CAD-based environment to bridge the gap between product design and tolerance control

Mechanical product quality is strongly influenced by the respect of Geometrical Tolerances (GT). On the other hand, competitiveness forces companies to improve their productivity making the tolerance verification process faster and faster and more flexible. Component control by 3D full field optical digitizing systems and specific CAD-based (Computer Aided Design) inspection software tools are important steps forward for the achievement of the above-mentioned goals. However, the adoption of these solutions in industry is minimal. This may be due both to technological factors, i.e. poor systems usability, and organizing factors, i.e. clear separation between design department and quality control department. In this context, our research aims at developing a new easy to use CAD-based tool for simulating, driving and optimizing the GT inspection process. Once a component has been digitized, the developed software system automatically realizes the tolerances virtual control. Hence, the designer can prescribe tolerances, pilot the measurement system and verify the component conformity. The implemented tool is based on Full of Information (FoI) CAD models, which contain tolerance data, linked to a knowledge database, where measurement strategies and verification rules are stored. A computation engine calculates the measurement paths and performs the tolerances verification. The prototypal system has been tested on different real cases. Experimental results showed high performances in terms of timesaving and robustness. (C) 2008 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.