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Showing posts with label Mark Boucher. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Mark Boucher. Show all posts
NIKON METROLOGY INTRODUCES PREMIUM PORTABLE ARM-BASED CMM SCANNING SOLUTION WITH MCAx Articulated arm and MMDx Scanners
Creaform Celebrates 10 Years of Innovation in 3D Optical Measurement Technos and 3D Engineering Services
Lévis, February 22, 2012 – 2012 is a key and festive year for Creaform, leader in 3D portable optical measurement technologies and 3D engineering services, as the Canada-based company founded in 2002 reaches 10 years of innovation, growth and success.
Creaform from 2002 to 2012
Over the 10 past years, Creaform has grown from a 5-employee metrology services start-up to a 300-employee international company and major developer and manufacturer of 3D portable optical measurement technology and provider of 3D engineering services.
The company has shown a spectacular 79% compounded growth rate since 2002, and has sold more than 2500 systems in the past decade. Plus, the company has been awarded more than 30 prizes for its vision, innovation and success.
“Looking back at the past decade and considering the humble means that we had in 2002, I’m just in awe of what we have accomplished, and how fast we became a major player in the 3D optical measurement technology industry, says president Charles Mony. This might sound a bit cliché, but all of this was made possible by the innovation spirit and tireless work of our crew, the support of our partners and the confidence of our ever-growing client base. 10 years have gone by, and yet our drive, passion and determination remain absolutely intact. ”
Creaform in the future
According to Creaform’s quinquennial strategic plan, the company expects to increase its already fast-paced growth rate and also strengthen its position as a major player in the industry of metrology. Furthermore, the company follows a very ambitious R&D program that will lead to the development and launch of several new technologies reflecting Creaform’s commitment to create innovative, accurate, reliable and easy to use devices.
About Creaform
Creaform specializes in 3D portable optical measurement technologies and 3D engineering services. We offer innovative solutions that cover the entire range of 3D applications, including 3D scanning, reverse engineering, inspection, design & engineering and FEA. Our wide range of products and services are intended for industries such as the automotive, aerospace and defence, consumer products, education, heritage preservation and manufacturing.
Creaform has developed and sells the Handyscan 3D line of portable, self-positioning handheld 3D scanners, along with the HandyPROBE portable arm-free CMM and the MetraSCAN optical CMM 3D scanner, two systems designed for inspection applications. The company has recently launched the MaxSHOT 3D optical coordinate measuring system that brings photogrammetry to all these technologies.
Creaform is an international company with offices in Québec City, Montréal, the United States, France, Germany, China, India and Japan. The company’s head office and Quebec-based offices have achieved 9001 : 2008 ISO certification in November of 2011.
Hexagon Metrology Supplies Ultra Accurate Measuring System to Milwaukee Machine Works
Precision Machining Company Enhances Capability with Leitz PMM-G
Hexagon Metrology, Inc. announced that precision component manufacturer Milwaukee Machine Works has purchased a Leitz PMM-G ultra-accurate coordinate measuring machine. The Leitz measuring machine has a supersized measuring capacity of three meters wide by four meters long, and two and a half meters high, tailor made for the large scale machined components that are a Milwaukee Machine Works specialty. The PMM-G is a gantry configuration machine that allows large scale parts up to 30,000 pounds to be easily moved inside for precision measurement. It also boasts the highest accuracy specifications for its size, enabling ultra precision measurements to be made for case, cover and housing parts for the wind, off-highway and mining industries which comprise MMW’s typical customer base.
“This new machine is a huge enhancement to our capabilities,” said Mike Manna, General Manager of Milwaukee Machine Works. “We are known for tackling the toughest, highest precision, turning and machining jobs in the business—jobs that other shops just don’t have the capability or expertise to handle. Now we will have a measuring machine with the size, capacity and accuracy to handle the very largest parts we are capable of making—single parts that are the size of small cars.”
Milwaukee Machine Works also plans to keep the new machine busy by pursuing ISO/IEC 17025 certification and offering contract inspection services to other manufacturers in the area. “Not everyone can have a machine with this capability, so when we’ve got available machine time, we’re also going to offer high accuracy inspection services to the local manufacturing community,” said Manna.
“Milwaukee Machine Works has always been a good customer of Hexagon Metrology, and represents the best of what American manufacturing is capable of,” said Jack Rosignal, Vice President of Sales for Hexagon Metrology, Inc. “We are pleased that the first PMM-G Coordinate Measuring Machine to be installed in America is going to a company like Milwaukee Machine Works, that has the commitment to precision manufacturing and the highest quality standards.”
The new Leitz PMM-G is scheduled to come on line in Milwaukee Machine Works’ ISO 9001:2008 certified facility by the second quarter of 2011.
About Hexagon Metrology
Hexagon Metrology serves the high precision measurement and inspection needs of worldwide manufacturers with its extensive line of metrology hardware, software, accessories and customer services. The company's name-brand portfolio of quality assurance products include Brown & Sharpe, Cognitens, Leica Geosystems, ROMER, Sheffield, PC-DMIS, DEA, Leitz and TESA. Hexagon Metrology has an unrivaled installed base of more than 1.5 million handheld, stationary and portable measurement devices, and over 35,000 seats of PC-DMIS metrology software. More information is at www.HexagonMetrology.us
The company is a business unit of Hexagon AB (Stockholm, Sweden), a publicly-traded company (Nasdaq OMX Stockholm: HEXA B). The Hexagon group consists of nearly 11,000 employees located in 42 countries.
About Milwaukee Machine Works
Milwaukee Machine Works is one of the most experienced suppliers of machined components to the Wind Energy market place in the 1000MM to 2 meter size range. Additionally, Milwaukee is a key supplier to Major Off-Highway and Agricultural manufacturers supplying 500-1600MM components in significant volumes while holding exceptionally tight tolerances.
CMMSite.com announces new distributor agreements
CMMSite.com, a subsidiary of CMM Quarterly, announces its new distributor agreements with ITP Styli and Fixlogix. CMMSite.com is quickly becoming the #1 resource site for the CMM/ Vision machine industry. CMMSite now offers a comprehensive line of styli and accessories. Thousands of items in stock for all probing systems M2 through M6. FixLogix modular CMM fixture system is attractive and highly functional at a fraction of the price of competing systems. Their patent-pending technology is one of the the best value on the market today.CMMSite.com will bring more distribution to the web site in order to meet the requests of coordinate measuring machine programmers who are looking for the best products available.
Links are provided on the front page of the CMMSite.com web site to purchase styli and fixture products. On the Fixlogix site you must register and following the link to their site.
Click here to view CMMSite.com
More about ITP and Fixlogix
ITP Styli
itpstyli is a North American corporation formed in partnership with itp GmbH, Germany. itstyli was created with the sole mission of fulfilling the needs of CMM, machine tool, and gear-measurement professionals who are looking for an easy and quick method to find and purchase a diverse range of high quality replacement styli, accessories and custom solutions, at lower cost. itp GmbH is a market leader in the replacement styli industry. Not only certified as a top performance supplier to major CMM, machine tool, and gear-measurement-instrument producers, itp has earned the business of customers worldwide and across all industry sectors. From automotive, aerospace, defense and machine tools to IT, itp has served applications where perfection, quality and exceptional performance are required.
Fixlogix
The FixLogix modular CMM fixture system is attractive and highly functional at a fraction of the price of competing systems. Our unique patent-pending technology is the best value on the market today.
To access these sites click on the links on the front page of CMMSite.com
Links are provided on the front page of the CMMSite.com web site to purchase styli and fixture products. On the Fixlogix site you must register and following the link to their site.
Click here to view CMMSite.com
More about ITP and Fixlogix
ITP Styli
itpstyli is a North American corporation formed in partnership with itp GmbH, Germany. itstyli was created with the sole mission of fulfilling the needs of CMM, machine tool, and gear-measurement professionals who are looking for an easy and quick method to find and purchase a diverse range of high quality replacement styli, accessories and custom solutions, at lower cost. itp GmbH is a market leader in the replacement styli industry. Not only certified as a top performance supplier to major CMM, machine tool, and gear-measurement-instrument producers, itp has earned the business of customers worldwide and across all industry sectors. From automotive, aerospace, defense and machine tools to IT, itp has served applications where perfection, quality and exceptional performance are required.
Fixlogix
The FixLogix modular CMM fixture system is attractive and highly functional at a fraction of the price of competing systems. Our unique patent-pending technology is the best value on the market today.
To access these sites click on the links on the front page of CMMSite.com
Runout vs. True Position When Using a Coordinate Measuring Machine
When runout is checked on a surface plate the part is rotated under an indicator and the deviation between the highest point and the lowest point is the called runout. Typically this is related to a circular part with a shaft or a cylinder as the reference datum. As the part is rotated any deviation in the datum is taken into effect.
Runout on a CMM is static. The part is not turned but is measured by points or scanned and these points make up the best-fit circle that will be use to check to the datum. The datum is also made up of measured features that are fitted into an element.
This brings up a dilemma. Which tolerance strategy is better, runout or position? This is something you will need to clear up with your customer so that both parties clearly understand what the data off the coordinate measuring machine (CMM) is really giving you. In most cases, position is the best strategy to use. Using a positional tolerance will give you more accurate numbers when using a CMM. Using the runout tolerance is not incorrect but when factoring in the best-fitting functions of CMM calculations then the positional tolerance is best approach.
Mark Boucher, CMM Quarterly http://www.cmmquarterly.com/
Runout on a CMM is static. The part is not turned but is measured by points or scanned and these points make up the best-fit circle that will be use to check to the datum. The datum is also made up of measured features that are fitted into an element.
This brings up a dilemma. Which tolerance strategy is better, runout or position? This is something you will need to clear up with your customer so that both parties clearly understand what the data off the coordinate measuring machine (CMM) is really giving you. In most cases, position is the best strategy to use. Using a positional tolerance will give you more accurate numbers when using a CMM. Using the runout tolerance is not incorrect but when factoring in the best-fitting functions of CMM calculations then the positional tolerance is best approach.
Mark Boucher, CMM Quarterly http://www.cmmquarterly.com/
CMM Calibration And These Tight Financial Times
By Mark Boucher, CMM Quarterly http://www.cmmquarterly.com/
With these pressing financial times may companies will be looking to cut costs. The Quality Control department will certainly be one of the areas that will be looked at. There have been some discussions about how often do we to have the coordinate measuring machine (CMM) calibrated. The standard for the industry has been yearly. Can this be pushed out to two years? Am I violating any customer specifications?
Yearly Calibrations
It has always been standard procedure to have the CMM calibrated yearly. This has been the accepted practice for good reason. One must look at how often your individual CMM is being used, the wear and tear, and the history of your CMM to properly determine if foregoing a calibration cycle is wise.
Before a decision is made about moving out the calibration cycle, it is highly recommended to check with your OEM to how this will affect the OEM warranty and how this will affect their standing behind the manufacturing specification of the CMM. Of course, this will be like checking with the oil company to see if the oil in a car really needs to be changed every 3,000 miles. Yearly calibration is a continuing revenue source for the OEMs but if you have already moved away from the OEM to a contracted 3rd party for calibrations then you have already addressed any concerns about the OEM warranty.
When looking at the CMM as a valued piece of your Quality department and your commitment to the customer to ensure you are producing a good product care must be given to your decision to push out the calibration. My personal recommendation is not to skip any calibration cycle unless the CMM is truly not being used on any regular basis. Even with some of the costs being demanded by the OEMs for calibration these days it is still important to have the preventative maintenance done yearly. Think about the cost associated with repairing a CMM that goes down during a production run. Trying to schedule a service repairman to get your CMM up and running in a timely manner can result in extra costs that may have been avoided if yearly maintenance had been done.
Important things to consider about the consequences of foregoing a yearly calibration:
How often do I use the CMM?
How will this affect my warranty?
How will this affect the OEMs standing behind the published accuracy specs?
Can I afford the cost and time associated with a ‘down’ machine?
Does my 3rd party calibration service offer preventative maintenance as part of their service?
Do I fully understand what my OEM offers when it comes to calibration?
How much money will I really be saving by pushing out the calibration cycle?
Will my customer be affected? Do they have any requirements that will prevent me from changing my calibration schedule?
3rd Party Calibration Services
When contracting a 3rd party calibration service it is important to establish trust in the contractor you choose. As with any contracting service I would recommend calling a few of their customers to get a good understanding how services that are offered where performed. Many of the contracted calibration services are former OEM service repairmen and are well qualified to perform calibrations and repair but it will be important to establish and understand exactly what services will be performed and what type of warranty comes with the service.
You can contact me at http://www.info@cmmquarterly.com/ if you would like a list of 3rd party calibration contractors.
This article is copyrighted. Please contact Mark Boucher at info@cmmquarterly.com for permission to reprint.
With these pressing financial times may companies will be looking to cut costs. The Quality Control department will certainly be one of the areas that will be looked at. There have been some discussions about how often do we to have the coordinate measuring machine (CMM) calibrated. The standard for the industry has been yearly. Can this be pushed out to two years? Am I violating any customer specifications?
Yearly Calibrations
It has always been standard procedure to have the CMM calibrated yearly. This has been the accepted practice for good reason. One must look at how often your individual CMM is being used, the wear and tear, and the history of your CMM to properly determine if foregoing a calibration cycle is wise.
Before a decision is made about moving out the calibration cycle, it is highly recommended to check with your OEM to how this will affect the OEM warranty and how this will affect their standing behind the manufacturing specification of the CMM. Of course, this will be like checking with the oil company to see if the oil in a car really needs to be changed every 3,000 miles. Yearly calibration is a continuing revenue source for the OEMs but if you have already moved away from the OEM to a contracted 3rd party for calibrations then you have already addressed any concerns about the OEM warranty.
When looking at the CMM as a valued piece of your Quality department and your commitment to the customer to ensure you are producing a good product care must be given to your decision to push out the calibration. My personal recommendation is not to skip any calibration cycle unless the CMM is truly not being used on any regular basis. Even with some of the costs being demanded by the OEMs for calibration these days it is still important to have the preventative maintenance done yearly. Think about the cost associated with repairing a CMM that goes down during a production run. Trying to schedule a service repairman to get your CMM up and running in a timely manner can result in extra costs that may have been avoided if yearly maintenance had been done.
Important things to consider about the consequences of foregoing a yearly calibration:
How often do I use the CMM?
How will this affect my warranty?
How will this affect the OEMs standing behind the published accuracy specs?
Can I afford the cost and time associated with a ‘down’ machine?
Does my 3rd party calibration service offer preventative maintenance as part of their service?
Do I fully understand what my OEM offers when it comes to calibration?
How much money will I really be saving by pushing out the calibration cycle?
Will my customer be affected? Do they have any requirements that will prevent me from changing my calibration schedule?
3rd Party Calibration Services
When contracting a 3rd party calibration service it is important to establish trust in the contractor you choose. As with any contracting service I would recommend calling a few of their customers to get a good understanding how services that are offered where performed. Many of the contracted calibration services are former OEM service repairmen and are well qualified to perform calibrations and repair but it will be important to establish and understand exactly what services will be performed and what type of warranty comes with the service.
You can contact me at http://www.info@cmmquarterly.com/ if you would like a list of 3rd party calibration contractors.
This article is copyrighted. Please contact Mark Boucher at info@cmmquarterly.com for permission to reprint.
CAD Modeling The Basics
By Mark Boucher, CMM Quarterly
I want to cover some basics about CAD models that might help us understand what is happening with some model features when you program from a CAD model using your coordinate measuring machine. By understanding surfaces we can better evaluate any anomalies we may encounter when we import a model into our CAD base CMM software.
There are several model types and we will cover two of the most common ones you would come across today, solid models and surface models. To be more accurate, they are parametric models and freeform surface models.
Parametric Models
Parametric models are created from features that are defined by parameters, or dimensions. These dimensions can be changed and the feature moves with the change. Prior to parametric modeling if a change was made then the feature was recreated, extruded, trimmed, etc…, in the new position and the old feature was deleted. Parametric modeling maintains the relationship of part creation, assembly, to output of the blueprint and a change anywhere along that process will update the model at every level.
Parametric models are referred to as a solid model, as opposed to a wireframe model. A wireframe model is made up of lines that represent the part but have no surfaces on them and makes 3d viewing somewhat tedious.
Parametric modeling revolutionized the CAD industry and allowed more affordable CAD software to become available to anyone. You can now pick up parametric CAD programming software up at your local Best Buy right off the shelf.
Freeform Surface Models
The second model type I want to cover is the surface model. With surface models curves are used to define the surface area and surfaces are applied between the curves then they are trimmed and merged, to make a solid. The problem with this method is to make sure all the voids between the surfaces are filled in. The surface definition changes as the need requires. Let’s say, you have a plane that requires basically four lines to define the boundary of the plane. A chamfer merging into a radius requires a greater amount of defining to create this type of feature. While creating the surfaces you may end up with a small void as you try to fill in the feature. Point placement from your CMM program will be dependant on where it sees the plane boundaries and a void will not be inclusive in this plane so the boundaries are redefined not giving you a true representation of the surface. In parametric modeling these types of transitions are automatically resolved.Some CMM CAD based software have a ‘healing’ or ‘repair’ functionality that will mend some of these errors. It is always advisable to use healing when using this type of model. If your software does not include this functionality there are third party softwares that do the job for you.SurfacesCreation of surfaces begins with a spline, aka curve. Splines are single lines that make up the shape of the surface. Imagine points that make up the shape of your surface and spline will fit through these points. These splines are then used to create the surface through a method known as ‘swept’ (using the curves as a guide rail) or meshed (lofted) through. A ‘swept’ surface follows the shape of the curve line. If you had a helical curve the swept surface will follow that helical shape as it extrudes the surface.
If your engineering department does any sort of reverse engineering they will ask for a series of curve files that they can import into their CAD system. The curve files are then used to ‘mesh’ or ‘loft’ the surfaces. The density or frequency of the curve lines along the surface will depend on the complexity of the surface being scanned. For flat planes only several are needed but scanning the chamfer to radius transition we discussed before would require a greater amount of curves to define the feature.
Another method is direct creation of the surface with manipulation of the surface control points. Points are created along the curves that can be grabbed and drawn in any direction to create a new surface shape. This inherently will create new surfaces to fit the new configuration.
It is important to note that the majority of CMM software in the market today do not have true CAD functionality and thus do not have the ability to manipulate surfaces as described above but it is important to know what is happening during model creation.
This article is copyrighted. For permission to reprint this article please contact Mark Boucher at info@cmmquarterly.com
I want to cover some basics about CAD models that might help us understand what is happening with some model features when you program from a CAD model using your coordinate measuring machine. By understanding surfaces we can better evaluate any anomalies we may encounter when we import a model into our CAD base CMM software.
There are several model types and we will cover two of the most common ones you would come across today, solid models and surface models. To be more accurate, they are parametric models and freeform surface models.
Parametric Models
Parametric models are created from features that are defined by parameters, or dimensions. These dimensions can be changed and the feature moves with the change. Prior to parametric modeling if a change was made then the feature was recreated, extruded, trimmed, etc…, in the new position and the old feature was deleted. Parametric modeling maintains the relationship of part creation, assembly, to output of the blueprint and a change anywhere along that process will update the model at every level.
Parametric models are referred to as a solid model, as opposed to a wireframe model. A wireframe model is made up of lines that represent the part but have no surfaces on them and makes 3d viewing somewhat tedious.
Parametric modeling revolutionized the CAD industry and allowed more affordable CAD software to become available to anyone. You can now pick up parametric CAD programming software up at your local Best Buy right off the shelf.
Freeform Surface Models
The second model type I want to cover is the surface model. With surface models curves are used to define the surface area and surfaces are applied between the curves then they are trimmed and merged, to make a solid. The problem with this method is to make sure all the voids between the surfaces are filled in. The surface definition changes as the need requires. Let’s say, you have a plane that requires basically four lines to define the boundary of the plane. A chamfer merging into a radius requires a greater amount of defining to create this type of feature. While creating the surfaces you may end up with a small void as you try to fill in the feature. Point placement from your CMM program will be dependant on where it sees the plane boundaries and a void will not be inclusive in this plane so the boundaries are redefined not giving you a true representation of the surface. In parametric modeling these types of transitions are automatically resolved.Some CMM CAD based software have a ‘healing’ or ‘repair’ functionality that will mend some of these errors. It is always advisable to use healing when using this type of model. If your software does not include this functionality there are third party softwares that do the job for you.SurfacesCreation of surfaces begins with a spline, aka curve. Splines are single lines that make up the shape of the surface. Imagine points that make up the shape of your surface and spline will fit through these points. These splines are then used to create the surface through a method known as ‘swept’ (using the curves as a guide rail) or meshed (lofted) through. A ‘swept’ surface follows the shape of the curve line. If you had a helical curve the swept surface will follow that helical shape as it extrudes the surface.
If your engineering department does any sort of reverse engineering they will ask for a series of curve files that they can import into their CAD system. The curve files are then used to ‘mesh’ or ‘loft’ the surfaces. The density or frequency of the curve lines along the surface will depend on the complexity of the surface being scanned. For flat planes only several are needed but scanning the chamfer to radius transition we discussed before would require a greater amount of curves to define the feature.
Another method is direct creation of the surface with manipulation of the surface control points. Points are created along the curves that can be grabbed and drawn in any direction to create a new surface shape. This inherently will create new surfaces to fit the new configuration.
It is important to note that the majority of CMM software in the market today do not have true CAD functionality and thus do not have the ability to manipulate surfaces as described above but it is important to know what is happening during model creation.
This article is copyrighted. For permission to reprint this article please contact Mark Boucher at info@cmmquarterly.com
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