Experts assess current, future inspection technologies

Where is the field of inspection headed and, more importantly, where do the manufacturers that depend on it desire it to head? In 2014, the Coordinate Metrology Society (CMS) combined forces with the University of North Carolina-Charlotte to find out. They applied for and received an Advanced Manufacturing Technology Consortia Grant from the U.S. National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) that year and used it to establish a consortium of stakeholders with the mission of fully inspecting inspection itself—from the smallest to the largest applications.

Hexagon’s automated 360º Flexible Measurement Cell is modular, scalable and portable. Image courtesy Hexagon Machining Intelligence.

Called the PrecisionPath Consortium for Large-Scale Manufacturing, it is an industry-driven group working to identify and prioritize the technology needs of companies that manufacture small-to-large-scale, high-accuracy parts and products.

Ron Hicks, a founding member of CMS and chair of the new consortium, has never liked the term “large scale” being part of its name. “We are creating a road map to improve all of metrology,” he said. “Many of our members are aerospace OEMs, but they do small-scale inspection as well, and we’re really trying to help the manufacturing industry as a whole, small and large scale.”

When CTE spoke to Hicks in November, the consortium had just met to begin evaluating the results of a survey aimed at discerning the state of inspection technology. “We asked, ‘What kind of coordinate metrology tools are you using most? And what do you see needing to improve?’ ”

Hicks, who is also vice president of services for Automated Precision Inc., Rockville, Md., is the lead writer of a report based on the results, which he expects will be finished and released by summer. In the meantime, he shared some observations based on the data—and on his own years of experience.

“In the past decade, the inspection technology that has improved the most has been laser tracker systems,” he said. “From the survey, we know that they’re the most-used systems as well. Another area that’s seen a lot of improvement is scanning technology—which would be for either large or small parts, obviously—and being able to accurately scan something very quickly and come up with the results instantaneously. We’ve seen a tremendous improvement on both the hardware and software sides.”

The Software Dimension

The industry has seen improvements in how software can increase versatility and throughput with a number of inspection technologies, according to Hicks.

Mike Provenzano, vision product manager for Nikon Metrology Inc., Brighton, Mich., concurred. “More and more, customers are referring back to 3D CAD models to facilitate the inspection process,” he said. “They not only can compare a part to the model, but also can use information from the 3D model to drive the CNC [inspection] machinery,” which is especially helpful if the part has an irregular shape.

“An example specific to us is our move from the AutoMeasure software platform to the CMM Manager platform” on the Nikon iNexiv vision measuring system, Provenzano continued. The standard AutoMeasure software assumed users were working in a 2D template on an X-Y work plane. AutoMeasure will still be in demand from some users, and for certain visually intensive applications it has advantages. However, CMM Manager has an added dimension.

CMM Manager can import 3D CAD models and pick features to create automatic probe paths. “It can align any part, regardless of part complexity or geometry, for the most efficient inspection and measuring,” Provenzano said. Simulations can be run and inspection results can be verified in real time. And, he added, the more complete the CAD model, the more efficient the inspection process becomes.

Software capabilities have grown along with hardware. Nikon Metrology’s iNexiv vision measuring system has moved from the 2D-based AutoMeasure platform to the 3D-based CMM Manager platform, which reportedly enables the use of 3D CAD models to improve and expedite the inspection process. Image courtesy Nikon Metrology.

The software was introduced on iNexiv in 2015, but, according to Provenzano, it is still evolving. “We’re up to Version 3.6 now, which includes some video features we’d had available on AutoMeasure but not on CMM Manager—until now,” he said.

Cell Division

CMS’s Hicks said the use of automation to improve quality and throughput continues to grow. “As more companies turn to automation, they’ll want metrology to be part of their work cells and not hold up a manufacturing process,” he said.

Keith Gudeman, business development manager at Hexagon Manufacturing Intelligence, Wixom, Mich., has seen that demand from his customers—and not only from low-mix, high-volume automotive supply-chain companies, which were the earliest adopters. “High-mix, low-volume producers are moving to automation as well—and need inspection to be part of it,” he said.

That demand led to the development of the company’s 360º Flexible Measurement Cell, unveiled at IMTS 2016. The FMC consists of off-the-shelf, work-cell-system components integrated with Hexagon measurement systems.