Edge Point Mode

Edge Point Mode allows for walk-up measurement of sheet metal features without using the Auto Feature dialog box. The features that you generate in this are all Measured Features rather than Auto Features with two exceptions:

First, if you are in point only mode, then PC-DMIS creates either an auto vector point or an auto edge point.

Second, PC-DMIS creates an auto edge point if you take your hit close to an edge and then slide it over the edge to complete the guiding.

To enable this mode, you must do the following:

• You must have the Sheet Metal option enabled in your LMS license or portlock.

• Import a CAD model with surfaces for the part you are measuring.

• Select the Find Nominals check box from the General tab of the Setup Options dialog box.

• Specify the needed tolerance distance for the DistanceToClosestEdgeToleranceInMM registry entry in the Option section in PC-DMIS Settings Editor. The default value is 5 mm. Hits taken within this distance from the edge initiate guided mode to complete the edge point.

To measure points in Edge Point Mode:

1. Take measurements in Learn Mode within the tolerance (DistanceToClosestEdgeToleranceInMM registry entry) near the edge point location. PC-DMIS finds the nominals from the CAD model and checks to see if the hit is within tolerance. If the measurement is within tolerance, PC-DMIS goes into guided mode rather than storing the hit in the hits buffer.

2. In guided mode, slide the probe tip over the edge to complete the edge hit.

3. PC-DMIS places the completed edge hit into the hits buffer in learn mode. This allows PC-DMIS to guess features as you measure them.

4. If you didn’t want an edge hit, press the End button. PC-DMIS cancels guided mode and adds the previous hit to the hits buffer.

When you create circles, lines, and slots in Guess mode from edge hits, they become 3D features.

To eliminate internal borders between surfaces for determining edges, use the AdjacentEdgeToleranceInMM registry entry in the Option section in PC-DMIS Settings Editor. This is useful in situations where the CAD model has gaps between surfaces. If the gaps are large, you may need to increase the default value of 0.1 mm.

Edge Point Mode also uses half of the thickness value from the Auto Feature dialog box to determine the depth. Normally, you only need to set this once to the part thickness and then close the Auto Feature dialog box. This value is written to the registry.

Edge Point Mode is designed for portable devices, but it works with any device with a hard probe.