Changing the Scan Speed

You can set the scan speed at theoretical scan points for defined laser scan paths. PC-DMIS then moves the laser probe at this speed after it crosses the theoretical point during the scan.

On a very large part, you can do the following:

• Collect more points in the area where there are features such as circles and slots. To collect more points, you can lower the scan speed where you need to extract the features.

• Collect less points in the area where there are no features. To collect less points, you can increase the scan speed where there are no features to extract.

These speed change point settings give you more control over the scan speed and can help reduce the scan time.

To change a scan speed, do the following:

1. From the Theoretical Scan Points area, select a theoretical scan point.

2. Right-click on the selected theoretical scan point row to display the menu.

3. From the menu, select Change scan speed to open the Edit Scan Speed dialog box. Type the value in the Scan speed box.

4. To calculate the scan speed from the laser stripe spacing distance, click the Calculate Laser Stripe Spacing icon . This opens the Calculate Scan Speed dialog box.

5. Type the value in the box and click Calculate. PC-DMIS calculates the scan speed in millimeters per second. PC-DMIS then inserts the calculated value in the Scan speed box of the Edit Scan Speed dialog box.

6. Click OK to set this scan speed value.

Setting Speed at Multiple Points

To set scan speed at multiple theoretical points, press Ctrl and click the points in the # column. PC-DMIS highlights in yellow all the selected items on the CAD. To deselect a point, press Ctrl and click on the selected point.

To select scan speed change points on the CAD, click the spheres on the CAD in the Graphic Display window. PC-DMIS then highlights the points in yellow. To deselect a point, click on a selected sphere.

To select multiple points on a CAD, click the points to select them. To deselect all points, click anywhere in the grey area of the dialog box.

Textual (green text) and Graphical (green sphere) representation view of theoretical scan points. In the Graphic view, a label with scan speed (in green) shows the speed set at that point.

Right-click Menu

Delete All Theoretical Points - This option deletes all theoretical points in order to recreate your scan.

Change scan speed - This option lets you change the speed at a single theoretical point. The scan now uses this speed.

Reset scan speed - This option resets the scan speed for the selected theoretical point back to the original speed.

Reset all scan speeds - This option resets the scan speed for all theoretical points back to the original speed.

When you click the Generate or Spline Points button, PC-DMIS modifies the path points. If you assign the scan speed change to the points of the original path, PC-DMIS tries to find the closest point to the original scan speed change point within a small tolerance. If a close point is available, PC-DMIS assigns a new scan speed change point. If a close point is not available, PC-DMIS removes the scan speed change point.

After you click the Generate or Spline Points button, ensure that all the path points are defined.

The speed change points are available only on machines with the FDC controller. If the controller does not support control points, PC-DMIS executes scans without changing the scan speed.

In PC-DMIS 2020 R1 and earlier, PC-DMIS doesn't support speed change points. If you save a measurement routine to PC-DMIS 2020 R1 and earlier, PC-DMIS removes the speed change points. When you open the measurement routine in that older version, the speed change points are not available. This ensures that you execute your measurement routine at the constant scan speed.