Since the introduction of the GigE Vision standard, Gigabit Ethernet is rapidly gaining market share against other camera interfaces, and there seems to be a consensus that it will play an important role in the future. However, sales figures of digital cameras for machine vision applications still put FireWire as the leading digital interface.

During his recent presentation at the 2009 Quality Measurement Conference, Ted Doiron of NIST called gage blocks, “a zombie technology.” He defined this as, “a dead technology given a semblance of life, but awkward and inefficient, by a supernatural force (human inertia) usually with evil (costly) effects.”

We experience torque daily in numerous applications-from turning the volume dial on our alarm clock, to opening the door to our home. For the manufacturers of these products, and numerous others, it is essential to verify that the amount of torque required to operate these products meets specifications.

The lean Six Sigma methodology has the power to transform an organization. Effective implementation, however, requires that the methodology become part of the culture. For a company to maximize its return on investment, the implementation needs to not only introduce a new way of doing business, but also create and sustain an environment in which results matter and employees at all levels feel empowered to drive continuous improvement.

Laser scanning technology has emerged as an increasingly popular solution for many measurement applications. The ins and outs of laser scanning are not as well understood as other mature metrology technologies.

Inspecting is the first step in determining the quality of manufactured parts. But how to react when the quality begins to drift is a key question many people ask. Real-time statistical process control (SPC) identifies a problem, but it may not be the right tool for reaction plan managing.

With the metrology industry’s seemingly boundless quest for ultra high accuracy and sophisticated designs, the question is begged, how much accuracy is absolutely necessary and at what cost? Fortunately, recent advancements in video measuring equipment design provide accurate, productive, cost-effective solutions that are well within the vast majority of even the most stringent metrology requirements.

GD&T is a communications protocol that is particularly helpful in a global economy where parts may be made in one part of the world and used in another. GD&T is increasingly being accepted as the best way of specifying 3-D design dimensions and tolerances on engineering design drawings.

Today, the majority of manufacturers have come to understand and accept the roughness profile, Ra. But how much does industry understand the importance of the related waviness profile, Wt? As the waviness profile is becoming more common in process control, operators should learn how to understand this parameter.

New innovations in laser scanning technology and point cloud processing software are key enablers of an entirely digital inspection process. The concept of digitizing parts up front and running inspection on the digital copies of the samples streamlines metrology operations and embeds them into the CAD-centric design-through-manufacturing process. From measurement preparation to final report, this approach is significantly faster, provides more profound insight, and takes advantage of the typical flexibility and automation benefits of a digital process.