Renishaw, a market-leading supplier of metrology equipment, shows how using its cutting-edge Equator gauging technology helps to optimize manufacturing, enabling more environmentally friendly processes for the design and production of parts, in this year of its 50th anniversary.
The Equator gauging system will be on display, showcasing its distinctive construction and working principles that have made it the preferred gauge among production engineers all over the world.
Equator gauging explained
For the inspection of medium to high-volume manufactured parts in critical applications across numerous industries, such as gearbox components for the automobile industry and landing gear for the aerospace industry, Equator systems provide high-speed comparative gauging.
It is a quick, incredibly reproducible, and adaptable gauge made for use on the shop floor.
“The largest market for Equator gauging systems is automotive, with hundreds of Equator systems in use globally for electric vehicle part inspection,” says Ben Spokes, Renishaw Business Development Manager for Equator Gauging. These are frequently used in conjunction with completely automated loading and direct intelligent process control to enhance the quality of manufactured parts and greatly minimize or even get rid of scrap.
Sustainability through automation
Equator gauging systems are crucial to manufacturers’ efforts to adopt factory automation and create their own better business practices.
The Equator system has been tuned for part loading using a robot or shuttle system and can function in a temperature range of 5 to 50°C and up to 80% humidity. Integration into an automated cell is made simpler by the system’s configuration for simple communication with a variety of automated work cell equipment. As a result, cycle durations are greatly shortened, productivity is increased, and throughput is raised.
Flexible gauging can be used to validate discrete machining operations close to the site of manufacturing, providing automated process control and tool offset management. This boosts belief in the quality of the finished part.
Futureproof your manufacturing process with improved process control
Moving from sample inspection to 100% inspection greatly improves process control, and the Process Monitor component of the Equator system shows real-time gauging data bar graphs and charts, enabling process corrections and scrap prevention.
The Intelligent Process Control (IPC) software from Renishaw can capture useful information and offer automated real-time fixes, implementing offset adjustments for frequent sources of instability such as tool wear and thermal drift.
Olympus NDT, Canada (who installed a system as part of a fully autonomous manufacturing cell) came to the following conclusion after seeing an illustration of the efficiency of the Equator gauge’s level of automation:
“Since we can now operate the machine (tool) at night and on the weekends, we have practically tripled the machine’s capacity. We have decreased downtime for the machines, decreased the price of scrap components, and raised the caliber of parts produced.
Equator gauging systems’ automatic stylus changing racks allow for the rapid inspection of numerous parts. These systems are built to handle a wide variety of parts and design changes. It is a demonstrable example of how manufacturers are securing their operations for the future by using a productive and affordable component gauging solution.
Connectivity
Systems for equator gauging are tailored for improved machine communication. Hardware and software for automation have been created to enhance integration in automated cells.
The equator gauge can link to a number of external devices in an automated cell with up to 32 digital IO connections using the REN-IO interface unit and the EZ-IO automation software. EZ-IO software makes it easier to configure communications between Equator systems and the cell controller while setting up automated production cells.
Visit hall 6, exhibit B32, at EMO Hannover 2023 (18-23 September 2023), for more details on Renishaw’s most recent process automation solutions for increased productivity and sustainability.
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