Inspection planning on a CAD model for efficient inspections

The measurement engineer often carries out the inspection planning when the first part is being produced in try-out. For that, the engineer measures the inspection features of a part, such as distances, angles or GD&T tolerances. These inspection features are then often transferred from a 2D design drawing to a measurement plan. This measurement plan is the basis for the inspection. Depending on how many inspection features have been captured, this process can cost much time and is vulnerable to error because of the manual effort.

This can be avoided using the ATOS system. With ATOS, it is possible to plan the inspection already during designing. The designer directly provides the CAD data of the model with the necessary inspection features. Alternatively, the 3D measurement can be planned directly on the CAD data set using a standardized measurement plan or PMI inspection features. Therefore, 2D design drawings become redundant for inspection planning.

The user imports the CAD data set including the inspection features into the ATOS software. When the first part is produced in try-out, the technician can scan the part and immediately carry out the inspection at the push of a button.

Conclusion: In this way, the inspection can be planned long before the first part is manufactured. All measured parameters that could be used in the entire following process are already defined in the CAD data set. This is a prerequisite for Industry 4.0.