What Is X-Ray Printed Circuit Board (PCB) Inspection?

What Is X-Ray Machine PCB Inspection? With so many electronics on the market today, reliable functionality is what separates quality products from the competition. Everyday consumers count on their gadgets to work when they need them to. But for professionals in medicine, aerospace, and military operations, properly functioning electronics can quite literally be a matter […]

What Is Metrology and Why Is It Needed?

What is Metrology and Why is it Needed?

Metrology is the scientific study of measurement. This field of study defines measurements under a common understanding, applies these measurements in practice, and uses them in analysis across industries. Because of its broad applicability, metrology is used worldwide to establish accuracy and precision in many critical fields.

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What Is a CMM Machine: Components, Uses, and Benefits

What Is a CMM Machine? Components, Uses, and Benefits of CMM Measurement

Strong manufacturing depends on the precise measurement of parts and components. Every part needs to be identical to ensure correct functionality, but sometimes, irregularities in fabrication and production can lead to discrepancies in the dimensions of manufactured parts. Without accurate measurement, dimensional errors can result in products failing to operate properly.

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What Is the Reverse Engineering Process and How Does It Work?

How Does Reverse Engineering Work?

Reverse engineering is the process of analyzing and deconstructing something to see how it works. An example would be taking apart an alarm clock to understand what each piece does – and how the pieces work together.

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Using Transformation Matrices with Point Clouds

When working with large point clouds, particularly those from our FARO Focus S 350 long range scanner, it is often necessary to modify the existing point cloud to align or organize the data. For example, scans from the long range scanner are translated and rotated in all six degrees of freedom to align to one another and create a contiguous point cloud. To do this, a transformation matrix is applied to the data.

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Is There a Difference In: Accreditation, Compliance and Competence?

Who do you trust to tell you what your parts measure and how the parts compare to the standards of 3D CAD / 2D drawing specifications?

How do you know that you can trust them in the first place?

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What are my Part Digitizing Options? Buy a Scanner or Use a Service

Most companies that have a need to digitize parts ask the “Make/Buy” question.  Do I purchase part scanning equipment and train staff (Make) or do I find a good service provider (Buy)?  Or are there levels in between this?

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Basics of Metrology – Gage Repeatability and Reproducibility

Everything in life has a certain amount of risk associated with it. For the consumer of a product or process the risk is also tied to cost. The measurement results that any accredited metrology laboratory provides you will ultimately be used as either evidence that your product or process is within bounds, or outside of bounds. If it’s within the boundaries of acceptability then the cost associated here is the cost of the third party inspection. However if the inspection shows the product or process is out, then the costs become a bit more complicated, as you will need to review the product and process and possibly adjust it one way or another.

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What are Casting datums?

We have all seen prints with many datum reference frames on them. The fact that there are multiple sets of datum’s is not an issue and is put in place for functional design reasons. There can be so many that they look like an alphabet soup. But what about raw castings? Generally the functional part datum reference frame(s) have not yet been cut into the parts yet.  This where casting datums come into play.  They are typically designated as X-Y-Z or Z-Y-X.

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Can you Measure a Gap in CT that is Smaller than the Voxel Size of the Scan?

A common question that we are asked is: what is the resolution of a CT scan for determining gaps or voids or true surface locations?  We are also asked:  How can you measure a gap between two parts that may be closer than 1 voxel in size?  The answer lies in sub-voxel surface determination and in the number of voxels that are involved and continuous surfaces as detailed below.

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