The Advantages of Automated Shopfloor Gaging

Shopfloor coordinate measuring machines (CMMs) are becoming more common as machine shops attempt to lessen the part-inspection burden on their quality departments. Although not a CMM, the Equator gage from Renishaw is designed to offer the same types of benefits. For example, introducing flexible gaging close to the point of manufacture enables the validation of discrete machining operations to achieve automated process control and tool-offset management. This leads to increased confidence in final part quality.

Equator systems deliver high-speed comparative gaging for the inspection of medium- to high-volume manufactured parts in key applications across multiple industries. “The largest market for Equator gaging systems is automotive, with hundreds of Equator systems in use globally for electric vehicle part inspection,” explains Ben Spokes, Renishaw business development manager for Equator gaging. “These are often used with fully automated loading and direct intelligent process control that can improve the quality of manufactured parts and significantly reduce or even eliminate scrap.”

The Equator gage uses a master (known) verified part and couples it with a repeatable and versatile design for fast, flexible gaging on the shop floor. Based on a scalable and adaptable “parallel-kinematic” structure, the Equator enables high-speed scanning and rapid moves between features while retaining stiffness that delivers point-to-point repeatability, critical for accurate gaging, the company says. When paired with Renishaw’s Intelligent Process Control (IPC) feedback, the Equator enables the gaging to update the machining process for immediate feedback without a need for manual offset adjustments.

The Equator can operate at a temperature range of 5 to 50°C and humidity as high as 80%, and has been optimized for part loading via a robot or shuttle system. The company says integration into an automated cell is also simplified because the device is configured for easy communication between itself and various automated work cell equipment.

Process control is said to be significantly improved with the move from sample inspection to 100% inspection, while the Equator’s Process Monitor function displays real-time gaging data bar graphs and charts, enabling process corrections and scrap prevention. Renishaw’s Intelligent Process Control software (IPC) can record actionable data and provide automated real-time solutions, applying offset updates for common causes of instability such as tool wear and thermal drift.

An example of the effectiveness of the Equator’s level of automation is Canada’s Olympus NDT, Canada, which installed a system as part of a completely autonomous manufacturing cell providing the confidence to confidently run a machine tool overnight and over the weekends increasing the machine’s capacity by 30%. The new strategy has also reduced machine downtime and cost of scrapped parts while improving part quality.

Equator gaging systems have been designed to cope with a wide range of parts and design changes, and the system’s automatic stylus changing rack enables the inspection of multiple parts in rapid succession. Renishaw says this is an example of how manufacturers can future-proof their business activities with an efficient and cost-effective solution to part gaging.

Equator gauging systems are optimized for enhanced machine connectivity, according to the company. Automation software and hardware have been developed to improve integration in automated cells. For example, the REN-IO interface unit, coupled with the EZ-IO automation software, enables the Equator to connect to various forms of external equipment in an automated cell with as many as 32 digital IO connections. EZ-IO software also simplifies the setup of automated manufacturing cells to configure communications between Equator systems and the cell controller, the company says.