CMSC 2024

Authors:  William. G. Jansma, Joshua S. Downey, Rolando C. Gwekoh, Altaf A. Khan, Keith B. Knight, Animesh Jain, Samuel P. Jarvis, Jeremy Nudell

Argonne National Laboratory, Argonne, Illinois, USA

The Advanced Photon Source (APS) is a synchrotron X-ray facility located at Argonne National Laboratory that has been in operation since 1996. An extensive upgrade to replace the original APS electron storage ring with a state-of-the-art machine was recently completed. The ~1,100-meter circumference storage ring generates X-rays up to 500 times brighter than those created by the original APS. With the new ring completed, focus has shifted to the upgrade and realignment of X-ray beamlines. This presentation will report the progress of the APS Upgrade project and share survey and alignment results for accelerator module assembly and installation, highlighting the metrology methods utilized in building the new storage ring.
* Work supported by U.S. Department of Energy, Office of Sciences, under Contract No. DE-AC02-06CH11357 

 Modern manufacturing trends increase flexibility, increase frequency, and reduce the time to commissioning. Highly flexible virtual planning forms the basis for real production processes that must deal with machine, part, and process deviations. From FFT's point of view as a system integrator, there will be economic benefits if measurement technology is used not only for end-of-line control but also for other tasks in plant engineering via dual use or only temporarily during ramp-up. With the Nikon Metrology MV331-HS and the FFT-VisionVIEW software solution developed in-house, FFT equips body-in-white and battery cell lines with traceable automated measurement functions to ensure quality close to and integrated in the production flow. The latest version of the sensor technology used, the Nikon APDIS and the API Dynamic 9D LADAR, are highly flexible sensors for fully automatic optical probing that can be used in stationary and mobile applications or on robots. 
Not all tasks in automated production require traceable measurements. High investment costs, many features with short cycle times and the lack of certified downtime predictions often require additional sensors. Robot-mounted light section sensors, such as a Keyence LJ-V7080B held by a Fanuc M-900iA, offer the ability to measure many points and can be evaluated by the existing processing pipeline; they can also be extended locally with the option to add traceable measured features. Another advantage of light section sensors is the availability of traceable systems such as the Hexagon AS1 with the AT960, creating a complete sensor palette for FFT-VisionVIEW. 
The integration of the sensors into a functional robot cell to manufacture large train parts with 4 Fanuc M-1000iA robots holding welding guns with 400 kg tools demonstrates the dual usability of the optical sensors. Two of the robots on opposing sides are equipped with Keyence LJ-X8900 sensors, which have the task of flexibly determining the condition of the clamps and the presence of parts to ensure a clean system condition during automatic production. In addition, FFT-VisionVIEW uses the sensors to measure part deviations and provides the information to the online guidance and collision avoidance system to enable advanced welding strategies with optimal geometric results. During commissioning, ramp-up and maintenance, an API Dynamic 9D LADAR is temporarily inserted into the station on a moving stand to support the set-up and check system behavior during the initial commissioning without parts being available yet. Principles of the dry-run phase of setting-in will be shown, and technical details will also be explained in a demonstration set-up to explain the system functionality in more detail. 

More than a decade ago, I gave my first brief at CMSC on the current state of 3D portable metrology and potential use cases that would benefit defense aircraft manufacturing. Evaluations of many of the state-of-the-art systems at the time were performed to determine what might be best suited to accomplish common tasks like detail part validation, hole inspection, seam validation, and coating thickness measurement. Since that time, these technologies have grown into a critical piece of Lockheed Martin’s digital transformation and I have been fortunate to ride that wave to a Technical Fellowship.
This presentation will review my previous study, the deployed applications that followed for F35 and other defense aircraft, lessons learned over the past ten years, and where I see 3D portable metrology being used in the future as those technologies and our aircraft platforms continue to evolve.

©2024 Lockheed Martin Corporation. All Rights Reserved

In the realm of aerospace metrology, precise measurement is paramount for ensuring the safety, efficiency, and performance of aircraft components. Holding fixtures play a crucial role in achieving accurate measurements by securely holding the workpiece in place during inspection and testing processes. This abstract elucidates the significance of holding fixtures in aerospace metrology.

The paper will outline few case studies of inspection of complex geometry hardware, touch two critical points :
Firstly, holding fixtures provide stability and repeatability, minimizing variations in measurement results. By securely clamping or supporting the workpiece, they mitigate the risk of dimensional distortions caused by external forces, such as vibrations or gravitational effects. This stability is indispensable for achieving consistent and reliable measurements, essential for meeting stringent aerospace industry standards.

Secondly, holding fixtures facilitate accessibility and orientation control, enabling efficient inspection of intricate geometries and hard-to-reach areas. They allow technicians to position the workpiece precisely relative to the measurement equipment, ensuring accurate data capture across all critical dimensions. This capability is particularly valuable for complex aerospace components, such as engine parts or airframe structures, which demand meticulous scrutiny for quality assurance.
Technical paper will furthermore outline how holding fixtures aid in streamlining metrology workflows and enhancing productivity. By providing a dedicated setup for measurement tasks, they reduce setup time and minimize the need for manual adjustments, leading to quicker turnaround times and increased throughput. This efficiency gain is invaluable in aerospace manufacturing, where time-to-market and production efficiency are paramount considerations.

Moreover, holding fixtures contribute to cost reduction and waste prevention by minimizing rework and scrap due to measurement inaccuracies. By ensuring that parts are measured accurately the first time, they mitigate the risk of defective components entering the production line, thereby averting costly rejections and delays. This proactive approach to quality control is essential for maintaining competitiveness in the aerospace industry.

Therefore, investment in high-quality holding fixtures is indispensable for aerospace manufacturers striving to uphold the highest standards of precision and quality assurance.

Terrestrial laser scanners (TLSs) are a type of coordinate metrology instrument which collects the three-dimensional coordinates of a scene by measuring the range that a laser beam travels and its orientation (azimuthal and elevation angles). TLSs are subject to a variety of error sources, including those which arise in the ranging, measurement of angles, and interaction of the laser beam with the scanned surface. Documentary standards exist which prescribe tests to expose some of those error sources, including ASTM E2938-15, which addresses errors arising from the ranging unit of a TLS, and ASTM E3125-17, which addresses those from any inherent optical misalignments (leading primarily to angular errors) inside a TLS. While ASTM E2938-15 does allow one to scan different materials, it only captures the impact of the materials’ optical properties in aggregate, along with all other sources’ contribution to ranging errors.

We propose an artifact which interrogates the effects of different materials’ optical scattering behavior on the performance of a TLS. The artifact consists of a planar, media-blasted aluminum plate onto which several, planar materials under test are affixed. The artifact is meant to be modular, so the materials under test can be swapped out easily. Further, the plate holds three to four media-blasted steel spheres from which a unique coordinate system may be established. The artifact is first calibrated on a coordinate measurement machine (CMM). The CMM records a three-dimensional point cloud with sufficient points to fit the radius and center point of each sphere and a plane to the faces of each material and the background plate. The TLS also collects a point cloud of data representing all surfaces on the artifact. From both sets of data, the distance from the approximate center of the surface of each sample to the plane of the background material can be computed and compared. Additionally, the root-mean-square error of each plane fitted to the TLS data is computed. The RMS error and the error in the offset distance can be used as a measure of the ranging uncertainty for that material.

We report on initial testing performed on a grayscale reflectance tile set made from sintered polytetrafluoroethylene. The measured distance from the front of each sample to the background plane shows a strong dependence on the target’s level of reflectance. These preliminary results show that the artifact we propose can be used effectively to examine some errors in TLS measurements. Future measurements must be taken to further examine the impact of range, ranging technology, angle-of-incidence, and additional materials.

Authors:
Braden Czapla, National Institute of Standards and Technology, Mechanical Engineer*
Vincent Lee, National Institute of Standards and Technology, Mechanical Engineer
Bala Muralikrishnan, National Institute of Standards and Technology, Mechanical Engineer
Tam Vo, Naval Surface Warfare Center Corona Division, Senior Electrical Engineer
Matthew Winger, Naval Surface Warfare Center Corona Division, Measurement Scientist
*Primary Author