According to Laurent Porte, managing director of Metrologic Group, “Todays manufacturing world is looking for ways to inspect better and faster, driven by the ever increasing costs of defects. CMMs are simply too slow and cannot keep up with the production rates.

Metrologic Group presents the first all-in-one Online Robotic Inspection Software: Metrolog X4 I-Robot version v6 released July 1, 2016. According to the company, Metrolog X4 I-Robot eliminates the need for several software packages and a complex integration to control a robotic cell. Metrolog X4 I-Robot controls both the measuring device and the robot directly. A complementary product, Silma X4 I-Robot version V6, also released July 1, 2016, allows complete robotic cell simulation.

According to Laurent Porte, managing director of Metrologic Group, "Todays manufacturing world is looking for ways to inspect better and faster, driven by the ever increasing costs of defects. CMMs are simply too slow and cannot keep up with the production rates. Other measuring devices such as arms, portable devices or laser trackers require a large amount of manual intervention with concerns over repeatability. In-line or near-line robotic inspection, mostly free from human intervention, is rapidly becoming part of a manufacturing line landscape."

Porte adds, "Unfortunately, todays robot-based inspection solutions are qualified by many as unreliable, requiring multiple software packages and difficult to integrate, lacking accuracy and flexibility and most often cannot be used for 3D measurements and reporting."

Metrolog X4 I-Robot software connects not only to the measuring device but also to the robot controller and "drive it like a CMMs", providing a centralized brain to control the robotic inspection cell. The systems take advantage of the intrinsic measuring device accuracy and not from the robots which becomes a simple "manipulator". Because the robot path is linked to the features to inspect, any new part or part design change can easily be (re)programmed. This approach eliminates the need for complex automation architectures and allows a CMM operator to rapidly learn how to take ownership and independently control a robotic inspection cell.

Porte concludes, "Our strength continues to be the ability to integrate any kind of 3D portable optical and touch probe device to any kind of robot to perform repetitive measurement sequences."

About Metrologic Group:
With 30+ years of experience and established as the largest independent 3D measurement software company, Metrologic has set the standard in 3D software upgrades and CMM retrofit. Used for any small or large scale measurement applications, point cloud analysis, NC machine probing or complex GD&T evaluation, our universal software package can be used on robots, CMMS, arms, laser trackers, and portable devices as well as for offline simulation. Metrologic Group can help you achieve the highest quality standards by providing you with the latest available metrology software and CMM controls hardware technology.

For more information visit our website: www.metrologicgroup.com, email: info@metrologicgroup.com or call us: 248-504-6200.