PowerINSPECT 2.0 Technical Sales Partner Meeting Demo 2001

Context

This document applies to :

1. PowerINSPECT 2000

Summary

New Inspection Session

• File- New allows you to create a new inspection session.  The dialog box below will be displayed.

Getting the CAD:  Choose the CAD from the Browser. 

• Click on the button.

You can browse for the CAD according to normal Windows practice, and this will show you a list of available CAD files.  

• Navigate to the TSPM2001\SessionFiles directory.

Note the new functionality in PowerINSPECT Version 2: PS-Exchange is now integrated with PowerINSPECT giving an even wider range of CAD formats.

For this demonstration we are using two files to build up an assembly.

Note the new functionality in PowerINSPECT Version 2:   You can now use multiple CAD files to build up an assembly.

• Pick the first file, pop.odx

• Click on the 'New' button, then 'Browse', and select the next CAD file (lez4holes2.odx)

You can transform the CAD (rotation, translation etc) if required- for example if the CAD has been produced in die-line but you want to produce an inspection report in car-line.  You can do this by clicking on the Transformation Matrix button.

You can then build up the transformation as necessary.

and then choose OK.  In this example we have not used the transformation matrix.

• Click on the 'Next' button at the bottom of the main form to go to the Offsets and Tolerances page of the Wizard.

Surface or Edge points may be offset using this page:  the working tolerance for the job can be entered by using the Main Tolerance facility (right mouse click) to change the tolerance band.  You may set different tolerances for individual inspection groups within the session, but this defines the default settings.

• Click on the Next button again to go to the Variables page of the Wizard. 

Note that you can also go backwards to the previous page using the Back button .

This page contains the link to the chosen Excel template and the variables specific to this inspection session.

The first thing to do is choose the Excel Template file.

There is a templates directory associated with each version of PowerINSPECT.  This contains a number of standard templates for producing reports.  Normally each customer will receive a modified version of one or more of these templates to include the company logo and other customer-specific details.

• Click on the 'Browse' button and open DELCAM98.xls.

The full path of the template directory is shown in the Internet Explorer window below.   This is how the template directory is installed by default.

The template has default variables associated with it, which you can import into this PowerINSPECT session. This starts Excel.

• Click on .   You can then modify the default settings below as required.

The PowerINSPECT reporting is written using macros.  Due to security concerns about macros, which can carry viruses, Excel normally asks whether you want to enable macros or not.  You must enable the macros in the PowerINSPECT templates to allow the reports to run.

Note the new functionality in PowerINSPECT Version 2:   You can now 'trust' Delcam macros because the macro has a Verisign security certificate.  This functionality is supported in Excel2000 and later.

• If you have Excel2000 or later, make sure that the 'Always trust macros from this source' check box is selected, then click on the  'Enable Macros' button.

• If you have Excel97 then you will have to enable the macros each time. Click on the   'Enable Macros' button.

When you complete this operation, the details from the template will be stored as part of the PowerINSPECT session.  You can then edit these default values as required.

You can also choose to save these values as the default values for a new PowerINSPECT inspection, regardless of template chosen.  Do this by selecting the  'Save as Default Parameters' check box.

• Click on Finish to open the new PowerINSPECT inspection session.

Note the new functionality in PowerINSPECT Version 2:   You can now manipulate the CAD files in the new CAD File Manager.  This allows you to change the CAD level colours, show/hide levels, and add/remove levels from the CAD context.

You can change the colour of the CAD wireframe, by clicking on the colour box and selecting a new colour from the palette, as shown below.

You can make a CAD level visible or invisible using the lightbulb icon. Click on the icon to turn the level on or off . 

Similarly you can remove selected CAD levels from the inspection using the check box. Click on the check box to include the level in the CAD context or exclude it .

Create an alignment

First we must create an alignment.  This will allow us to relate the CAD data to physical part for inspection.  We will create an alignment using a Best Fit from Points. This type of alignment aligns the CAD using already measured geometric features which represent points. The CAD nominal values for the points can be extracted from the CAD wireframe.

The first task is to create the points to use in the Best Fit from Points alignment.

• Click on the Geometric Group button on the Element toolbar. This displays the Geometric Group dialog box.

• Click on OK to create the group.

We will now extract nominals from the CAD wireframe using the Geometry Explorer. We will create four circles, whose centres can be used as the points in a Best Fit from Points alignment. Each circle will need to be projected to a local plane, so we will tell the Geometry Explorer to create four Probed Plane geometric elements as well.

• Click on the Delay Measure button on the Main toolbar. This allows you to create all the geometric elements at once and play them later.

• Click on the Geometry Explorer button on the CAD View side toolbar.

• Click on the bottom right circle to pick it and display it as an arc in the Geometry Explorer, as shown below.

• In the Geometry Explorer, click on the "New" option and select the "+ Linked items" check box to the right.

• Click on the "Do it" button to create two new geometric elements - a Probed Plane and a Probed Circle - in the Sequence Tree.

Note the new functionality in PowerINSPECT Version 2:   You can now create geometric entities, with all of the appropriate nominals, directly from the CAD.

• Now create the other circles and associated planes as shown below.

Make sure that you create the circles in the right order - you will be using them next in the Best Fit from Points alignment. When you have finished, the Sequence Tree for Geometric Group 1 should look like below.

You can now play the elements and take the points on the part using your measuring device. When you take the points for each plane, make sure that the points you take are local to the circle you are measuring.

• Right-click in the Sequence Tree and select "Play All" from the pop-up menu.

• Follow the instructions in the Probing Geometric Entity dialog boxes. When you have probed the last circle, you can create the alignment.

We can now create the alignment.

• Click on the Up One Level button on the Main toolbar.

• Select the "Best Fit from Points" button from the Alignment side toolbar

• In the Best Fit from Points alignment dialog box, make sure that Circle 1 is selected as Point 1, then click on the Load Nominal >> button

Note the new functionality in PowerINSPECT Version 2:   You can now download nominals from geometric elements, rather than having to type them in yourself.

• Click on to move to the next point, Point 2/3.

• Repeat the steps to use Circle 2::Centre for Point 2, and Circle 4::Centre for Point 3/3, remembering to load the nominals for each.

• Click on to create a new point. This point is now Point 3/4. Use Circle 3::Centre for this point, and load the nominals.

• Click on OK to create the alignment item, then click OK to close the following dialog box.

Create a Best Fit item

Next, it is a good idea to check the alignment and improve on it using a Best Fit item. Firstly, you must create a surface inspection group on the fly, with points on areas of the phone that need to be well-aligned. These points are then used to best fit the alignment, so that the alignment between the CAD and the part is as accurate as possible.

• Create a new inspection group by clicking on the button on the left-hand Element toolbar, and call it MAIN-SURFACE.

• In the Surface Inspection Group dialog box, click on the 'OK' button to accept the defaults. PowerINSPECT displays the CAD View full screen for you to take points. Take points on the areas shown in the example below.

• When you have finished taking points, click on the green arrow button in the Surface Points on the fly dialog box to create the surface inspection group.

You can now use the inspection group to create the Best Fit item.

• Click on the Best Fit button on the Element toolbar to display a dialog box where you can select the inspection group(s) you want to use in the Best Fit calculation.

• Click on the >>> button to transfer the MAIN-SURFACE group to the Selected... area.

• Click on the 'OK' button to display the Best Fit: Analyser dialog box.

This dialog box allows you to filter out rogue points and select only to allow translation of the CAD file, rather than translation and rotation. In this example, you can see that there was a single point that deviated by 2.5. You can eliminate this point from the Best Fit using the filter.

• Click on the "Use filter" check box to select it.

• Use the arrows to the left of the graph to exclude the rogue point as shown below.

• Click on to start the Best Fit calculation. The results are shown in the graph area below.

• Click on the 'OK' button  to accept the Best Fit and create it as a new item in the Sequence Tree.

You can now repeat the Best Fit, using points taken around the edge of the part as well

• Create a new inspection group by clicking on the button on the left-hand Element toolbar, and call it OUTER-SURFACE.

• In the Surface Inspection Group dialog box, click on the 'OK' button to accept the defaults. PowerINSPECT displays the CAD View full screen for you to take points. Take points on the areas shown in the example below.

• When you have finished taking points, click on the green arrow button in the Surface Points on the fly dialog box to create the surface inspection group.

You can now use both inspection groups to further optimise the alignment.

• Click on the Best Fit button on the Element toolbar to display the Best Fit : Group Selection dialog box.

• Click on the >>> button to transfer the MAIN-SURFACE and the OUTER-SURFACE groups to the Selected... area.

• Click on the 'OK' button to display the Best Fit: Analyser dialog box.

• Click on to start the Best Fit calculation. The results are shown in the graph area below. Click on the 'OK' button  to accept the Best Fit and create it as a new item in the Sequence Tree.

You can view the results of the Best Fit and how it has adjusted the alignment in the Info tab.

Inspect Geometric Features

We will now inspect various geometric features on the stereo part.

• Create a new geometric group by clicking on the button on the Element toolbar.

• Click on OK to create the group.

You can now inspect the geometric features as shown in the example below. Work down the list in the Sequence Tree, and make sure that you change the probe after measuring Slot 2 and before measuring Plane 5.

Note: If you are carrying out this demo using a logfile, you do not need to carry out the probe change. Just play the points in the log file for the relevant geometric elements.

For the Rectangles and Slots, use "PLP Alignment 1::Plane Z(XOY)" as the reference plane. PowerINSPECT projects the each rectangle and slot to the reference plane.

You can view the results of each geometric measurement in the HTML View, as shown in the example below.

Inspect an Edge

We will now inspect an edge of the stereo part. An edge is where there is no neighbouring CAD surface in a CAD file. You can inspect edges to ensure a clean fit with another part.

• Create a new inspection group by clicking on the button on the left-hand Element toolbar, and call it Edge Points.

• Select "Edge Points" in the Items area, then click on the "OK" button. PowerINSPECT displays the CAD View full screen for you to take points. The edge we will inspect is shown below.

   

  

The method you use to inspect the edge depends on the type of probe you have mounted on your inspection device.

• If you are using a spherical probe, edges points on the fly are defined by probing two points.

   

  • The first point must be on the surface whose edge you want to inspect. The edge point is projected from this point and the co-ordinates you must probe to measure the edge are displayed on the left of the Edge Point On the Fly window.
  • Take the edge point at the given coordinates. You can see the current position of the probe centre if your measuring device supports tracking.

When you finish you should have results that look like this:

This shows that this part has edges which deviate from the CAD nominals by about -0.9mm.

Geometric Dimensioning & Tolerancing (GD&T)

GD&T is one of the most important new features in PowerINSPECT 2.  The following GD&T  measures have been used in this example.

Form Measures:

Flatness

Note the new functionality in PowerINSPECT Version 2:   You can now measure flatness and print it to the Excel report.

Flatness is measured automatically on all planes when you measure more than three points; you can decide whether or not to include it in the Excel report.

Circularity

Note the new functionality in PowerINSPECT Version 2:   You can now measure flatness and print it to the Excel report.

Circularity is measured automatically on all circles when you measure more than three points; you can decide whether or not to include it in the Excel report.

Cylindricity

Note the new functionality in PowerINSPECT Version 2:   You can now measure cylindricity and print it to the Excel report

Cylindricity is measured automatically on all cylinders when you measure more than six points; you can decide whether or not to include it in the Excel report.

Conicity

Note the new functionality in PowerINSPECT Version 2:   You can now measure conicity and print it to the Excel report

Conicity is measured automatically on all cones when you measure more than six points; you can decide whether or not to include it in the Excel report.

Relative Measures:

Note the new functionality in PowerINSPECT Version 2:   You can now create GD&T Relative Measures with the GD&T Wizard.

Note the new functionality in PowerINSPECT Version 2:   You can now print detailed reports on Geometric Entities with the HTML report.

Parallelism

Parallelism of Cylinder 1 measured relative to Cylinder 2.

Note the new functionality in PowerINSPECT Version 2:   You can now measure Parallelsim and print it to the Excel report or create a full HTML report

Perpendicularity

Perpendicularity of Plane 7 measured relative to the Z plane.

Note the new functionality in PowerINSPECT Version 2:   You can now measure perpendicularity and print it to the Excel report or create a full HTML report

Co-axiality

Co-axiality of Circle 1 and Cylinder 1
Co-axiality of Circle 3 and Cylinder 1

Note the new functionality in PowerINSPECT Version 2:   You can now measure co-axiality and print it to the Excel report or create a full HTML report.

True Position

True Position of Circle 1 relative to Circle 3 (Z Plane, Y Plane)
Expected dimensions:  159, 0

Note the new functionality in PowerINSPECT Version 2:   You can now measure full 3D True Position and print it to the Excel report or create a full HTML report