Patent ID: 9639083
Date: 2017-05-02
CPC Classifications: G05B,Y02P

Claim:
1. A computer-implemented method for programming workpiece feature inspection operations for a coordinate measuring machine, the coordinate measuring machine comprising: a sensor used for determining workpiece feature measurement data; a stage for holding a workpiece wherein the sensor and the stage move relative to one another; and a CMM control portion, the method implemented in an editing environment comprising: a programming control portion; a display portion; a graphical user interface (GUI); and at least a first feature surface sampling pattern comprising an arrangement of sampling pattern locations, the method comprising: operating the editing environment to display a 3-dimensional workpiece representation comprising a first surface feature of a workpiece on the display portion; operating the editing environment to create an instance of the first feature surface sampling pattern having at least one pattern parameter adjusted to correspond to the first surface feature of the workpiece, including displaying a corresponding representation of the instance of the first feature surface sampling pattern automatically fitted to the first surface feature, the automatically-fitted corresponding representation comprising operative sampling pattern locations and inoperative sampling pattern locations with respective appearances that distinguish them from one another; operating the editing environment based on user input operations in the GUI to further adjust at least one pattern parameter of the instance of the first feature surface sampling pattern, wherein: