If you often thought that probing software has always been hard to use, expensive and not scalable to scanning, well you were right!
Geomagic, known for its user-friendly flagship products Geomagic Studio for Reverse Engineering and Geomagic Qualify for Inspection, has now release a probing module that builds on the ease-of-use and scalability for which Geomagic is know.
By Richard Sandham, QA Engineer, Geomagic
(As a QA engineer at Geomagic. Richard spends his daytimes pulling apart and testing the Geomagic products and his night times putting them back together… we just hope he doesn’t have any bolts and screws left over when he’s done!)
By Ping Fu
It was an honor to be invited as a delegate to represent the private sector at APEC (American-Pacific Economic Cooperation) by the White House and the Department of State. I participated in the working draft of the Declaration of San Francisco, under the Chairmanship of U.S. Secretary of State, Hillary Rodham Clinton, which has been officially adopted. The 21 economies who are the APEC leaders expressed their will to work together to promoting entrepreneurship and greater leadership for women in business and government. The four pillars of initiatives are: access to market, women leadership, capacity building and access to capital. In 2011 and beyond, APEC economies will take concrete actions to realize the full potential of women, integrate them more fully into APEC economies, and harness their talents.
This week at Quality Expo, Konica Minolta and Geomagic are demonstrating a fully automated robotic system for scanning and checking manufactured parts.
The system on display comprises a Konica Minolta scanner, a Motoman robot and Geomagic Qualify software. The robot is programmed to pick up a part and display it in set positions in front of the scanner. Each scan is received by Geomagic Qualify where it is automatically aligned and registered into a complete 3D model.
Once in Geomagic Qualify, the data is compared to reference data and automated reporting of detected differences can begin.
James Clark, National Sales Manager for Konica Minolta said, “Our new robotic solution is ideal for inline part measurement and applications where 100% inspection is necessary. The companies I spoke to today were excited about our new solution and the impact it could have on their inspection needs.”
This system allows for zero human intervention and the Konica Minolta scanner used in this system can handle shiny, metallic parts seamlessly.
“This robot opens up entirely new possibilities in the world of 3D inspection for production lines,” said Len Chamberlain, Director of Sales at Geomagic. ”The completely automated process shows what lies ahead in terms of automation and makes this demonstration a total winner at this event.”
View today’s video from the trade show floor (note: Because of background noise the video is also captioned.) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=71R3yCYCRzk
As you watch the video, you can see the robot and scanner working behind James as he explains the system.
By John Lockhart, Product Manager, Geomagic
Soon, I’ll be blogging about the many very cool but less-than-obvious features that will be available in Geomagic Qualify Probe 2012. But, given that most folks are just getting their first look at this new product, I want to hit the highlights and talk about some new capabilities and workflows you get to dig into when you first get your hands on this new software.
Probing Workflows - The new capabilities that we have developed for tactile probing solutions - particularly for users of portable CMMs - are so complete that we have been able to respond to our partners’ requests to publish Geomagic Qualify Probe as an entry-level probing solution with a cross-grade path to Geomagic Qualify.
When you get your first look at the Home tab in Geomagic Qualify Probe, here is a workflow you can use to hit a few of the highlights:
Integrated CAD translators and PMI support – Direct CAD translation for CATIA, NX, SolidWorks, Inventor, and Creo Elements/Pro (formerly Pro/ENGINEER) are built into every copy of Geomagic Qualify Probe at no additional cost. Even better, the translators will import nominal features and GD&T from CAD.
GD&T Support – Geomagic Qualify Probe allowed us to continue to enhance our Geometric Design &Tolerance (GD&T) support with true position callouts for 2D features, concentricity, and straightness of surface…just to name a few.
Scripting Interfaces - We have exposed new scripting interfaces that provide access to point and polygon functionality as well as features. Besides automation, these interfaces provide access to properties of objects. So, you can access the properties of objects such as features you create in python code. What you can do this these interfaces is open ended and well beyond the scope of this post, but if you are interested, I encourage you to check out the new script editor which is now a new tab in the graphics window, and the documentation and examples located in the \help\platform subdirectory of the product installation.
Engineers and manufacturers interested in trying out a free trial of Geomagic Qualify Probe can pre-register here: http://geomagic.com/en/products/geomagic-qualify-probe/overview/
We hope you enjoy the latest measurement software tool from the Geomagic portfolio!!
Today Geomagic announced Geomagic Qualify Probe™. This is a product which takes the mainstream Geomagic Qualify tools and applies them purely to probing and probed data.
Geomagic Qualify Probe delivers the ease-of-use and functionality for engineers that are looking for probed and tactile data as a source for inspection. By applying tried-and-tested assessment and reporting tools from our mainstream Geomagic Qualify product, Geomagic Qualify Probe is a fully-functioning yet affordable 3D probing software solution that makes inspection easier.
A key feature of Geomagic Qualify Probe – direct import of 3D MCAD data from CATIA, Autodesk Inventor, NX, SolidWorks and Creo Elements/Pro (formerly Pro/ENGINEER) is now built in to the software and available free-of-charge. This means that reference data from these systems can be immediately and easily imported for comparison with a finished part through probed data.
Of course, the software also accepts all major neutral 3D formats – OBJ, IGES, STEP, 3ds, SAT, and so on.
And then the product delivers automated reports in 3D PDF so that everyone in the workflow can see, understand and adjust the manufacturing process.
Geomagic Qualify Probe has a whole ton of new, interesting and productive features that can make the difference in probed data inspection.
You will be able to try Geomagic Qualify Probe soon for a free 30-day trial. To do this, please pre-register now for a free trial at: http://geomagic.com/en/products/geomagic-qualify-probe/overview/
You can also see previews in-person at Quality Expo on Sept 20, 2011 at McCormick Place in Chicago by both Exact Metrology (booth # 117) and Geomagic (booth # 1046.)
And at its European debut at the TCT Live event, at the NEC, Birmingham, UK., on Sept 27 2011.
Last Friday part of the Geomagic Marketing team managed to escape the office and visit Roush Fenway – a giant in the world of NASCAR and Ford’s arm for creating racing cars in the US stock car racing world – for a little of our version of R&R – Research and Racing cars.
As users of Geomagic for quality control and 3D engineering, the company embodies high-end technical expertise throughout its entire operation, putting levels of thought into such tiny details that normal people (if you can think of us as normal) simply would not have considered.
NASCAR can be a strange world of obtuse and seemingly random rules about car size, engine power, tire pressure and more. Tolerances are strict, and yet Roush aims to deliver performance that accurately meets every tolerance proscribed without losing a single millimeter in size or brake horsepower in the process. Everything, including external heat, engine heat, cooling effects and so on, is considered within the design and build operation, and then tested, checked, verified, adjusted and checked again. With an operation like this, very few things are left to chance and that includes checking each and every outsourced part, as well as every part created in-house. The company’s engineering effort is paying dividends with winning drivers from all teams across recent years. Roush has surely become a powerhouse in NASCAR design and racing.
For our trip, our aim was simple – we went to find out how Geomagic is being used, as well as score a car body part for our new office Showcase. We scored the body part, but also found ourselves immersed in a world of engineering excellence that took our breath away.
Of course, since all the information on how they do this is confidential, we cannot talk about it. The team uses a GOM ATOS scanner, in combination with Geomagic Studio and Geomagic Qualify, to make their car designs as perfect as possible.
The car part we collected is a side panel from Trevor Baynes’ Number 16 vehicle for the Nationwide NASCAR challenge. Baynes is a rapidly rising star in the Roush teams, and this year won the Daytona 500. We will be following his progress as the NASCAR season continues.
We want to express our thanks to the team members at Roush for their welcome and assistance, especially Dave Shepherd whose expertise in engineering and enthusiasm for the sport is refreshing and Mike, his technician. These guys make for an impressive and quite intimidating engineering team who combine advanced engineering and scanning with good, old-fashioned, mechanical solutions to make their equipment work perfectly. Plus you’ll see from the photos below that we got the parts we hoped for:
Figure 1: Tom Simon from Geomagic and Dave Shepherd loading a side panel from rising NASCAR driver, Trevor Bayne's, number 16 NASCAR Nationwide Car into my pickup. If you want to see the panel, however, you’ll have to wait for our showcase to be unveiled at our new office…
Figure 2: Tom and myself next to a Nationwide NASCAR in the Roush Museum, a car similar to the one from which the side panel came from.
Figure 3: The front of Roush Fenway – an impressive campus which has absorbed most of the available land next to the Concord, NC, Airport.
Moving swiftly with our software is one thing. Moving to a new headquarters requires some kind of additional metal in the Geomagic teams’ spines that you can neither buy or rent.
Through willpower and an overriding spirit of ‘we can do anything’ Geomagic got itself moved today into new headquarters offices in Research Triangle Park, NC. The new premises will allow the company to pursue new projects, expand on teams and be able to have an environment that will be pleasant for employees and visitors alike.
Right now, even late at night on a Friday, the Admin and IT teams are still working to get additional server and office services running, and a core team of helpers will be back at the office on Saturday morning to assist. We have inside info that IT/IS will be spending all night at the office fuelled by that great RTP institution known as Randy’s Pizza, and assisted by Commercial Works who moved all the crates, set up the PCs and got all the gear into the new location.
Comments from the teams range from ‘Organized chaos’ to ‘Doing a Superman down the hall on a moving dolly was a blast!’
Honorable mentions go to the IT/IS team and Admin, who put up with the endless questions that ranged from ‘where do I label my crate’ through to ‘Will my computer make it to my new office?’
The Engineering dept., and Finance, regardless of all my rude comments prior, turned up to help, pack and assist. And Tech Support finally realized the phones were down at noon and took their work home with them. (Some teams are just too focused…)
Even while it isn’t all done at this point, Geomagic is proud to be in its new headquarters. Selected photos are below.
John Toups, who has led the entire move, expresses himself
When we told contacts we were elbow-deep in bubblewrap, we weren't kidding!!
Our new downstairs lobby...gotta love it
Duelling boxes, compliments of TJ and Drew in Engineering and QA
This innocent little headline does nothing to describe the levels of excitement, mayhem and madness that exist in the Geomagic headquarters. Geomagic is moving at the end of this week to newer, flashier offices and it’s all hands on deck to make sure valuable scanners, equipment and artwork are safely crated for the movers.
For weeks now, the Geomagic IT team has devoted every waking hour (and we suspect a few of the sleeping hours too) on installing new switches, networks and servers. Outfitting for our new showrooms and lab facilities are underway, while the training center gradually takes shape.
Architects, contractors and our own John Toups pore over plans and designs. Ping is busy selecting products made by our customers and buying additional artwork, all for the showrooms. Employees in the office have gradually devolved from wearing nice working clothes into ratty jeans and t-shirts, and piles of trash magically appear in the hallways as everyone tries to purge the stuff they have acquired.
The keenest hoarders are, of course, Marketing, who will always save every item, design, article, brochure, booth and poster ever created…just in case. We are now being forced to purge items – a task that we can enjoy now we have started it. However, it looks like the recycling people are going to need a hefty tip by the time we’re done with this!
Engineering has been prompt – it’s really just a case of them loading their Transformer models and lucky coffee cup into a crate and they’re done, anyway.
In the meantime, key services such as Technical Support continue their jobs with a supernatural calm, seemingly oblivious to the madness occurring in every hallway and office. (This bunch of Tech Support folks is pretty hard to scare.) But we have a plan which will cause them to respond…the coffee machines leave the old building on Friday. We are almost certain that they will feel a sudden urge to pack when the coffee is a few miles away.
And the Sales team you ask? Well, they were the bright ones. They all packed weeks ago and left to ‘tour their regions’.
On a slightly more serious note, Geomagic’s main phones will be out of service for a short while on Friday afternoon, Sept 9, 2011. Click here for information on how to contact us while we are switching over to the new office.
In the meantime, we will keep you informed of our progress right here at the Geomagic blog.
Images 1 & 2 (left): Starting with one small box, the trash piles have rapidly multiplied - mostly thanks to Marketing.
Image 3. Josh in Tech Support remains stoic throughout the entire moving mayhem
Image 4. Our flashy new offices await.
