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NPI Measurement Hardware Adive

Ben1989
Hi all,

Hope you had a great Christmas and New Year!

I'm writing as I'm seeking metrology advice for products that will quickly go through our aerospace shop.

The products are simple, flat, relatively thin composite components. It will be an in-process measurement where only two dimensions need measuring; profile and hole true position.

If you refer to the very rough drawing I've attached. The component's thickness can simply be measured with a vernier.

At the moment I'm thinking of a Romer Arm but I'm wondering if there's anything out there where you can simply throw the component onto a surface and automatically be measured.

Hope I've described what I'm working with well and is understood Slight smile

Cheers, Ben

  • Throw the component onto a surface and automatically be measured? lolol I love it when non cmm people say cr@p like that.

    For what you're doing I'd suggest a programmable vision system like an OGP. If you really want to stay with PC DMIS then look into the Optiv
  • Throw the component onto a surface and automatically be measured? lolol I love it when non cmm people say cr@p like that.

    For what you're doing I'd suggest a programmable vision system like an OGP. If you really want to stay with PC DMIS then look into the Optiv

    Funnily enough I am CMM based haha. But they're the orders from management. I was looking into OGP as an option but does it offer anything over a Laser Romer Arm?
  • A touch trigger CMM (like a romer) is not always the best tool for the job. I recommended the OGP as well as OPTIV because they're non-contact vision systems. If all you're doing is measuring diameters and profiles and stuff then a vision system should do the trick.

    OGPs are pretty easy to learn & are a lot cheaper but Measuremind or whatever the software is called isn't nearly as powerful as PC DMIS.

    Side note: And please don't take this the wrong way....Anyone who thinks they can throw a part on a table and have the machine do some voodo and measure the part all by itself needs should be careful calling themselves "cmm based". You might incorrectly give someone the impression that you know what you're talking about!
  • FIXTURES, these let you "throw a part" on and measure, if you want automatic, then you want a DCC system, like a CMM.

    Make a simple fixture, attach it to the table, align the fixture, make a program that checks the part (and aligns the part). Then, as long as the fixture doesn't move, you 'throw a part' on the fixture, hit EXECUTE.

    Simple fixture can be made from RAYCO items. 3 of the small magnets, 3 'stop' blocks, and let the CMM do it's thing., IF they are not ferrous metals, RAYCO also has vacuum items that can be used instead of magnets.
  • A mylar drawing will do the trick. But if you need data points/cmm report, a vision system would be the way to go. Scanning the edges with an arm will be difficult, and somewhat time consuming, due to thickness.
  • I am CMM based. I explained to him obviously that the part requires a datum reference system established etc. I'm talking more from a 'manual alignment' point of view. For holes and profile I think a CMM would be too slow for our production rate requirements. Because they're thin it will be difficult to measure on a CMM that's why I was looking for something optically/non-contact.

    My description of 'throw on a table' was probably the wrong way to describe.

    I recently had a demo of an OGP and I'm quite impressed. They have a CAD-based software now called 'Zone 3' which has desperately been missing. The reason for my attraction towards OGP is that they specialise in optics. The Optiv is great but just another string to their non-CMM bow. They don't even take it to shows anymore.
  • in reply to Matthew D. Hoedeman
    It's a composite so non-ferrous. It would need clamping to a flat surface/fixture, feeler gauged and then inspected. Due to this I don't feel touch trigger can be used as it's too thin to get into the holes without the ruby hitting the table leading to false measurements.
  • Optical comparator with an overlay would get you pass/fail.
  • It's looking extremely likely that we'll be going with an OGP or optical hardware. Trouble is that we need a backup in case the hardware breaks. This is where I'm struggling. Was thinking maybe just a full scale drawing that you just fit to best fit? Can anybody suggest anything? Please see the (poorly) drawn attached jpeg. I'm also assuming the profile is basically done to a best fit of all the holes?

    I've always been at companies with an inspection process in place (i.e. CMMs). What do you need to do to prove that a new inspection system works to your customer? Gauge RR? Correlation to a CMM?

  • You could do a Gage R&R where the old and new inspection systems are the "operators".
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