MORE POWER: NEXT STEPS IN INSPECTION SOFTWARE

Delcam releases the world?s leading hardware-independent inspection software that includes a range of enhancements to make it easier and more flexible to use.

The most obvious change will be a completely new interface for undertaking ?simple? measurements. This will make it much easier to undertake basic tasks, such as measuring the distance between two points or two planes, or the centers of two circles, or checking the thickness of a section.

It has also been made easier to add or delete points during an inspection from a set of measurements defining any feature. Points might need to be added to collect extra data from a suspect area, while ?rogue? measurements can be deleted to prevent them affecting the overall inspection.

A number of improvements have been made to the ways in which data within geometric features can be handled. The attributes of each point making up the sequence will be able to be displayed separately, either as the renowned PowerINSPECT dots or as needles proportionate in length to the extent of the deviation. This will make it easier to see where the problems areas are, especially in bigger parts with large numbers of measurements.

It will also be possible to use individual points within multiple features. For example, two sets of points could be used to check the circles at the top and bottom of a cylinder and then combined to produce the inspection report for the cylinder itself.

Increased flexibility will also come from the new ability to display feature measurements as surface points for comparison with the CAD model. This will make it easier to spot errors when, for example, a circle is perfect in its own dimensions but is not in exactly the correct position on the part.

One simple enhancement that could save considerable time will be the ability to halt an inspection during the measurement sequence. This will allow the operator to produce a report as soon as the part is found to be out of tolerance rather than having to complete the full sequence. It will be particularly helpful when inspecting more complex components in a production environment.

PowerINSPECT?s easy-to-understand reporting has always been one of its most popular attributes. This has been further improved with the ability to display an image of the part on each page of the report showing just the measurements listed on that page. This will make it easier to analyse the results from large sets of data, for example, results collected with laser scanners.

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Delcam plc, Small Heath Business Park, Birmingham, B10 0HJ, UK, 44 (0)121 683 1081, www.delcam.com.