DMIS-lnterface for the intelligent product inspection manager using automated coordinate measuring machines

Abstract

Companies have faced the challenge of having short time spans for product planning, development and production, while at the same time keeping up a high product quality with a constant cost. This is especially the case for mass markets like the automobile industry and mass customization. To provide efficiency and optimization of time and cost in the quality inspection area, it is developed the 1-PIM (Intelligent Product Inspection Manager), a solution that takes parts created in different CAD (Computer Aided Design) software and generates an optimized inspection planning to be run in different CMM (Coordinate Measurement Machines).[ 14 ] 1-PIM fulfill this requirement through the use of DMIS (Dimensional Measurement Interface Standard) script language, a standard for bi-directional communication of inspection data between inspection equipment and a computer system, which specifies, for instance, the format of a measurement sequence to control the operation of dimensional measuring equipment. After the operator has finished all the inspection plan, with features and measurement devices selected, optimized paths to the probe, best strategies chosen, it is possible to translate it to a language that will be interpretative by his CMM. The system takes all the information to generate a script file. The Coordinate Measuring Machines that understand the standard are able to load these kind of file to permit the user to see and execute the whole inspection plan. All what the operator needs to do is to set the origin according to the same position defined in I- PIM and then run the file in the measurement software of the machine. The whole inspection plan is then automatically run and the measurement made.