An inspection advisor for form error in cylindrical features

Abstract

Due to inherent variability in even the so-called “high-precision” machines, the need for accurate, quick and economical inspection of tolerances of machined features has become very important. Coordinate measuring machines (CMMs) are very popular in industry for inspection of components. In addition to hardware capabilities, some of the critical factors that affect the accuracy and precision of inspection using CMMs have been identified as sample size, sampling technique and form evaluation method. Selecting an optimal inspection plan for the CMM is vital to improve the quality of measurements while simultaneously minimizing inspection costs and time. The motivation behind this paper is to provide the user flexibility and control in choosing an optimal inspection plan for evaluation of form error in cylindrical features according to his/her specific needs in a practical manufacturing scenario. In view of this objective, a two-way relationship between the inspection strategy used and inspection performance metrics achieved has been established using multiple regression. The forward model is a plan evaluator that computes numerical estimates of the expected accuracy and precision for different inspection plans. The reverse model is a strategy designer that recommends the most economical inspection plan that can meet the acceptable quality criteria considering the user’s constraints and available resources. Both the models have been incorporated into a user-friendly inspection advisor with a graphical interface.