every day.