Automatic CNC-driven CMMs were long regarded as precise
but complex, even finicky machines, with limited functions, needing a
climate-controlled room and programming from experts. Many of today’s
first-time users still sequester their CMM purchases in special rooms. Nowadays
CMM technologies keeps evolving, equipped with a wide range of sensors, moving
out of specialized rooms and more tightly integrated into the production process,
providing their data in more flexible and useful ways. With this concept, QVI/OGP
Flexpoint MultiSensor Coordinate Measuring Systems are made to replace the
traditional CMMs.
Although some of newer measurement systems may replace the traditional CMM, in many cases they have not. At the same time, many users of CMMs are starting to recognize that a tactile probe is not going to do everything they need it to do. Parts are getting more complex, and features are getting smaller. Not necessarily the parts, but the features on the parts are getting smaller. A tactile probe, either touch trigger or scanning analog, cannot access these features, or capture enough data because the tactile probe has access and speed limitations. There are a variety of reasons why a video camera or a laser is a better tool to measure something. Putting non-contact sensors on the CMM 3D transport can instantly deliver denser data clouds with higher accuracy. QVI’s decision was driven by demand. There are requests from customers with larger parts that wanted to measure features as small and detailed as what they could with our smaller multisensor machines. QVI’s FlexPoint series of CMMs are offered both in a benchtop version and a bridge-style floor model. The Flexpoint has options for Renishaw TP20, TP200 and SP25 tactile probes, as well as video, laser probes, or interferometry probes housed in a multisensor cluster at the end of an articulating head attached to the CMM drive mechanism, all powered by ZONE3®CAD based metrology software. With several sensors simultaneously available, there is no down time while individual sensors are exchanged from a change rack, and no need to recalibrate each time a sensor is used.
FlexPoint systems feature a stable transport design with carefully selected materials, rigid body members, air bearings on all axes, and active temperature compensation, to perform in shop floor environments. Unique and patented design features enable a larger measuring volume within a compact footprint.
Factory volumetric calibration using the Etalon® Trac-Cal laser system ensures the lowest possible calibration uncertainty. In the field, machine accuracy verification is performed according to ISO 10360-2:2009.
