Measurement device for on-machine inspection

Faro Technologies has developed the PowerGAGE, a portable measurement device that enables manufacturers to verify that a part meets CAD specifications.

Faro Technologies, provider of portable CAM2 solutions, has released the Faro PowerGAGE, a measurement device that adds CAD-to-part analysis capability to the Faro gauge product line.

"The Faro PowerGAGE serves the unfulfilled market need for on-machine inspection (OMI) estimated at $1.5 billion," Faro President and Co-CEO Jay Freeland said.

"It is a tremendous opportunity, as this is the only portable measurement device that enables manufacturers to verify that a part meets the CAD file's specs to within .0002 of an inch - right on the machine that's producing the part." The PowerGAGE is different from its Faro gauge and gauge-PLUS counterparts in that it can perform CAD-to-part analysis.

Whereas the FaroArm enables users to reverse engineer and use more than 60 different software platforms, the PowerGAGE runs exclusively on a version of Delcam's PowerINSPECT - software already used by the majority of the OMI market.

When equipped with both of PowerINSPECT's Programmer and Play-Only modules, PowerGAGE users can...

*Create inspection programs/routines offline for anyone in the facility to run.

*Import all major industry CAD formats.

*Perform surface inspection against master CAD files.

*Receive on-screen instructions including images and videos.

*Access a full suite of geometric inspection tools.

*Automatically optimise the viewing angle of the part as they measure.

*Save all inspection data and run customised reports.

The PowerGAGE, which resembles a short, metallic arm, is a high-tech, yet user-friendly manufacturing inspection device.

Instead of taking the part to an expensive fixed CMM in a climate-controlled room, they can mount the PowerGAGE directly to where the part is being made.

As the user traces the arm's tip over the part's entire surface, the system's laptop computer verifies all of the part's 3-D measurements against the original CAD file - the digital "blueprint" - to see if it was made correctly and, if not, where it needs to be corrected, thus reducing scrap, re-work and labour costs.

"We developed the PowerGAGE as a direct result of input from customers who wanted the high, .0002" accuracy of our Faro gauge-PLUS, but needed expanded capability to handle CAD-to-part analysis," Freeland said.

"When you consider the low introductory cost of around $34,500, the value to the OMI market and the fact that an entire department can be trained in only two hours, the PowerGAGE's return on investment is substantial and almost immediate.".

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