Metrology Minute

In past Metrology Minute articles, we discussed the ability to import PMI data into Control X using the File, Import PMI option. As a reminder, PMI (Product Manufacturing Information) allows dissimilar systems to share manufacturing information specifically related to dimensioning and tolerances. So, for example, a Solidworks user can add PMI to their Solidworks model (see example below) using the MBD tab and then that PMI information, including but not limited to; Datums, dimensions with [...]

When objects are scanned for inspection, Control X needs to be able to review the scan and extract analytic features from the scan. For instance, when measuring a radius, the software needs to be able to distinguish where one radius CAD feature ends and a new feature starts in order to perform an accurate measurement. Using the CAD model below as it example, it is comprised of many analytic features, such as cylinders, planes, tori, [...]

During your inspection process, you might find an area that you would like to blow up and highlight. In the water pump example below, we wanted to create a cutaway and zoom in on the section of the circled hole region in Control X. In order to do this in Design X, you first need to add the dimensions. From there, you can turn on the View Clipping option, which is located in the Display [...]

Attention Mastercam Users Who Need To: Design machinable parts from point clouds or mesh files. Have access to incredible sketching, solid and surface modeling CAD tools. Machine parts when no drawing or model exists. Repair broken parts where no CAD model or Drawing exists. Introducing Design X Essentials for Mastercam Users Scan-based Step/Parasolid files vs CAD-Based Step/Parasolid Files – What’s the difference? Some of you may have experienced the nightmare of attempting to create good [...]

In this issue of our Metrology Minute, we will discuss how to resize section planes so that just the necessary geometry is displayed. This becomes extremely useful for very complex models where you want to draw the reviewer’s attention to a specific location on the model. In order to do this, the first thing we needed to do, in our example below, was to create the plane that we planned to use to create the [...]

While most users of Control X are interested in producing color maps, whisker plots, dimension checks, and GD&T analysis of the scan as compared to the nominal CAD model, it is important to note that there are several “mesh-only” functions for measuring a scan model that do not require a nominal CAD model. The Measure Distance menu simply measures the distance between two points. You just need to keep in mind that the distances are [...]

Control X is a powerful metrology product with dozens of inspection tools available including; 2D and 3D dimensioning, GD&T analysis, color maps, Whisker plots, and many more. After all of the inspection tools are deployed for a specific inspection plan, you can create a date and time-stamped report, serialized for a particular part scan. This ensures that the inspection report of a single-part scan against a nominal CAD model is correctly identified and stored. But [...]