All Features
MIT News
In recent years, many airplane manufacturers have started building their planes from advanced composite materials, which consist of high-strength fibers such as carbon or glass, embedded in a plastic or metal matrix. Such materials are stronger and more lightweight than aluminum, but they are…
MIT News
In recent years, many airplane manufacturers have started building their planes from advanced composite materials, which consist of high-strength fibers such as carbon or glass, embedded in a plastic or metal matrix. Such materials are stronger and more lightweight than aluminum, but they are…
Davis Balestracci
When teaching the I-chart, I’m barely done describing the technique (never mind teaching it) when, as if on cue, someone will ask, “When and how often should I recalculate my limits?” I’m at the point where this triggers an internal “fingernails on the blackboard” reaction. So, I smile and once…
Dirk Dusharme @ Quality Digest
Forty or 50 years ago, when you sat down in front of, or picked up, a dimensional measurement tool, you immediately recognized that a certain amount of knowledge and skill was required to use it. The measurement operation was almost always completely manual, and even reading and interpreting the…
Dirk Dusharme @ Quality Digest
Forty or 50 years ago, when you sat down in front of, or picked up, a dimensional measurement tool, you immediately recognized that a certain amount of knowledge and skill was required to use it. The measurement operation was almost always completely manual, and even reading and interpreting the…
European Space Agency ESA
A key technical challenge of the joint European Space Agency (ESA) and National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) LISA mission has been solved: how to maintain precise pointing of a laser beam across 5 million km of space (figure 1).
The next-decade Laser Interferometer Space Antenna (…
Georgia Institute of Technology
The Georgia Tech Research Institute (GTRI) may possess the secret to baking perfect buns every time. Its researchers have developed a production-line system that automatically inspects the quality of sandwich buns exiting the oven and adjusts oven temperatures if it detects unacceptable buns…
Dirk Dusharme @ Quality Digest
During the last couple of decades we have seen huge advances in laser trackers, portable arms, structured light scanners, laser scanners, photogrammetry devices, and other 3-D measurement technologies that have made accurate 3-D shop floor measurement more feasible than ever before. Each of…
Sam Pfeifle
With stakeholders that include the Palestinian National Authority, the Roman Catholic Church, the Greek Orthodox Church, and the Armenian Apostolic Authorities, it’s hard to overestimate the religious and political importance of the International Project for Survey, Study, Assessment,…
Vision Engineering Ltd.
From its humble beginnings as a music carrier, the compact disc (CD)—and later the digital versatile disc (DVD)—is now entering its third generation for the high-definition market as HD DVDs or Blu-ray. However, one thing that must stay consistent throughout these evolutions is the high-…
Pierre Huot
Whether you are manufacturing small electronic appliances, automobiles, consumer goods, or large-scale parts, you know how much inspection and quality control affect the continued success of your organization.
3-D laser imaging is used for more than just inspection purposes. The ability to…
GKS Global Services
Mystery Science Theater 3000, an award-winning television comedy, created many unique puppet characters during the course of its 20-year existence. The show quickly became a cult classic and is still popular today with a large devoted fan base.
Challenge
Producers wanted to create a…
Manufacturing speed and innovative designs are two crucial issues affecting whether or not a manufacturer can lead the mobile telephone market. Therefore, mobile phone manufacturers have put considerable efforts into accelerating the product development process, including the introduction of 3-D…
Talion Edwards
R
egardless of the economic indicators discussed on the nightly network news, it appears from our vantage point that the manufacturing segment is coming back. If we back up two years, all of us in the large-volume measurement industry saw the effect of declining markets. Large manufacturers…
Jon Miller
There is an expression in Japanese, “Dust accumulates to form a mountain.” (Chiri mo tsumoreba yama to naru.) While this may not be geologically correct, it carries a deep truth that lean practitioners will recognize through experience. Taken positively, this is the essential spirit of kaizen…
Jacques Hoffmann
In parts one, two, and three of this “Leak Testing 101” series, we discussed three methods of dry-air leak testing—pressure decay, differential pressure decay, and mass-flow leak testing—including the pitfalls and hidden costs inherent in two-step pressure testing methods and the higher accuracy…
The purpose of this article is to present the planning of a case study performed in the field of geometrical and dimensional measurement and controllability planning (GMCP, previously abbreviated GICP). The case study is carried out at the Swedish automotive company Scania CV. This article presents…
Cognex Corp.
With a worldwide reputation for product quality, customer service, and minting technology, the Royal Canadian Mint (RCM) is at the forefront of innovation in producing coinage and currency. The RCM uses advanced automation equipment to count and wrap pennies in rolls. However, in the past these…
Laurel Thoennes @ QD
There is a group effort commencing beneath the English city of Nottingham with a main goal of assessing the archaeological importance of nearly 500 man-made caves that were cut into the sandstone during medieval times and possibly earlier. The caves have served many purposes from housing dungeons,…
Pierre Huot
If a manufacturer were to ask its clients how they evaluated goods or services, the three most common metrics would be goods at a fair price, on-time delivery, and quality. Ask which could be most valuable and in all likelihood the most significant response would be quality. When included in the…
Johns Hopkins University
Large wind farms are being built around the world as a cleaner way to generate electricity, but operators are still searching for the most efficient way to arrange the massive turbines that turn moving air into power.
To help steer wind-farm owners in the right direction, Charles Meneveau, a Johns…
Tracker Handbook by Javier Vera
The technology from which the laser tracker is drawn has a diversified beginning, from the laser instrumentation to the methods of capturing the beam. Unmistakably, it is the integration of all components, along with its portability, that makes the laser tracker an appealing measurement tool.
Many…
Christopher Sirola
Many years ago, I was flipping through stations on the radio and came across a talk show. I don’t remember the topic of discussion, but something the host said stuck with me.
“Scientists,” the host blustered (and I paraphrase), “are 95-percent confident of these results! Wow!”
The sound you’re now…
Sharbari Banerjee
A material’s internal structure or microstructure is defined as one that is viewed with either a metallurgical microscope at magnifications in the range of 25X up to 1000X or a scanning electron microscope (SEM) at higher magnifications. Features observed in microstructures include phases and…
Bob Cramblitt
The term “a measure of confidence” has always been considered a nebulous thing. But it becomes very real when applied to body armor testing at the U.S. Army’s Aberdeen Test Center (ATC) in Maryland. Using a FaroArm Quantum scanner and Geomagic Qualify 3-D inspection software, the Army has…
