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Soft-landing actuator creates mini-CMM

An Orlin Technologies product story
Edited by the Engineeringtalk editorial team May 4, 2006

An automotive Tier 1 supplier has won a quality award as a direct result of using SMAC actuators to provide an automated quality control solution for a safety-critical airbag component.

An automotive Tier 1 supplier has won a quality award as a direct result of using SMAC actuators to provide an automated quality control solution for a safety-critical airbag component.

Previously parts were being checked by hand by a team of 40-plus people and faulty parts were being allowed through inspection.

This caused a major problem to the supplier as their customer, on finding a faulty part, rejected the entire batch, meaning retesting of a large number of parts.

This obviously incurred a huge cost, both in monetary terms and damage to the supplier's reputation.

Many solutions were considered, including lasers and vision systems, but were dismissed as unsuitable due to the geometry of the part, with recessed grooves and overhanging surfaces.

The SMAC solution was to use a LXY15 actuator with 15mm of travel in two axes, as a contact gauging system - a kind of "mini CMM".

The actuator moves a probe around the part measuring seven critical dimensions to a resolution of 1um in only 2.5s.

SMAC's unique soft-land feature means that the probe touches the surface with just a few grams of force, preventing damage to either the probe or the part.

The supplier can now guarantee zero defects and has since won a quality award as a direct result of integrating SMAC actuators into its inspection procedures.

SMAC actuators are used extensively in the automotive industry for automated assembly and test, including automated screw thread inspection.

SMAC is represented in the UK by Orlin Technologies.

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