s

INVENTORY OF EQUIPMENT

IN THE INSPECTION WORKSTATION

Jay H. Zimmerman

May 25, 1988

This publication was prepared by United States Government

employees as part of their official duties and is, therefore, a

work of the U. S. Government and not subject to copyright.

Certain commercial equipment, instruments, or materials are

identified in this paper in order to adequately specify the

experimental procedure. Such identification does not imply

recommendation or endorsement by the National Bureau of Standards,

nor does it imply that the materials or equipment identified are

necessarily the best available for the purpose.
'
TABLE OF CONTENTS

Page

I. INTRODUCTION 1

1. WHAT THIS MANUAL IS ABOUT 1

2. AUDIENCE 1

3. OVERVIEW i

II. COMPUTER SYSTEMS OF THE INSPECTION WORKSTATION .... 3

1. WORKSTATION CONTROLLER COMPUTER SYSTEM

2. COORDINATE MEASURING MACHINE CONTROLLER

COMPUTER SYSTEM 4

3. INSPECTION ROBOT CONTROLLER COMPUTER SYSTEM ... 4

4. SURFACE ROUGHNESS INSTRUMENT CONTROLLER

COMPUTER SYSTEM 5

III. INSPECTION WORKSTATION EQUIPMENT 7

1. COORDINATE MEASURING MACHINE 7

2. AUTOMATIC DIAL INDICATOR 7

3. INSPECTION ROBOT 8

4. ROBOT GRIPPER 8

5. SAFETY FENCE 8

6. SURFACE ROUGHNESS INSTRUMENT . .... 8

APPENDICES 11

A. IWS DOCUMENTATION LIST 11

B. IWS EQUIPMENT MANUFACTURERS LIST 13

C. GLOSSARY (and abbreviations) 15

READER COMMENT FORM 17

l

INVENTORY OF EQUIPMENT

IN THE INSPECTION WORKSTATION

I. INTRODUCTION

1. WHAT THIS MANUAL IS ABOUT

This manual serves as a comprehensive inventory guide to

electronic and mechanical equipment and instruments used by the

Inspection Workstation (IWS) . It furnishes some technical

specifications that may be useful in reaching decisions regarding

product and system requirements.

2 . AUDIENCE

This manual is intended for use by inspection personnel, quality

control engineers, advanced metrologists , and plant managers,

3 . OVERVIEW

The IWS is a prototype inspection facility with four computer

systems and six essential components. The computer systems of the

IWS include:

(a) Main Workstation Controller (WSC)

,

(b) Inspection Robot Controller (IRC)

,

(c) Coordinate Measuring Machine Controller (CMMC)

(d) Surface Roughness Instrument Controller (SRIC)

and

Principal commercial mechanical and electronic equipment and

instruments of the IWS include:

(a) Horizontal Arm Coordinate Measuring Machine,

(b) Automatic Dial Indicator,

(c) Inspection Robot,

(d) Mechanical (NBS-designed) Robot Gripper,

(e) Electronic Safety Fence, and

(f) Optical Surface Roughness Instrument.

Chapters II and III describe the four computer systems and the six

components, respectively.

The appendices consist of useful information. Appendix A lists

the entire IWS documentation set. Equipment manufacturers

specific to the IWS are listed in Appendix B. Appendix C contains

a glossary of terms used in this document.

Completing the document is a reader/comment form. The reader is

encouraged to write down comments and mail the attached form to

the address specified.

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IWS EQUIPMENT INVENTORY

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IWS EQUIPMENT INVENTORY

II. COMPUTER SYSTEMS OF THE INSPECTION WORKSTATION

The IWS has four computer systems all of which are physically

located at the AMRF Inspection Workstation (at NBS)

,

Building 304,

Room 148. These computer systems are functionally interdependent

based on the AMRF hierarchical control architecture. Notably,

each system performs its own unique set of tasks (i.e., main

computer system controller, commercial equipment controller,

instrument controller, etc.).

All four computer systems are manufactured by Hewlett-Packard (HP)

and use the Motorola 16.0 MHz 68000 microprocessor. These

computers feature a minimum Random Access Memory (RAM) capacity of

approximately 750 kilobytes which is considered necessary and

adequate for most current software applications at the IWS.

1. WORKSTATION CONTROLLER COMPUTER SYSTEM

The workstation controller (WSC) computer system uses equipment

manufactured by Hewlett-Packard (HP)

.

The components of this

system include:

(a) HP 9000 Series 200 Microcomputer (Model No. 9920U)

,

(b) 12-inch Monochromatic Monitor (Model No. 82913A)

,

(c) HP-HIL Nimitz Keyboard (Model No. 98203B)

,

(d) 16.7-Megabyte (Mbyte) CS/80 Winchester Disc (Model

No. 7908P)

,

(e) 286.72-Kilobyte (Kbyte) AMIGO Dual 3-1/2 Inch

Flexible Disc (Model No. 9121D)

,

(f) Three 256-Kbyte RAM Cards (Product No. 98256A)

,

(g) Keyboard/HP-IB Interface Card (Product No. 9920A)

,

(h) Composite Video Interface Card (Product No. 98204A)

,

(i) HP-IB Interface Card (Product No. 98624A)

,

(j) RS-232 Serial Interface Card (Product No. 98626A)

,

(k) General Purpose I/O (GPIO) Interface Card (Product

No. 98622A)

,

(l) Data Communication Interface (adds DCE (female,

direct-connect) RS-232 cable) (Product No. 98628A

Option 002)

,

and

(m) Pascal 3.0 Language System (Product No. 98615A Option

630) . The computer system contains a Random Access Memory capacity of

approximately 786 kilobytes. It functions as the main workstation

controller.

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IWS EQUIPMENT INVENTORY

2. COORDINATE MEASURING MACHINE CONTROLLER

COMPUTER SYSTEM

The coordinate measuring machine controller (CMMC) computer system

uses HP-manufactured equipment. The components of this system

include

:

(a) HP 9000 Series 200 Microcomputer (Model No. 9836)

,

(b) 65.6-Mbyte CS/80 Winchester Disc (Model No. 7912P)

,

(c) Line Printer (Model No. 2631B)

,

(d) 1.0-MByte RAM Card (Product No. 98257A)

,

(e) Three 256-Kbyte RAM Cards (Product No. 98256A)

,

(f) General Purpose I/O (GPIO) Interface Card (Product

No. 98622A)

,

(g) Data .Communication Interface (adds DCE (female,

direct-connect) RS-232 cable) (Product No. 98628

Option 002)

,

and

(h) Pascal 3.0 Language System (Product No. 98615A Option

630) . The computer system contains a Random Access Memory capacity of

approximately 1,901 kilobytes. It functions as the coordinate

measuring machine controller.

3. INSPECTION ROBOT CONTROLLER COMPUTER SYSTEM

The robot controller (IRC) computer system uses HP-manufactured

equipment. The components of this system include:

(a) HP 9000 Series 200 Microcomputer (Model No. 9920U)

,

(b) 12-inch Monochromatic Monitor (Model No. 82913A)

,

(c) HP-HIL Nimitz Keyboard (Model No. 98203B)

,

(d) 28.7-Mbyte CS/80 Winchester Disc (Model No. 7911P)

,

(e) 286.72-Kbyte AMIGO Dual 3-1/2 Inch Flexible Disc

(Model No. 9121D)

,

(f) Four 256-Kbyte RAM Cards (Product No. 98256A)

,

(g) Keyboard/HP-IB Interface Card (Product No. 9920A)

,

(h) Composite Video Interface Card (Product No. 98204A)

,

(i) HP-IB Interface Card (Product No. 98624A)

,

(j) RS-232 Serial Interface Card (Product No. 98626A)

,

(k) General Purpose I/O (GPIO) Interface Card (Product

No. 98622A)

,

(l) Data Communication Interface (adds DCE (female,

direct-connect) RS-232 cable) (Product No. 98628A

Option 002)

,

and

(m) Pascal 3.0 Language System (Product No. 98615A Option

630) . The computer system contains a Random Access Memory capacity of

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IWS EQUIPMENT INVENTORY

approximately 1,048 kilobytes. It functions as the robot

controller.

4. SURFACE ROUGHNESS INSTRUMENT CONTROLLER

COMPUTER SYSTEM

The surface roughness instrument controller (SRIC) computer

system uses HP-manufactured equipment. The components of this

system include:

(a) HP 9000 Series 200 Microcomputer (Model No. 9920U)

,

(b) 12-inch Monochromatic Monitor (Model No. 82913A)

,

(c) HP-HIL Nimitz Keyboard (Model No. 98203B)

,

(d) 16.7-Mbyte CS/80 Winchester Disc (Model No. 7908P)

,

(e) 286.72-Kbyte AMIGO Dual 3-1/2 Inch Flexible Disc

(Model No. 9121D)

,

(f) 1.0-Mbyte RAM Card (Product No. 98257A)

,

(g) Four 256-Kbyte RAM Cards (Product No. 98256A)

,

(h) Keyboard/HP-IB Interface Card (Product No. 9920A)

,

(i) Composite Video Interface Card (Product No. 98204A)

,

(j) HP-IB Interface Card (Product No. 98624A)

,

(k) RS-232 Serial Interface Card (Product No. 98626A)

,

(l) General Purpose I/O (GPIO) Interface Card (Product

No. 98622A)

,

(m) Data Communication Interface (adds DCE (female,

direct-connect) RS-232 cable) (Product No. 98628A

Option 002)

,

and

(n) Pascal 3.0 Language System (Product No. 98615A Option

630) . The computer system contains a Random Access Memory capacity of

approximately 2,228 kilobytes. It functions as the surface

roughness instrument controller.

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IWS EQUIPMENT INVENTORY

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.

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IWS EQUIPMENT INVENTORY

III. INSPECTION WORKSTATION EQUIPMENT

1. COORDINATE MEASURING MACHINE

The coordinate measuring machine (CMM) is a Sheffield 2000 Series

horizontal arm type (Model No. 2015) coordinate measuring machine

manufactured by the Sheffield Measurement Division of Warner and

Swasey Company of Dayton, Ohio formerly known as the Automated and

Measurement Division of the Bendix Corporation. This measuring

machine has direct computer control (DCC) capability and thus

meets IWS application requirements for operating in either

automatic (computer-assisted) or manual mode. The CMM is equipped

with an air-lifted rotary table and a motorized two-axis, three

dimensional Renishaw PH9 probe.

The rotary table furnished with the CMM features continuous

rotational positioning operated by precision worm with low pitch

angle resulting in high-resolution positioning of 0.001 degree.

This rotary table is electronically and mechanically interfaced

with the CMM for compliance with IWS CAD/CAM application

requirements

The special option probe features adjustable force sensitivity and

transmits a latch signal to the processor upon touching an object

or part. Normal IWS operation requires the force sensitivity to

be set to five grams. This enables most parts to be

automatically inspected by the CMM unmounted, or unsecured, to the

measuring machine. Small parts, however, must be secured by some

sort of fixture (i.e., magnetic device, or vacuum chuck, etc.).

The PH9 probe has a built-in microprocessor that is programmable

for up to sixty-four probe tip positions, or orientations. The

probe is powered by the interface to the CMM. When power to the

interface is disconnected, the probe orientations may be retained

in the memory of the PH9 microprocessor for several hours using

the microprocessor's internal battery.

2. AUTOMATIC DIAL INDICATOR

The automatic dial indicator (ADI) is a digital dial gauge (Model

No. 8X-0047) manufactured by Brown and Sharpe Manufacturing

Company of North Kingstown, Rhode Island. This instrument is

used for sensing and measuring distance variations. The mechanism

of the indicator converts the axial displacement of the measuring

spindle into rotational movement which is then amplified by

mechanical means and finally displayed by digital readout. This

indicator has a RS-232 output for providing direct communication

of measurement readings to the SRI controller computer system.

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IWS EQUIPMENT INVENTORY

3 . INSPECTION ROBOT

The inspection robot is a six-axis robot (Model Merlin)

manufactured by American Robot Corporation of Pittsburgh,

Pennsylvania. This robot is mounted on an overhead gantry for

easy access to the work environment of the IWS workstation. It is

equipped with a CNC controller and a robot gripper discussed in

the next section.

4. ROBOT GRIPPER

The robot gripper is an NBS-designed and manufactured mechanicaltransporting device operated with the Merlin robot of the IWS.

It has one set of fingers and is pneumatically actuated, exerting

forces up to fifty pounds. For most IWS applications, the gripper

fingers are adjusted to exert a force of fifty pounds to handle

the tasks of transporting and relocating inspection parts.

5 . SAFETY FENCE

The safety fence employed at the IWS is an electronic sensing

device (Model No. SS IV-18-R) manufactured by Dolan-Jenner

Industries, Incorporated of Woodburn, Massachusetts. This safety

fence monitors personnel infiltration into restricted areas of the

IWS, particularly during intervals of on-going inspection

operations. It has data communications output for providing

direct communication with the robot computer system.

6. SURFACE ROUGHNESS INSTRUMENT

The surface roughness instrument (SRI) is an optical instrument

(Model No. RM 400) manufactured by Rodenstock Precision Optics,

Incorporated of Rockford, Illinois. This instrument examines

surface roughness by measuring the angular distribution of

scattered light. It employs a beam from a helium-neon laser

illuminating the surface at an angle of incidence which may be

varied. The scattered light distribution is detected by an array

of twenty optical detectors.

This portable, hand-held, commercial device satisfies the

requirements of the IWS for non-contact, real-time surface finish

inspection. The current instrument system contains the control

unit (Rodenstock (Model No. RM 400 C) ) and a sensor device

(Rodenstock (Model No. RM 400 S) ) with a type 40, straight-design

measurirg head having a measuring spot diameter of 1.8 millimeters

and 20-degree optics. The sensor device contains a detector

array to collect the angular distribution, which is then processed

by the control unit software. The control unit has a RS-232

output for providing direct communication of measurement readings

to the SRIC computer system. The SRIC evaluates measurement data

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IWS EQUIPMENT INVENTORY

and sends information to the inspection robot controller (IRC)

computer. This information represents essential data concerning

the proper alignment of the surface of a part with respect to the

sensor device.

As a special note, the product manufacturer of this instrument

provides additional sensor types for special applications. At the

present time, NBS personnel have found the standard (type 40)

sensor with a spot diameter of 1.8 millimeters and 20-degree

optics the most versatile for inspecting surface finishes of parts

manufactured in the AMRF facility.

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IWS EQUIPMENT INVENTORY

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IWS EQUIPMENT INVENTORY

APPENDICES

A. IWS DOCUMENTATION LIST

1. H. T. Moncarz, Architecture and Principles of the

Inspection Workstation , to be published as an

NBSIR.

2. H. T. Moncarz , Implementation of the Execution

Control System of the Inspection Workstation , NBSIR 88-3787, May 19, 1988.

3. H. T. Moncarz and T. H. Hopp, Implementation of

the CMM Controller , to be published as an NBSIR.

4. H. T. Moncarz and T. V. Vorburger, Implementation

of the SRI Controller , to be published as an

NBSIR.

5. H. T. Moncarz and B. Borchardt, Implementation of

the Inspection Robot Controller , NBSIR 88-3772,

April 21, 1988.

6. S. A. Osella, Implementation of the Workstation

Controller . to be published as an NBSIR.

7. J. Zimmerman, Inventory of Equipment in the

Inspection Workstation . NBSIR 88-3375, May 5,

1988.

8. H. T. Moncarz, S. A. Osella, B. Borchardt, and R.

Veale, Operations Manual for the Inspection

Workstation . NBSIR 88-3766, April 21, 1988.

9 . J . Z immerman , Recommended Technical Specifications

for Procurement of Commercially Available Systems

for the Inspection Workstation . NBSIR 88-3779, May

11, 1988.

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IWS EQUIPMENT INVENTORY

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IWS EQUIPMENT INVENTORY

B. IWS EQUIPMENT MANUFACTURERS LIST

1. Coordinate Measuring Machine

Sheffield Measurement Division

Warner and Swasey Company

721 Springfield Street

Dayton, Ohio 45403

(513) 254-5377

2 . Automatic Dial Indicator

Brown and Sharpe Manufacturing Company

Precision Park

North Kingstown, Rhode Island 02852

(401) 866-2000

3 . Inspection Robot

American Robot Corporation

121 Industry Drive

Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania 15275

(412) 787-3000

4. Robot Gripper

United States Department of Commerce

National Bureau of Standards

Building 220 Metrology Room A107

Gaithersburg, Maryland 20899

Attn: Bruce Borchardt

(301) 975-3482

5. Safety Fence

Dolan-Jenner Industries, Incorporated

Post Office Box 1020-T

Woodburn, Massachusetts

(617) 935-7444

6. Surface Roughness Instrument

Rodenstock Precision Optics, Incorporated

4845 Colt Road

Rockford, Illinois 61109

(815) 874-8300

Telex 28-9425

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IWS EQUIPMENT INVENTORY
IWS EQUIPMENT INVENTORY

c. GLOSSARY (and abbreviations)

ADI Abbreviation for the Automatic Dial Indicator.

automatic dial indicator

Instrument used to measure the distance that a spring

mounted stem is depressed.

CMM Abbreviation for the Coordinate Measuring Machine.

CMMC Abbreviation for the Coordinate Measuring Machine

Controller.

controller

Supervises the operation of a mechanism and/or another

controller.

coordinate measuring machine

Machine used to measure the dimensions of a part.

inspection robot

Robot used in the Inspection Workstation to retrieve

and/or relocate a part.

inspection workstation

AMRF workstation that inspects parts for dimensional

tolerance and surface finish.

IRC Abbreviation for the Inspection Robot Controller.

IWS Abbreviation for the Inspection Workstation.

Kbyte Abbreviation for kilobyte (1024 bytes)

Mbyte Abbreviation for megabyte (1,048,576 bytes).

RAM Abbreviation for Random Access Memory.

SRI Abbreviation for the Surface Roughness Instrument.

SRIC Abbreviation for the SRI Controller.

surface roughness instrument

WSC

Machine that measures the optical scattering from the

surface of a part. The scattering can be correlated with

its surface roughness.

Abbreviation for the Workstation Controller.

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IWS EQUIPMENT INVENTORY

’

,

16
READER COMMENT FORM

INVENTORY OF EQUIPMENT IN THE INSPECTION WORKSTATION

This document is one in a series of publications which document

research done at the National Bureau of Standards ' Automated

Manufacturing Research Facility from 1981 through March, 1987.

You may use this form to comment on the technical content or

organization of this document or to contribute suggested editorial

changes

Comments:

If you wish a reply, give your name, company, and complete mailing

address:

What is your occupation?

NOTE: This form may not be used to order additional copies of

this document or other documents in the series. Copies of AMRF

documents are available from NTIS.

AMRF Program Manager

National Bureau of Standards

Building 220, Room B-lll

Gaithersburg, MD 20899

Please mail your comments to:
M B S-l 1 4 A (REV. 2-80

U.S. DEPT. OF COMM. 1. PUBLICATION OR 2. Performing Organ. Report No. 3. Publication D ate BIBLIOGRAPHIC DATA

SHEET (See in struction s)

REPORT NO.

NBSIR 88-3775 MAY 1988

4. TITLE AND SUBTITLE

"INVENTORY OF EQUIPMENT IN THE INSPECTION WORKSTATION"

5. AUTHOR(S)

Jay H. Zimmerman, Precision Engineering Division, Dimensional Metrology Group

: RFORMING ORGANIZATION (If joint or other than N BS. see Instructions)

NATIONAL BUREAU OF STANDARDS

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

WASHINGTON, D.C. 20234

7. Contract/Grant No.

8 . Type of Report & Period Covered

4 SPONSORING ORGANIZATION NAME AND COMPLETE ADDRESS ( Street . City. State, ZIP)

itional Bureau of Standards

Route 270 and Quince Orchard Road

: aithersburg , Maryland 20899

10. SUPPLEMENTARY NOTES

Document describes a computer program; SF-185, FlPS Software Summary, is attached.

li. ABSTRACT (A 200-word or less factual summary of most significant i n formation . If document includes a significant

bi bl icgrophy or literature survey, mention it here

This document is a comprehensive inventory guide to electronic and mechanical

equipment and instruments used by the Inspection Workstation (IWS) in the Automated

Manufacturing Research Facility (AMRF) at the National Bureau of Standards. The

IWS is a prototype inspection facility with four computer systems and six

essential components. The computer systems of the IWS include the Main Workstation

Controller (WSC) , the Inspection Robot Controller (IRC), the Coordinate Measuring

Machine Controller (CCMC) , and the Surface Roughness Instrument Controller (SRIC)

The principal commercial mechanical and electronic equipment and instruments include

the horizontal arm coordinate measuring machine (CMM) , the automatic dial indicator

ADI), the inspection robot, the mechanical (NBS-designed ) robot gripper, the

electronic safety fence, and the optical surface roughness instrument (SRI).

-Y WORDS (Six to twelve entries; alphabetical order; capitalize only proper names; and separate key words by semi colon s) Automatic dial indicator; controller; coordinate measuring machine; Inspection

Workstation; inventory; robot; surface roughness instrument

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