Metrology Minute

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 [...]

Analyzing airfoil shapes is easier than ever using the Control X Airfoil Analysis technology. Upon completion of scanning the airfoil and aligning with the nominal CAD model, the software is able to return dozens of useful parameters, necessary for complete airfoil analysis. Some of the parameters include: Leading and trailing edge radii Leading and trailing edge positions in space Maximum chord height Leading (and trailing) Edge position in space relative to the model origin Axial [...]

The Control X Plot Comparison Tool will analyze the thickness, curvature, and angle of Measured data (point cloud or mesh) and uses color mapping to display the results. You can also pinpoint specific point locations on the model to return actual values for the plot being reviewed, at those specified locations. One of the unique aspects of this tool is it does not require Reference data. All calculations utilize a single Measured mesh or point [...]

The Comparison Point Analysis tool in Control X lets you to click on arbitrary point locations on the Reference (CAD) model and compare those to the same point, mapped to the Measured (mesh) model. This is a useful tool for identifying the accuracy of random point locations on the model. The typical method of mapping a point is using the “Along Normal” vector option, radiating from the selected point on the Ref model and projecting [...]

Product Manufacturing Information (PMI) is a topic that continues to grow legs throughout our Control X user community. It allows for the seamless transfer of manufacturing data to other systems for downstream applications. For example, the connecting arm below was created in Solidworks, one of the many CAD systems that support PMI. Notice that datums, dimensions with tolerances, as well as GD&T callouts are placed onto the 3D model in Solidworks. These PMI tools are [...]

When considering analytic 2D and 3D features, Control X can return a lot of useful information from manufactured features on an aligned scan. For example, when considering cylinders (holes) in a manufactured part (3D Printed, machined, etc.), Geometry Deviation analysis can return essentially all of the pertinent data required for manufacturing in terms of measuring location, size, and orientation. In the example of the gas valve below, the scan of the machined part was already [...]