Ensure that full functionality is permanently maintained by setting up precise individual jigs as well as complex assemblies of production cells and production lines, whether during initial installation, adjustment after longer use or within the scope of periodic inspection intervals.

• Positions of all components, fittings, brackets, and so on are measured with laser trackers or PCMMs and compared to the nominal CAD model.
• Actual deviations are logged both graphically and in tabular form. This allows an immediate correction of the test item on-site with fitters and project managers and carried out immediately if necessary.

For quality assurance, inspection of in-line robots is recommended. These are often used in production lines to load jigs and weld components together.

Robots work more accurately in relation to the machining object if they are correctly measured and calibrated. VMT supports the setup of robot systems, assists the plant rebuilt with metrology, and determine the actual geometries of entire robot cells. VMT’s services also include the alignment of the robot base as well as the measurement and adjustment of additional linear axes.

We also measure the spatial grid by moving to dozens of nominal points with the tooltip and various axes of the robot. Using the deviations between the actual and nominal data, an experienced operator can then reteach the robot.

Furthermore, laser trackers can be used to record the actual tracks of dynamically driven paths (3D point acquisition can then take place at up to 1,000 Hz). 6DOF equipment can be used to determine additional information such as DH parameters as well as tilts and twists of the tooltip.

For production and assembly cycles to run smoothly and, in some cases, fully automatically, all machines and systems involved must be precisely aligned and positioned in relation to each other.

For the basic alignment of machines and equipment in production halls, classic standard geodetic tasks are used:

• Staking out of hall layouts
• Positioning in 2D and 3D systems
• Alignments
• Level alignments
• Parallelisms
• Perpendicularities

In addition to large-volume alignments, the methods can also be carried out for small-volume objects:

• Alignment of several rollers to each other
• Positioning of small components such as brackets on larger carriers

Acquiring measurement data with static single points does not apply to all applications. If factors such as time, data volume or movement play a role in the measurement, dynamic methods can be used.

This applies to robots, but also:

• Real-time deformation measurements
• Tracking of motion sequences
• Monitoring of assembly processes

Successive measuring points can be recorded in two different ways during dynamic measurements:

• Using a spatial distance interval (for example, with a 1/10mm or more distance between each point)
• Using a temporal distance interval (from a fraction of a second to hours or even days)

Today, design data are generally available in the form of CAD models, which build the basis for many component inspections. In terms of metrology, VMT can check the following issues:

• Does the component fulfil the specifications from the design?
• Are there any deformations or production errors?
• Are serial parts produced with consistent quality?

The measurement instrument is first positioned in relation to the part in the same coordinate system. Various alignment methods and transformations are used to aligning the measurement object. These include Best-Fits via defined reference points, geometries or via user-defined object points.

Afterwards, measurement data on the geometries and surfaces to be inspected is statically or dynamically recorded. The comparison of the actual data with the nominal data of the CAD model is graphically shown with false-colour visualisation. The quality assessment is facilitated by the display of measured values in tabular form. Simultaneously, tolerance specifications and other GD&T specifications can be checked and logged.

When assembling several components and checking dimensional accuracy, it is important to adhere to manufacturing tolerances from the design. They are intended to ensure functionality and minimise the risk of component failure during its service life.

Examples:

• Concentricity of a shaft
• Parallelism of rollers
• Flatness and squareness of stamping machines

Inspections often start with the smallest components and continue through the entire production and assembly cycle of machines and plants.

Tests can be performed against constructed nominal data that have different origins:

• Data from 2D drawing files
• Data in 3D design files from CAD programs

In industrial measurement, scanning is used for a wide variety of measurement tasks. The area-based acquisition of measurement data on surfaces creates point clouds for nominal versus actual comparisons, geometry checks, initial sampling, quality controls and inspections.

Digitisation and reverse engineering are used for dimensioning, CAD data creation, polygon mesh generation and data capture for 3D printers, as a basis for milling positive and negative moulds, or simply to create digital models for archival purposes.

Periodical geometry checks of machines and plants, for example once per year, are an important contribution to quality assurance. Create clear inspection reports for this purpose, which can be used for documentation and as verification for end customers.