Overview

• Coordinate measuring machines (CMMs) are extremely powerful

metrological instrument
• It is a device for measuring the physical geometrical characteristics of
an object
• This machine may be manually controlled by an operator or it may be
computer controlled.
• Measurements are defined by a probe attached to the third moving
axis of this machine
• This probe touches the part of interest and allows collecting discrete
points on the object's surface.
Measuring using CMM
 THE ROLE OF COORDINATE MEASURING
MACHINES
• CMMs play an important role in a large number of
industries, including;
– Aerospace
– Automotive
– Food processing
– Health care
– Paper
– Pharmaceuticals
– Plastics
– Research and development
– Semiconductor
 Comparison between conventional and
coordinate measuring technology

CONVENTIONAL COORDINATE METROLOGY

METROLOGY
Manual, time consuming alignment Alignment of the test piece not
of the test piece necessary

Single purpose and multi-point Simple adaptation to the measuring

measuring instruments making it test by software
hard to adapt to changing
measuring task
Comparison of measurement with Comparison of measurement with
material measures, i.e., gauge mathematical or numerical value
block
Separate determination of size, form, Determination of size, form, location
location and orientation with and orientation in one setup using
different machines one reference system
 TYPES OF CMMs
• The basic CMM has three perpendicular axis; x,y,z
• The physical configuration of CMMs vary widely, but they all provide
a way to move a probe in three axes with respect to workpiece
• Five basic configurations that are used more frequently
1. Cantilever
2. Bridge
3. Column
4. Horizontal arm
5. Gantry Moving bridge
Fixed bridge
Cantilever type
• A vertical probe moves in the z-axis
• Carried by a cantilevered arm that moves in the y-
axis
• This arm also moves laterally through the x-axis
• Advantage- a fixed table allows good accessibility
to the workpiece
• Disadvantage- the bending caused by the
cantilever design
• The cantilever design offers a long table with
relatively small measuring ranges in the other
two axis.
• Suitable for measuring long, thin part
 Moving bridge type

• Most widely used

• Has stationary table to support
workpiece to be measured and a
moving bridge
• Disadvantage- with this design, the
phenomenon of yawing (sometimes
called walking) can occur- affect the
accuracy
• Advantage- reduce bending effect
 Fixed bridge type
• In the fixed bridge configuration, the bridge is
rigidly attached to the machine bed
• This design eliminates the phenomenon of
walking and provides high rigidity
 Column type

• Often referred to as universal

measuring machine instead of CMM
• The column type CMM construction
provides exceptional rigidity and
accuracy
• These machines are usually reserved
for gage rooms rather than inspection
Horizontal arm type

• Unlike the previous machines, the basic

horizontal arm-type CMM
• Also referred to as layout machine
• Has a moving arm, and the probe is carried
along the y-axis
• Advantage- provides a large area,
unobstructed work area
• Ideal configuration for measurement of
automobile parts
 Gantry type

• The support of workpiece is independent

of the x and y axes, both are overhead,
supported by four vertical columns rising
from the floor
• This setup allows you to walk along the
workpiece with the probe, which is
helpful for extremely large pieces
Gantry configuration with dual linear motor drives,
laser scales an online compensation
 MODES OF OPERATION
• Manual
• Manual computer assisted
• Motorized computer assisted
• Direct computer controlled
 Manual
• CMM has a free floating probe that operator
move along the machine’s three axes to
establish contact with the part feature that
accessing
• The differences among the contact positions
are the measurements
 Manual computer assisted
• Add electronic digital displays for these
machines, making zero setting, changing sign,
converting unit, and printing out data easy
and practical
• Advantage- save time, minimize calculation,
reduce error
 Motorized computer assisted
• Uses a joystick to drive the machine axes
• The operator manipulates the joysticks to
bring the probe sensor into contact with the
workpiece
 Direct computer controlled (DCC)
• Fully programmable
• Use CAD data to determine where the probe sensor contacts the workpiece,
collecting measurement data
• The fully automated CMM allows operator to place the workpiece in a fixture/
worktable, run a stored program, collect the data points and generate the
output report
• Measurement reports can be saved in the computer to compile a historical
record for SPC.
• A program of DCC machine has three components:
1. Movement commands – direct the probe to the data collection points
2. Measurement command – compare the distance traveled with the standard built
into the machine for that axis
3. Formatting command- translate the data into a form for display or print out
TYPES OF PROBES
• Two general categories
1. Contact (see figure)
• Touch-trigger probe
• Analog scanning probe
2. Noncontact
For inspection of printed circuit board,
measuring a clay of wax model, when the
object being measured would be deformed
by the for of stylus
• laser probes
• video probes
 Contact probes
1. Touch trigger probe
• As the sensor makes contact with the part, the difference in contact
resistance indicates that the probe has been deflected
• The computer records this contact point coordinate space
• An LED light and an audible signal usually indicate contact
• Touch probe assemblies consist of three components; probe head, probe
and stylus
2. Analog scanning probe
• Use to measure contour surfaces, complex, irregular
• Remains in contact with the surface of the part as it moves
• Improve the speed and accuracy
 Non-contact probe
1. Laser scanning probe
– Laser probes project a light beam onto the surface of a part
– When the light beam is triggered, the position of beam is read by
triangulation through a lens in the probe receptor
– Laser tool have a high degree of speed and accuracy
2. Video probe
– The feature are measured by computer ‘count’ of the pixels of the
electronic image
– The camera is capable of generating multitude of measurements
points within a single video frame
Probe head, probes and stylus
Multiple shapes of sylus
 Non -contact inspection Methods
• Machine Vision
• The operation of machine vision has three
functions:
• Image acquisition and digitization;
• Image processing and analysis;
• Interpretation.
 Image acquisition and digitization

•Image consisting of discrete pixel elements is captured in the viewing area;

• Each pixel has a value proportional to the light intensity of that portion of the scene.
• The intensity value of each pixel is converted into its equivalent digital value by an
analogue-to-digital converter
 Image processing and analysis
A number of techniques have been developed so that data produced during
the first phase of machine vision may be processed and analysed. These
general techniques are called segmentation (a technique intended to define
and separate regions of interest within the image), and feature extraction
(which follows on from various segmentation processes)
The extracted features of the image are guide from
which interpretation of the
image emerges; that is, interpretation is concerned
with recognizing the object (object recognition),
and/or recognizing the major features of the
object (pattern recognition). Predefined models
or standard values are used to identify the object
in the image. Two commonly-used interpretation
techniques are:
 Interpretation
• Template matching—a method whereby the
features of the image are compared against
corresponding features of a model or template
stored in the computer memory
• Feature weighting—a technique in which several
features are combined into a single measure by
assigning a weight to each feature according to its
relative importance in identifying the object, and
where the resultant score is compared against an
ideal object score stored in computer memory, to
achieve proper identification
 Machine Vision Applications
• Dimensional measurement on parts or
products
• Dimensional gauging on parts or products
• Verification of the presence of components
• Verification of hole location and number of
holes
• Detection of surface flaws and defects
Other Optical Inspection Methods
• Conventional optical instruments
optical comparators and microscopes;
scanning laser device
• The system uses a laser beam that is deflected
by a rotating mirror to produce a beam of light
that can be focused to sweep past an object;
• while on the other side of the object, a
photo-detector senses the light sweep, except
when it is interrupted by the object, and this
interruption time may be measured and
related to the size and shape of the object
with great accuracy.