CMM-Manager 3.5 Software

Quality inspection is an absolutely integral part of bringing parts to market. From pacemakers to aircraft engines, detecting flaws in critical parts before final products are completed and mass-produced can save lives and ensure product performance.

The traditional problem is that inspection takes time. Inspecting a first-off product can take hours on its own and hold up the entire production process. Inspection technology such as coordinate measuring machines (CMMs) and vision inspection systems continue to add sophisticated features, but at times system software has not been the most user-friendly. One modern development has been inspecting a component's 3D CAD model to save time and improve efficiency. "Inspecting CAD and 3D is definitely a checklist item," says Mike Provenzano, applications engineer for vision products at Nikon Metrology. "If you don't have it, you're off a customer's checklist."

Well, check off another item. Nikon Metrology announces CMM-Manager 3.5 for Nikon's iNexiv vision measuring equipment. With a powerful and user-friendly interface, CMM-Manager 3.5 works with vision measuring, autofocus laser scanning, rotary indexing, and touch probing to provide a true 3D multi-sensor system for both physical products and 3D CAD models.

"CAD is now an integrated part of product measuring and inspection," says Nate Frost, Nikon product manager. "It's important because it opens up opportunities to take programming and inspection offline and save significant time bringing new products to market."

Historically, vision hardware technology has outpaced software development. "Previous software versions assumed you were working in a 2D template on an X-Y workplane," Frost explains. The latest CMM-Manager can import 3D CAD models and pick features to create automatic probe paths for both vision and tactile measuring. It can align any part regardless of part complexity or geometry for the most efficient inspection and measuring. Simulations can be run and inspection results can be verified in real time. In fact, the more complete the CAD model, the more efficient the inspection process becomes, Frost adds.

"With vision, autofocus laser, rotary indexer, and tactile input, we can even measure features and geometry you can't see," he says. 3D input also can be expressed as 3D output in the forms of charts and models as opposed to long tables of X-Y data, making reporting and decision making much faster and easier.

CMM-Manager 3.5 is not only available for iNexiv equipment, it can be retrofitted onto existing CMMs and articulated arms from Nikon Metrology and other technology providers.