Design for Industry Flexible gaging for inspection

When an aerospace or medical application calls for high-speed comparative gaging for inspection, the Renishaw Equator system may fit the bill. It’s a lightweight, fast, and highly repeatable gage that operates with “push-button” simplicity. It can also be used by firearms manufacturers for production of handgun barrels, frames, and slides, and some lower and upper AR (Armalite Rifle) components.

The Equator system takes a simple concept of using a master (known) part and couples it with a highly repeatable and versatile structure for fast, flexible gaging on the factory floor. Along with IPC (Intelligent Process Control) feedback, the Equator system allows the gaging to update the machining process for immediate feedback without a need for manual o set adjustments.

Based on an easily scalable and adaptable “parallel kinematic” structure, the Equator system allows high speed scanning and rapid moves between features, while retaining sti ness that delivers point-to-point repeatability, critical for accurate gaging. The Equator system o ers the flexibility to scale appropriately without too much in the way of dedicated fixturing.

Installation of an Equator system takes minutes, and an operator can switch between gaging of di erent parts in seconds. Re-configuration of the gaging system to accommodate part design changes, or to measure new parts, is possible in a fraction of the time needed for conventional custom gaging, using industry standard DMIS programming.

Equator systems are available with two levels of software; a programmable version for production engineers to create DMIS programs and, at a lower price, a shop floor system which allows those programs to be executed but prevents operators from making modifications. Both software levels include easy-to-use MODUS Organizer operator front-end software. In the programmable version, MODUS Equator programming software allows engineers to rapidly create gaging routines for any part – simple or complex, prismatic or free-form. DW