Automated Gaging System for Boosting Quality, Productivity
PMTS 2023: The Q-Span System can pick parts from an input conveyor, measure three dimensions on each part and place each part in a pass or fail bin based on the measured data.
Photo Credit: New Scale Robotics
New Scale Robotics’ Q-Span Workstation is an automated gaging system that incorporates existing manual gages and gaging techniques to automate QC inspection in high-mix, small-batch manufacturing. It is designed to boost quality and productivity in precision machining.
The workstation incorporates a collaborative robot (cobot), teach pendant, metrology software and gages on a self-contained mobile workstation table. It is designed for fast, flexible deployment by machine shops with no prior knowledge of robotics.
The Q-Span System can pick parts from an input conveyor, measure three dimensions on each part (using a robotic caliper, bore gauge and an LVDT height gauge) and place each part in a pass or fail bin based on the measured data.
Q-Span Workstations can be used in metrology labs or on the manufacturing floor. In-process measurements can alert machine operators to tool wear or process drift in real time. Automated data logging supports quality documentation and statistical process control.
The Q-Span automated gauging benefits include reduce human variability in gaging and boosted productivity. It can easily generate inspection data for up to 100% of users’ parts. It can also reduce inspection costs and improve process control, yield and competitiveness. Finally, it can also help improve employee retention through automation of tedious gaging tasks.
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