Fine-tuning coordinate measuring machines (CMMs) to the functional needs of manufacturers has changed the way they view quality inspection. The industry trend of moving dimensional inspection from thermally controlled metrology labs to the shop floor introduces newfound efficiencies and process insights. This evolution also presents the need to understand how temperature influences CMM accuracy.
Compared to other environmental factors found in a factory, ambient temperature can have the most impact on a CMM’s accuracy and repeatability. Changes in temperature can affect the scales, machine structure and artifacts being measured to expand, contract, and, in some cases, distort in a non-linear manner.