Methods Machine Tools offers the VisionGauge digital optical comparator system and its new CAD Auto-Align and Auto Pass/Fail software tools, developed by VisionX Inc., to enable users to automatically compare a part to its CAD data in real-time.

The Auto-Align tool automatically aligns the CAD data to the part, producing repeatable and accurate results that are completely operator-independent, the company says. It supports both X-Y and X-Y-rotation alignment of the CAD drawing to the part.

 

The Auto Pass/Fail tool automatically determines if a part is within tolerance. It can be point-based or can consider complete geometric entities, and it can perform both simultaneously on the same part. In point-based mode, the part’s deviation from nominal is evaluated at precise user-specified cross-sections to verify that the part is within tolerance at all of these locations. The geometry-based tool verifies that the part is within tolerance over complete geometric entities. The Auto Pass/Fail tool supports bi-directional tolerances and imposes no restrictions on the tolerance values, meaning they can be the standard “plus/minus,” “minus/minus” or “plus/plus.”