Performance Metrics for Manufacturing Equipment Used as Measuring Tools

This project will develop the performance standards and standardized performance metrics for on-machine measurements and their associated uncertainty budgets that are critical to achieve accurate, in-situ part inspection as well as cost-effective product and process certification. These standards are necessary to drive product and process innovations of sensors for manufacturing, manufacturing control systems, product fabrication systems, and metrology tools for manufacturing.

One aspect of the future vision for U.S. manufacturing is that product inspection and certification will occur while the fabricated part remains fixtured within the manufacturing equipment that produced the part. A primary benefit of this approach is that further processing of the part is greatly simplified if the inspection results indicate that changes are necessary. However, a substantial challenge is presented to maintain measurement accuracy when the manufacturing equipment is also used as a measuring machine. Specifically, significant measurement uncertainties can be generated if the manufacturing equipment uses the same controlled motion, axes, and algorithms to measure the part as it used to create the part. The potential exists for machine errors to create unintended deviations in the part that may go undetected in the part inspection and certification measurements.