The Hol-Mac SGU was a solution to a common problem faced by manufacturers across all industries: in-process contact gauging is slow. Demand for fast-paced production is always on the rise and all aspects of manufacturing must be adjusted to keep up. Including quality control.

This production cell included two Okuma lathes serviced by a 200 kg Kuka robot. All tasked with producing threaded hydraulic cylinder caps every 30 seconds  24 hours a day.

The original plan for the cell was to use a CMM to measure the critical thread dimensions of the cap. However, soon after installation it became apparent that the CMM would not be able to inspect 100% of the parts and still maintain a 30 second cycle time.

The Autonetics Solution

The Autonetics Static Gauging Unit provided a better solution all around: better accuracy and repeatability, faster cycle time and a smaller footprint. Additionally the upfront costs and the long term maintenance costs were lower than the CMM.

The gauge features a vertically mounted precision linear stage and two sets of optical sensors. Once a part is loaded onto the gauge, the stage is used to pass the part through the sensor array recording its axial position along the way. This data is stitched together to form a 2D composite image of the part.

The Autonetics metrology suite analyzes the data and outputs a Pass / Fail result to the handling system. In addition, the gauging results are automatically sent to the Okuma Control to be used for real-time tool offsets.

This key component of the SGU is what allows the cell to operate autonomously, 24 hours a day.