Using Probe Manager With Your Digitizer - Using Probe Manager with FARO Serial Digitizers

Using Probe Manager With Your Digitizer - Using Probe Manager with FARO Serial Digitizers

Using Probe Manager with FARO Serial Digitizers

 

For the older style FARO digitizers employing a serial communications interface, Probe Manager supports up to four pre-qualified Probes. The FARO digitizer's controller box maintains information about each Probe within an internal register. That way, each time you use Probe Manager to select a different Probe, RevWorks automatically notifies the FARO digitizer which of the pre-qualified Probes you are using. You can define more than four Probes, but you are limited to four unique Tip Indexes to distinguish between the probes.

If you want to create a new Probe, you must associate each new Probe that you create with an existing Probe record stored in the FARO controller box. You associate a new Probe to a Probe record stored in the FARO controller box by assigning a Tip Index to the Probe. RevWorks never sees the information stored in the controller box probe record. When you select a Probe to use, RevWorks identifies the associated Tip Index to the controller box so that data collected with the device is corrected to represent the Probe ball center.

If you wish to calibrate your Probes to update the Probe record stored in the FARO controller box you must use Calip 3D™ or similar software supplied with your FARO digitizer. This process updates the tip data stored by the FARO controller box to properly reflect the characteristics of the new tip.

Note: RevWorks displays measurements in the same units as the currently active part or assembly document. You can enter values in any other supported unit of measure by adding the recognized abbreviation after the value you enter.

To Add a New Probe

  1. Create a New Probe

Probe information is displayed in the right side panel.

  1. Set the Probe Tip Diameter.

The Probe image adjusts to an image of a Probe with a similar size tip.

  1. Choose the Tip Index to associate the Probe with a controller box Probe record.

    Note: When creating a new Probe, you must select among these four Tip Index options:

    • 0 Point Probe

    • 1 1/4" Ball Probe

    • 2 Custom Probe #1

    • 3 Custom Probe #2

  1. Add Notes if desired.

Probe Manager does provide a calibration option for Probes used with FARO serial interface digitizers, but you are not required to calibrate Probes in RevWorks before they can be used with this type of FARO digitizer. The qualification option provides some additional flexibility for qualifying more than four unique probes by sharing Tip Indexes between several similar probes. One of the Probes sharing a Tip Index with other Probes must be the actual Probe qualified into the FARO controller box. Differences between this Reference Probe the other probes are accommodated by applying the RevWorks qualification procedure.

Note: Since you can only have one Reference Probe in a Probe Set, you can share only one Tip Index in a Probe Set.

To Qualify a Probe

  1. Access Probe Manager

  2. Locate the Probe Set that contains the Probe that you want qualify.

  3. Next to the for the probe set, select to expand the list of probes in the Probe Set.

  4. Qualify the Reference Probe first, if necessary.

  5. Select the Probe that you want to qualify.

The current Probe information appears in the right panel.

  1. Right click on the selected Probe.

The Probe options pop-up menu appears.

  1. From the options menu, select Qualify.

You are prompted to take points on a qualification sphere.

  1. Follow the wizard’s instructions for qualifying the Probe.

Once the qualification process is completed, updated qualification information is appears in the right panel.