Case Study: Shiny Surfaces

AFI 5000P is the first system that enables fast and accurate inspection on real-world surfaces without the use of coatings or sprays. Ever since scanning was first developed, manufacturers in automotive, aerospace, power generation, visualization and other high-technology areas have been trying to make use of the many benefits. However, scanners have been error-prone and required coating the scanned surfaces with powders or paints, as well as a range of other compensations. The AFI 5000P is the first measurement system to successfully scan both traditionally "friendly" and "difficult" surfaces with metrology-grade accuracy at each data point.  Â

 Problem

Up to this point in time, there has been no scanning solution capable of satisfying all characteristics that manufacturing environments require due to:

• risk and lack of traceability
• CMMs too slow
• ball offset on CMMs
• optical techniques required coatings
• optical techniques required compensations for high-accuracy applications
• optical techniques were subject to errors and deformations due to poor interaction with the environment
• optical techniques required targets to position scans together due to overall scanner inaccuracy
• optical techniques required positioning systems which subjected them to mechanical "chatter"

Both optical and CMM devices have been well tested by the manufacturing community and have been proven unsuitable for many applications. Hence, they require compromises. For example, the optical approaches required spraying parts with white powder or paint, a time-consuming, potentially hazardous activity which adds thickness to the surface (hence the incorrect surface is measured) and may compromise metallurgical, structural or other critical performance properties. Thus, at the expense of speed, component manufacturers and assemblers have been compromising their inspection processes with slower, more manual CMMs which deliver far less data, or with optical systems with their associated limitations. 

Solution

Test conditions were:

• full data coverage on all surfaces and datums
• no targeting on the component
• data must be accurate and repeatable to within required tolerances
• system must be rugged for manufacturing environments
• no sprays or other coatings
• NIST traceable
• no loss of performance in manufacturing environments
• resistant to thermal, vibration, shock, and humidity perturbations
• automated processing of the data

The AFI 5000P was placed next to the car. Measurements were collected and accurately merged into the correct datum locations. The finished data set was inspected through geometric and statistical analyses.

Conclusion

This process addressed all requirements of a total car inspection system capable of quickly verifying dimensions in a rapid manufacturing environment. Because the AFI 5000P can measure component-sized objects up to full-size production line vehicles (no sprays or coatings required), it meets the "total solution" that automotive, aerospace and other industries require. 

The AFI 5000P was the only system that met all customer requirements by delivering:

• accurate data
• uncorrupted data, regardless of surface properties
• fast acquisition
• total inspection
• scaleable systems for large and small components
• no targeting methods required for either merging, or optical distortion correction
• scaleable systems for large and small components
• suitable for demanding manufacturing environments
• NIST traceable