Greater control

Control 2017, now in its 31^st year, is being staged in halls 3, 4, 5, 6 and 7 of the Stuttgart Exhibition Centre. Organisers (Schall Group) say the new block-like arrangement will provide numerous advantages for the exhibitors and for visitor flow throughout the 538,000ft² exhibition area.

Held from May 9-12 the show features the latest technology, services and solutions in the fields of metrology, materials testing, analysis equipment, optical electronics, image processing and vision systems, hardware and software. Last year’s event attracted 914 exhibitors from 31 countries. More than 26,800 visitors came through the shows doors making it one of the biggest quality assurance events in the world.

Control 2017 project manager Gitta Schlaak comments: “The new layout makes it possible to optimise floor space allocation for the exhibitors and control the morning influx of visitors better. Distributing the flow of attendees to the east and west entrances and omitting hall 1 results in shorter distances, meaning all the halls will be more equally visited. We expect all of the five halls to be fully occupied.”

The Fraunhofer Institute for Production Technology and Automation (IPA) and the Fraunhofer Vision Alliance will be presenting a number of seminars and forums on subjects such as the history of quality control, contactless measuring technology, and monitoring product lifecycle with image processing.

The European Machine Vision Association (EMVA) is now a collaborating partner of the Control show. Its Vision Talks this year will include topics such as: The World of 3D: from 6-DoF (Six degrees of freedom) to the Point Cloud; Optical metrology: offline, at line and inline; and Metrology from infrared to hyperspectral.

Exhibitors

One UK company exhibiting will be Aberlink (stand 7207) which will be demonstrating a new larger volume version of its Xtreme CNC CMM. The new machine is fitted with 16 Digital I/O interfaces and will be demonstrated with a robot loader.

The Xtreme’s advantageous configuration ensures that it maintains its accuracy at very fast measurement rates and does not suffer from the accumulative inaccuracies that occur in conventional 3-axis Cartesian designs.

Also on the stand, will be several versions of Aberlink’s Axiom Too CMM featuring a new temperature compensation facility. An Axiom Too HS, fitted with a PH10T-TP20 probe, will be demonstrated running Aberlink’s latest CAD software modules. The HS is the high-specification variant of the Axiom Too. In addition to featuring an enhanced accuracy specification, the speed of the HS variant enables it to perform an impressive number of inspection tasks in a fraction of the time normally taken. Lastly, Aberlink’s large Zenith 3 1500, CNC CMM, fitted with a PH10M-SP25M, will illustrate scanning capabilities designed for applications such as reverse-engineering.

Another exhibitor will be the Bowers Group (stand 7105). The company will be highlighting its universal gauge sets and setting devices, along with the new version of its 4 Fusion software linked to the Baty Venture vision system, and the R400 with the FT2E touchscreen display.

Visitors will have the opportunity to meet members of Bowers’ s Special Applications Team, who devote their time to the development of measurement solutions for non-standard applications. An extensive selection of bespoke equipment aimed at special measurement challenges will be on display, including solutions for the measurement of grooves, threads, splines and spherical forms.

Also in hall seven will be three tool measurement and inspection machines from Walter (stand 7306) machines. These include the laser scanning Helicheck 3D, the manual Heliset and Helicheck Plus.

In the UK, Walter’s tool measuring range is available from Walter Ewag UK, a member of the United Grinding Group.

With X-, Y- and Z-axes of 270 x 455 x 325mm, plus an A-axis of 360° the Helicheck 3D utilises a revolutionary method of digitising to enable items to be scanned quickly and easily to create 3D model data that can be saved, processed, analysed and measured.

The machine’s 3D Tool Analyser software – specifically developed for the application – can lay horizontal, vertical and freely selectable cutting planes at any position on the 3D model. These are automatically analysed and the resulting parameters made available for use.

The capability to measure tool features has never been quicker with the Helicheck 3D since measurements are carried out on virtual models and the process can be performed offline.

A software 3D ‘matcher’ enables users to create a colour-coded comparison of two 3D models within the machine’s graphical user interface. After the ‘match’ of both models, the operator receives an instant evaluation of the quality of the products and any deviations from desired values.

CONTROL 2017 www.control-messe.de/en/control/