Product category:
Vision and scanning systems
News Release from: AMAP (University of Sunderland) | Subject: AMAP Digital Factory at 3M OH and ESD
Edited by the Manufacturingtalk Editorial
Team on 28 February 2008
3D scanning saves weeks on tooling
inspection
Inspecting multiple sets of manufacturing tooling parts using traditional inspection methods would have taken three weeks, instead it took two days using 3D scanning.
Fraser Shearer, Advanced Manufacturing Technologist for 3M OH and ESD, Newton Aycliffe, UK, wanted to inspect multiple sets of manufacturing tooling parts, that were causing manufacturing process defects Using traditional inspection methods it could have taken as long as three weeks and at high cost, but with assistance from AMAP Digital Factory, he achieved it in two days at very little cost
This article was originally published on Manufacturingtalk on 10 Apr 2007 at 8.00am (UK)
Related stories
Digital factory project aids stairlift sales
Bison Bede has boosted its sales after calling in experts from the NEPA Digital Factory project, delivered by AMAP, helping its stairlift products.
Professional awards for support member
'Reach out' support consultancy AMAP has announced that two of its most recent members have successfully been awarded with prestigious industry recognised professional awards.
Lead consultant with Digital Factory, Sajid Abdullah, demonstrated the modern scanning application for inspection purposes.
3D inspection of the multiple sets of tooling used by 3M was performed using current data capturing software that combines the speed of non-contact 3D scanning with a new level of simplicity for computer-aided inspection (CAI).
Traditional Inspection with CMM machines requires that designers prroduce a 2D drawing in addition to the 3D CAD model of a part.
The drawing is used to inspect the part at specific locations to verify that it matches the design.
Abdullah explained: "The Geomagic Qualify software used by the Digital Factory Team processes point cloud data from a 3D scanner.
It provides a graphical comparison of the manufactured part vs.
the CAD model, automatically performing first-article inspection, tool validation, wear analysis, object alignment, and 2D and 3D dimensional analysis.
Reports can be generated automatically in many standard formats including Microsoft Word, PDF documents, Excel spreadsheets, customizable graphics formats, or as VRML models embedded into HTML".
He added that by producing 3D point cloud data of the components, Digital Factory was able to measure the components in every dimension, without limitations of using specific locations on a 2D drawing.
Shearer said: "He was very thankful to NEPA projects, in particular to Nepa Best Practice Team, who initially introduced 3M to the AMAP Digital Factory Team.
Working with the support of Nepa/AMAP Digital factory allowed 3M to identify immediately where the components do and don't match the master set of tooling and CAD data, the output produced was in the form of 3D graphical report allowing 3M to quickly understand where the problems lay and make necessary changes.".
• AMAP (University of Sunderland): contact details and other news
• Email this article to a colleague
• Register for the free Manufacturingtalk email newsletter
• Manufacturingtalk Home Page
Search the Pro-Talk network of sites
