Industry 4.0: inline metrology on the up

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M&H will at the Metav be exhibiting probes and software, enabling “the most direct form of inline metrology” to be implemented. “Our technology is used in the machine in which it also measures data directly in the process,” Löhr explains. “An important role is played by the CAD-based program 3D Form Inspect, which reads in the user’s 3D CAD model.” Thanks to the software, control geometries plus shapes on all sides can be quickly and easily measured and recorded directly on the machine tool.

The software transfers all defined measuring points to the machine’s control system. On the machine itself, a direct target-actual comparison is performed, in which the component concerned is measured in its clamped state. “Our patented calibration strategy enables us to achieve precise measurements in 3-axis and 5-axis machine tools,” says the managing director. “This means we can measure inside the machine’s positioning accuracy.” For this purpose, the software acquires kinematic changes, different axis behaviours like tracking errors and thermal shifts in the workroom. All these factors are taken into due account by 3D Form Inspect, which compensates for them automatically during the measuring operation.

Additional Information

Background information

Faculty for Production Metrology and Quality Management, RWTH Aachen University

The Faculty for Production Metrology and Quality Management at the Machine Tool Laboratory of RWTH Aachen University performs research and teaching in the following core specialisms: development and optimisation of measuring processes and instruments, production-integrated metrology and close-to-machine quality control circuits, quality management systems, knowledge, innovation and improvement management, plus methods and computer support for quality management.

M&H Inprocess Messtechnik GmbH, Waldburg

The subsidiary of Hexagon Metrology Services Ltd. from Cobham in the UK produces probes that measure workpieces on milling machines, machining centres, lathes, turning and milling centres, grinding machines, specialised machines and robots. They can be used not only for aligning workpieces in small batches and in medium to largeseries manufacturing operations, but also for inspecting geometries directly in the machine. Turnover (Hexagon) 2014: 2.6 billion euros; employees (Hexagon) 2014: 14,864.

Metav 2016 in Düsseldorf

The 19th International Exhibition for Metalworking Technologies will showcase the entire spectrum of production technology. The principal focuses are machine tools, production systems, high-precision tools, automated material flows, computer technology, industrial electronics, and accessories, complemented by the new themes of moulding, medical, additive manufacturing and quality, which are now permanently anchored in what are called “areas” with their own nomenclature in the Metav’s exhibition programme.

The exhibition's target group for visitors includes all branches of industry that work metal, particularly machinery and plant manufacturers, the automotive industry and its component suppliers, aerospace, the electrical engineering industry, energy and medical technologies, tool and mould-aking, plus metalworking and the craft sector.

Quality area at the Metav 2016

Methods for quality assurance are developing at a rapid pace, belong in every manufacturing process, and are therefore of interest to all production experts. One of the crucial elements for quality is modern-day metrology. Users are demanding

progressively shorter measuring times, which is why more and more functions are being integrated into the individual machines. In addition, consistent processing of the measured results during the course of machine monitoring and process control is gaining steadily in perceived importance. Industry 4.0 is now being complemented by Quality 4.0. The Quality Area is ideally intermeshed in the keynote topics addressed by

the Metav, and the declared aim of ensuring high standards of quality throughout all phases of the production process. It showcases the entire bandwidth of measuring and testing technology, plus QM and analytical systems.

Further processing on all levels and axes

To also enable machine operators to handle complex measuring jobs quickly and easily without any prior knowledge of programming, 3D Form Inspect can be operated intuitively. For this purpose, they simply specify the measuring points with a mouse-click, whereupon these are transferred automatically to the control system. The measurements and the log correspond to the actual state of the component concerned in regard to the machining zero point. Thanks to a special software function, a log can be created that corresponds to that of a coordinate measuring instrument. Within the machining operation, the component can, with the aid of the “best-fit” option, be completely re-aligned and further machined at any time on all levels and axes.

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Whereas previously the software was used primarily in tool and mould construction, nowadays, according to m&h, it’s deployed in numerous branches of industry, by automakers, the energy sector, all the way through to the aerospace industry. One of the benefits, says Löhr, is using it with complex component shapes, without any straight reference surfaces, which otherwise can be clamped and aligned only in an elaborate procedure. An important role is also played by the hardware, where the company is proud of the “smallest infrared probe on the market”, which thanks to a tiny diameter of just 25 mm can also be used in extremely small high-precision machine tools, in the watchmaking or medical technology sectors, for example.

Another advantage cited by Löhr is the versatility of the evaluation function. To quote him: “Some users send the measurement reports for each individual component directly to their customers. Others use the program for no longer measuring every component on the coordinate measuring instrument, which now checks only random samples.”

Nikolaus Fecht is a specialist journalist from Gelsenkirchen, Germany.

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