AN OPTIMIZATION STRATEGY FOR MAXIMIZING COORDINATE MEASURING MACHINE PRODUCTIVITY .1. QUANTIFYING THE EFFECTS OF OPERATING SPEED ON MEASUREMENT QUALITY

The ability to quickly obtain precise dimensional information about ma nufactured parts is vital for any successful mass production operation . Coordinate Measuring Machines (CMMs) can be used to obtain dimension al measurements, but the effects of structural vibrations often limit the speed at which measurements can be obtained. In this, the first of two papers, the effects of operating speed on CMM measurement quality are illustrated, and the factors affecting measurement speed are then analyzed through an Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) study. Results of th e illustration and ANOVA show that as operating speed increases, the q uality of the measurements obtained decreases, and that the individual axes of the prismatic CMM structure experimentally evaluated react di fferently to measuring speeds. Also given are results that show the tr ade-off between measurement time and quality and indicate the existenc e of optimal operating speeds for certain values of measurement qualit y. A model is then developed that describes the relationship between m easurement speed and measurement quality for use in the optimization s trategy presented in Part 2 of this paper.