QUALITY
To expand MOM, Wasilesky said, means expanding cus- tomer education. Manufacturing engineers today may not be aware of how much more optimized their shop could be. “I think there is a potential to increase manufacturing
effi ciency, especially in automotive, by comparative leaps and bounds through Metrology Optimized Manufacturing,” he said. The concept must be reaching manufacturers, and Wasilesky noted that the automation side of the metrology market is growing at close to 20% per year, whereas the rest of the quality-related market is growing at about 6%. He said this is due in large part to greater customer acceptance of optical metrology methods over contact probes, a sentiment shared by others in a number of conversations. The tech- nology has gotten better, there are more choices of optical methods to choose from, and processing software hosted on increasingly faster computing plat- forms has improved dramatically. “While the principles are the same, it has just become much more capable,” he said. A good example of this convergence of faster optics, bet- ter algorithms and powerful computing is the Zeiss AIMax cloud optical 3D sensor. Classifi ed as a structured light system, it relies on only one projector and one sensor. This makes for a more compact sensing head, but perhaps more signifi cant is that the system is programmed to measure features quickly, typically in less than 0.5 sec—think of holes, slots, rivets, or T-pins—from a point cloud rather than providing the point cloud as the fi nal result. This makes for a system that is ideal for in-line inspection, especially for automotive sheet metal and BIW (Body in White) components. Wasilesky stated the system, including sensor and robotic movement, could provide 300 μm or better of measuring accuracy to Six Sigma.
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AdvancedManufacturing.org | March 2017 Zeiss also offers solutions for near-line measurements as well
as faster, optical replacements for CMMs on the shop fl oor for off-line measurements that are also near the point of production. The AIBox is such a complete system aimed at getting CMM levels of accuracy without a trip to a quality room. The AIBox is capable of measuring less than 40 μm of spherical error to the VDI 2634 standard using both a digital fringe projection system with a standard photogrammetry device. It is for large parts up to 2000 mm in size and 1000 kg in weight standard.
Automation and Parts One of the more useful optical metrology devices for em- bedding in an automated system are video systems on preci- sion movement tables, such as the Nikon iNEXIV series. Since the measuring system includes a camera, it is easily adapted
Collaborative systems by Alicona are based on the combination of robotics and high-resolution optical 3D measurement. They run both in manual and automatic mode.
to vision tasks, opening new possibilities, such as reading bar codes or QR codes that are common with parts today, according to Nate Frost, product manager for Nikon Metrology (Brighton, MI). “We can also read text data, either a part num- ber on a part or on a printed paper that might accompany the part.” This takes automation to the next level, because reading a bar code and identifying the part means the device can call up the correct measuring program and automatically record the results in a report for that individual part.
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