Western University

Faculty of Engineering
Department of Mechanical and Materials Engineering

Section 2
Data Acquisition Techniques

Advanced CAE: Reverse Engineering

MME 4480
 Contact
Data Acquisition Techniques
 Section Outline
 Contact data acquisition methods
 Coordinate measurement machine (CMM)
 Types of CMMs
 Bridge
 Gantry
 Cantilever
 Horizontal
 Articulated
 CMM structure
 Touch-trigger probes
 Analog sensing: active and passive

 Factors affecting CMM accuracy

 Contact vs. Noncontact Methods
 Advantages:
 High accuracy
 Ability to measure deep slots and pockets
 Disadvantages:
 Slow data collection
 Distortion of soft objects by the probe
 High equipment costs
 Insensitivity to color or transparency
 Manual Contact-Based Measurement
 Much of the initial reverse engineering performed on simple
shapes was performed by means of manual calipers
 Once dimensions were measured, a 3D model can be
generated by means of common CAD primitives
 Drawback: this process is inapplicable and/or inaccurate when
it comes to complex, freeform shapes
 Advanced Contact-Based
Measurement Techniques
 CMMs were launched in the early 1960s as a more accurate
alternative to the manual measurement of sculptured surfaces
 Other contact-based measurement methods have been
developed (generally not used for RE purposes):
1. Electromagnetic digitizing:
 Used for non-metallic objects placed in magnetic fields
 Traces the position and orientation hand-held stylus containing a
magnetic field sensor across the surface of the object
2. Sonic digitizing:
 Sound waves are used to calculate the position of a point relative to
a reference point
 A hand held-stylus traces the surface and the ultrasonic impulses
emitted are recorded by 4 microphones
 Based on the time delay between microphones, current stylus
position can be found
Typical Contact-Based RE Workflow
 CMM Structure
 A typical CMM
has a probe
mounted on a
set of mutually
perpendicular
slides
 The probe can
be positioned
at any desired
X, Y, Z
location within
machine’s
working space
 CMM Types
 Bridge
 Gantry
 Cantilever
 Articulated arm
 Bridge Type CMM
 Arm is suspended vertically from a horizontal beam supported
by two vertical posts in a beam arrangement

Moving bridge Stationary bridge

 Bridge Type CMM
 Advantages:
 Rugged construction  higher natural frequency  better dynamic
response
 Small footprint  suitable for design labs, rooms
 Disadvantages:
 Inconsistent motion of the two vertical posts can cause twist or yaw of
the bridge  corrected through positive feedback loop
 Applications:
 Mechanical part inspection
 Digitization and inspection of complex mechanical components (gears,
cams, airfoils/turbine blades)
 Free form surfaces inspection (dies, models, sheet metal, plastic,
moulds)
 Point to point inspection
 Continuous scanning inspection
 Gantry Type CMM
 Used for large part sizes (4 m or more)
 Frame structure raised on side supports
to span over the object to be measured
or scanned.
 A horizontal beam traverses the length
of the measured object.
 It is powered with dual drives to
minimize the yaw or twisting of the side
supports during traverse.
 A measuring arm is mounted on this
horizontal beam that moves along the
width of the object being measured.
 Rugged construction offsets the
deformation caused by twisting and the
weight of the measured part on the
foundation
 Gantry Type CMM
 Advantages:
 Best measuring volume to overall dimension ratio within CMMs
 Additional precision can be enhanced using thermal compensation and
combination of air bearings and high accuracy linear guide-ways
 Applications:
 Inspection of large components (such as pipes, pressure vessels,
automobile frames)
 Measurement of gages, and fixturing systems for heavy and large
complex parts
 Shop-floor inspection equipment with high operational safety
 Cantilever Type CMM (horizontal arm)
 A vertical arm is supported by a
cantilevered support structure
 Suitable for longitudinal parts fitting
along table length with smaller
dimensions on other two axes
 Advantages:
 Open configuration  easy operator
access to the measured object
 Heavy parts can be placed on the fixed
table
 Disadvantages: Applications:
 Overhanging cantilever structure   Marking-out on models,
lower natural frequency  low casts and sheets
 Light milling operations
measurement speed to avoid induction
 Copying of free form
of vibrations
surfaces
 Cantilever Type CMM (horizontal arm)
 The arm supporting the
measuring probe is horizontally
cantilevered from a movable
vertical support
 Widely used in the automotive
industry
 Sometimes called cantilever
design
 Also available in dual arm
configuration Applications:
 Inspection of uni-dimensionally
 Disadvantages: large parts
 Limited dynamic stiffness due to  Measurement of prismatic elements
overhanging arm  slow within auto subassemblies
measurement  software error  Verification of free form body
contour (automobile styling and
compensation
aircraft aerofoil shape)
 Articulated Arm Type CMM
 Used for portable or tripod mounted
machines
 Allow variable probe orientations in
different directions with respect to the
object being measured
 Include a series of counterbalanced six-
degrees-of-freedom linkage arms that are
individually equipped with precision rotary
transducers  encode the rotary motion of
the linkages and calculate 3D coordinates
 Articulated Arm Type CMM
 Advantages:
 Versatile: spherical measuring envelope  measurement of hard to
reach locations
 Portable  wide range of on-site measurements  high temperature
operating range (up to 50°C)
 Made from light weight alloys  high rigidity, low weight
 Disadvantages:
 Measurement accuracy strongly dependent on operator skills
 Generally lower accuracies than bridge type CMM
 Applications:
 Suitable for field use for wide range of applications
 Measurement of subassemblies within very large systems (engine
component within aircraft)
 On-the-fly inspection of basic dimensions on hard to reach features on
the part
 Continuous measurement of free form surfaces (auto styling, aero-wing
aerofoil contour, etc.)
 CMM Structure
 Four critical components:
1. Machine structure including bed:
 Mounting options: bench top, free standing, handheld, portable
 Both precision rolling-contact bearings and hydrostatic air bearings
used  accuracy of 1 m for a slide with 1 m travel
 Each slide has an accurate motion (position) transducer (optical
encoder, laser interferometer)  resolution of 1 to
0.01 m (40 to 0.4 in)
2. Measuring probe: touch probes or discrete points, laser
triangulation, camera or still and video camera
 Multisensor CMM: mounts more than one sensor, camera or probe
3. Control system: manual, CNC or PC types
4. Integration software
 CMM Specifications

1. Maximum measuring travels for X, Y, Z axes

2. Measuring capacity: maximum object envelope size
3. Resolution: the smallest increment of the measuring
device
4. Workpiece mass: mass of the object being measured
 Coordinate Measurement Machines
 Two main types of data acquisition techniques
employed in CMMs:
 Point-to-point sensing with touch-trigger probes
 Analog sensing with scanning probes
 CMM Probe Types
 Hard (passive)  point-to-point sensing
 Touch-trigger (switching)  point-to-point sensing
 Analog proportional  analog sensing
 Analog-nulling  analog sensing
 Point-to-Point Sensing
 Touch-trigger probe is installed on CMM or an articulated arm
 CMM vs. articulated arm:
 CMM is more accurate than an articulated arm
 CMM has limited DOFs when compared to articulated arm

a) MicroScribe MX Articulated Arm from Immersion Corporation

b) Faro Arm–Platinum articulated arm from FARO Technologies
c) Mitutoyo CMM machine–CRA Apex C model
 Point-to-Point Sensing

MicroScribe MX Faro Arm

ROMER Articulated Arm PCMMs

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SijGxj1CAs4
Touch-Trigger (Switching) Probes
 Touch-Trigger (Switching) Probes

 Most common
 On/Off switching type
 Freezes the readings of the three slide motion sensors
when the tip touches and is being deflected
 Favourable over-travel characteristics

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ABVroi5VJJE

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kCB4fEiyGRo

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BYPW7ffKpMo
 Touch-Trigger (Switching) Probes
 The probe stylus is kinematically
located in a single unique position by
the six contacts of the three cylindrical
rods with six balls
 A light spring preload is used to
maintain this position when no external
forces are applied to the stylus
 Touch-Trigger (Switching) Probes

 The 6 contacts are electrically wired in series (few ohms

resistance) and a constant-current source of about i = 0.5 mA is
connected  few mV voltage e0 is created
 When probe’s spherical tip is deflected against the spring
preload, one or more of the contact resistances will increase
under tiny deflections
 When the total resistance exceeds about 3,000 ohms, the
voltage passing through 1.5 V triggers a circuit which freezes all
three slide-position readouts and records the position of the
probe at the instant of touch
 Tip deflections in X, Y and Z directions will all cause
triggering (as the probe might approach the measured part from
various directions)
 Touch-Trigger (Switching) Probes

 Lubricants with special electrical, lubricating and corrosion-

resistant properties are used on the ball-rod contacts
 Special proprietary materials are used for rods and balls
 Stylus types are often synthetic ruby, an aluminum oxide
ceramic known for hardness, smoothness and dimensional
stability
Touch-Trigger (Switching) Probes
Touch-Trigger (Switching) Probes

Touch probe B.sldasm

Touch-Trigger (Switching) Probes
 Probe Pretravel and Bending
 The probe does not actually trigger at the moment of touch,
since it does actually require a small, but finite force and
deflection to increase the electric resistance to the 3,000 ohms
trigger point
 Bending deflection of the probe causes a small unmeasured
deflection between touch and triggering (minimized by using
short, stiff probes, whenever possible)
 These effects are largely repeatable and may be corrected by
calibration
 The effective working diameter error de of the probe:
de = measured size – actual size
 de is used to correct all three effects (ball diameter, spring-
caused pre-travel and bending):
actual size = measured size – de
 Probe Pre-travel and Bending

 In practice, de is usually found by

touching a calibration sphere (10
points) and using a special algorithm to
compute de
 The use of multiple points exercises
probe’s characteristics in many
directions and makes de more accurate
for general measurements
 Probes used for in-process gaging use
higher spring preloads to prevent fast
triggering due to vibration, etc.  this
degrades other features of the probe,
such as accuracy
 Calibration

The position of the individual ball styli and their diameters are established using a
special probe calibration programme (see the machine manufacturer's user
manual).
You contact a reference point with all the styli used, one after the other. The
reference used is usually an extremely precise, manufactured ball with a known
diameter (referred to as a datum ball). The exact dimensions of the ball being
calibrated are input to the measuring software.
If the styli are to be used for measuring separate points, the stylus is calibrated
using 5-6 points on the reference ball's high points.
A far greater number of points are probed in scanning systems. The machine
manufacturer's user manual will describe the precise probing strategies for
calibrating the styli.
Make sure, particularly if you are using more than one CMM, that you use the
calibrated datum ball whose values have been input to the software.

http://www.renishaw.com/en/calibration-of-styli--6633
Cosine Error Probing
Cosine Error Probing
Cosine Error Probing
Cosine Error Probing
Cosine Error Probing
 Analog Sensing
 Scanning probe installed on CMM or CNC machine
 Probe provides a continuous deflection output that can
be combined with the machine position to derive the
location of the surface

a) SP25M scanning probes from Renishaw Inc

b) Roland DGA Corp. MDX-15/20 scanning and milling machine, using the Roland Active
Piezo Sensor for 3-D scanning
 Analog Sensing
 When scanning, the probe stylus tip contacts the
feature and then moves continuously along the
surface, gathering data as it moves
 When measuring, it is required to keep the deflection
of the probe stylus within the measurement range of
the probe
 Scanning speed in analogue sensing is up to three
times faster than in point-to-point sensing
 Analog Proportional Probes
 Gives a voltage output proportional to
probe deflection from the null position
 Most use LVDT (linear variable
differential transformer) as displacement
sensors
 Location of the probe tip = slide-motion
reading + probe reading
 Higher resolution and accuracy than
touch-trigger probes
 More fragile and expensive with poor
overtravel features
 Duplication of 3D capabilities of touch-
trigger probes  complicated
mechanical configurations
 Analog-Nulling Probes
 The analog probe signal (plus or minus from null) is used as an
error signal to control CMM slide positions  CMM is always
automatically driven to a position where probe signal is zero
(or some selected bias position)
 Very complicated servo systems for 3D measuring operations
 Can be used in contouring mode to smoothly follow the part
surface (sculptured surface) under servo control
 Sample of Commercial
Contact-Based Measurement Hardware
 CMM Operating Modes
1. Free-floating (manual):
 Human operator grasps the probe
holder and moves all three axes to
position the probe at the feature to be
measured
 Machine slides must be virtually
friction free (hydrostatic air bearings)
for free-floating operations
2. Joystick control:
 Manual command of electric drives at
preselected speeds
3. Direct computer control (DCC):
 Use computer-commanded electric
motor servodrives to accomplish the
desired moves under program control
 Geometric Feature Measuring
 Software is used to automate various geometric calculations needed
to extract part features from slide-position readings
 Unlike CNC machines, for CMMs the parts do not need to be
carefully aligned with fixed X, Y, Z coordinate system of the machine
before taking measurements
 Parts to be measured can be fixed in any convenient position, such
that three or more part features (datums) are chosen to define a part
coordinate system  part coordinate system vs. machine
coordinate system
 The tedious physical part alignment procedure is replaced with a
mathematical procedure of coordinate system transformation
 Analytical geometric algorithms are used to define the geometric
features of the measured part  theoretical minimum touch points
vs. more touch points to increase statistical reliability of the
measured results
 Geometric Feature Measuring

 Some least-squares algorithms are used to compute the best

estimate of the feature’s parameters (e.g. center coordinate
and radius of a circular hole):
 Standard least-squares curve fitting routines are used for lines and
planes
 Special curve-surface fitting techniques (e.g. search algorithms) are
required for more complex part features (circles, spheres, etc.) since
the equations to be solved are not the usual set of algebraic equations
Geometric Feature Measuring
 Performance Parameters of CMMs

1. Scanning speed
2. Probe accuracy
3. Rigid body errors
4. Structural deformations
 Scanning Speed
 High scanning speed  dynamic
error dependent on machine’s
inertia
 Inertial properties of the CMM
depend on:
 Work zone
 Scanning speed and acceleration
 Two ways to compensate for
dynamic error:
 Low scanning speed  long scanning Two measuring cycles: low and
cycle  reduced productivity high scanning speed 
difference indicates
 Although dynamic error is compensation amount
unpredictable due to part geometry
variation, is consistent for identical
parts  can be compensated through
software
 Probe Accuracy
 The most significant source of errors for touch-trigger probes is
represented by variations of direction dependent pre-travel
 The accuracy of the probe depends on:
1. Motion related-factors: speed of probe approach towards workpiece
surface, probe acceleration, approach distance
2. Probing design and configuration factors: stylus mass and rigidity,
preload spring force, probe orientation, probe stylus length
3. Method or mode of operation
4. Operating environment: thermal drift, fluctuations in air temperature,
ambient vibrations
5. Measured objects: form, surface finish, strength of probe material
 Rigid Body Errors
Two possible approaches for compensation:
1. Strives for perfection in manufacture and assembly of each
mechanical component in order to achieve the overall machine
accuracy
2. Opt for less stringent requirements on components, followed by an
individual calibration of each machine to obtain numerical values for
a software error-correction scheme built into CMM’s computer
 Computer-aided error mapping
 Often feasible since most major machine errors tend to be systematic
(reproducible) rather than random
 Individual rigid body errors are measured at each location in the CMM
workspace and then:
a) Probe is moved in real-time (active compensation) to the correct
location
b) Pre-recorded point coordinates are mathematically corrected post-
measurement
 Structural Deformations
 Generated by:
 Overconstrained mechanical systems (translated into bend
and twist along linear motions)  active or passive
compensation
 Thermal gradients (transient nature)  temperature
controlled environment or active thermal sensors
 Not always effective due to variable thermal expansion coefficients
 Best results with individual CMM calibration

 Rapid accelerations of the carriage (translated into

temporary deformations)  change acceleration pattern