Machining cells incorporate measurement systems

GF AgieCharmilles and Hexagon Metrology have announced their collaboration to incorporate measurement systems into machining cells.

The ProductionCell integrates GF AgieCharmilles machining cells with CMM technology from Hexagon to create a complete closed-loop manufacturing system.

The system combines five-axis milling and wire electrical discharge milling with a Brown and Sharpe Global Advantage 7.10.7 CMM from Hexagon Metrology.

With a new interface for PC-DMIS measurement software, GF AgieCharmilles machining cells can incorporate the entire spectrum of Hexagon Metrology automatic CMMs into the production process.

Connecting the different elements of the ProductionCell is a seven-axis handling device, a linear rail-mounted industrial robot by Fanuc Robotics.

The handling device transports parts from station to station.

The robot tends to several collect chucks, which can be adjusted based on the individual project.

The pallet magazine capacity is also variable depending on project needs.

A central PC running the cell-control software automatically guides all processes.

The software automatically loads specific part programs into the CMM through a dedicated interface.

Then, the inspection program is remotely initiated.

The Brown and Sharpe CMM performs two functions.

First, the CMM is used to determine the offset data during the preparation for production.

The collected offset data is transferred from the CMM to the cell-control software.

Tools then use this data as reference points in part machining.

Second, the CMM is used for dimensional quality control of complete parts.

During quality inspection of the finished parts, reports can be output as a Word document, an Excel spreadsheet, or a PDF file.

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