CMM Probe Path Adjustment via Control Points
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing coordinate measuring machines face challenges in generating appropriate movement paths for probe heads to avoid collisions with workpieces, requiring manual and labor-intensive adjustments to prevent interference and achieve smooth scanning.
Innovation Solution
The introduction of control points that can be adjusted using a user-friendly interface, with adjustment guide means such as guide curves, guide points, and guide lines, allowing for collective movement of control points to optimize the movement path of the probe head, reducing manual input and improving measurement efficiency.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Extent of automation
If the movement path is automatically calculated based on the scanning path, then the measurement process is simplified and automation is improved, but the probe head may collide with the workpiece and the movement path becomes inappropriate
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces control points as intermediary elements that connect the scanning path to the movement path. These control points serve as mediators that allow manual adjustment of the movement path without directly modifying the automated calculation process, thus maintaining automation while enabling collision avoidance through user intervention.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent makes the movement path dynamic by allowing control points to be manually adjusted after automatic calculation. This dynamic adjustment capability enables the system to adapt the movement path in real-time based on user input, transforming a static automated path into a flexible, adjustable path that can avoid collisions.
2Reliability
If manual adjustment of control points is performed to avoid collisions, then the movement path becomes appropriate and collision-free, but the operation becomes labor-intensive and time-consuming
Solution Approach 1:
The patent creates a simplified copy or representation of the movement path through control points. Instead of requiring users to manually adjust the entire complex movement path, the system provides control points that represent key positions, allowing users to make adjustments more easily while maintaining the overall automated path structure.
3Measurement precision
If individual control points are adjusted manually to optimize the movement path, then the measurement accuracy is improved, but the adjustment process requires significant time and labor
Solution Approach 1:
The patent merges multiple control points into collective selectable groups, allowing users to adjust multiple control points simultaneously rather than individually. This merging approach reduces the total number of adjustment operations required while maintaining the ability to optimize each control point's position for measurement accuracy.
Data Source
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AI summary
Provided is a CMM moving path adjustment assisting method that assists adjustment for a movement path of a probe. A coordinate measuring machine 20 includes a probe having a probe tip at a tip thereof for detecting a surface of an object to be measured, and a movement mechanism 30 for moving the probe, and measures a shape of the object to be measured by allowing the probe tip to scan the surface of the object to be measured. A controller 40A, 40B controls operation of the coordinate measuring machine 20. The controller 40A, 40B calculates a scanning path SR for allowing the probe tip to perform scanning movement along the surface of the object to be measured, calculates the movement path MP followed by the probe when the probe tip moves along the scanning path SR, sets control points CP on a line connecting each position of the probe tip on the scanning path SR and each position of the probe corresponding to each position of the probe tip, and accept a change in position of the control points CP by a user, to change the movement path MP according to the change in position of the control points CP. The controller 40A, 40B provides an adjustment guide unit for allowing a plurality of control points CP to move collectively.