Patent ID: 11860602
Assignee: MITUTOYO CORPORATION
Field: Computer technology (Electrical engineering)
Classification: CPC G  Y | IPC G

Claim 17:
18. A system for programming workpiece feature inspection operations for a coordinate measuring machine (CMM), the system comprising:
a user interface comprising:
a workpiece inspection program simulation portion which is included in a three dimensional (3D) view window and which comprises a 3D view including workpiece features on the workpiece; and
an editing user interface portion which is included in at least one of a plan view window or a program view window and which comprises an editable plan representation of a current workpiece feature inspection plan for performing inspection operations on a workpiece, the editable plan representation comprising at least one of workpiece features or inspection operation representations;

wherein:
the system is configured to be automatically responsive to a selection operation comprising a selection of at least one workpiece feature or inspection operation representation in the editable plan representation;
the response to the selection operation comprises:
automatically designating as a target feature a workpiece feature in the 3D view that corresponds to at least one workpiece feature or inspection operation representation that is selected in the editable plan representation by the selection operation;
automatically determining that a first occluding workpiece feature is occluding at least a portion of the target feature in the 3D view;
in response to the determination that the first occluding workpiece feature is occluding at least part of the target feature in the 3D view, automatically rendering as at least partially transparent in the 3D view the first occluding workpiece feature; and

the current workpiece feature inspection plan comprises at least one of measuring or touching a sampling point on the target feature, using a CMM measuring probe, and for which the sampling point on the target feature is made to be visible in the 3D view by the automatic rendering of the first occluding workpiece feature as at least partially transparent.