Quality Magazine - March 2009 - (Page 57) many different options for keeping up with the lab’s unpredictable workflow. Regardless of the measurement device they will be used with, common measurement programs are typically generated at JPL during early design and manufacturing stages at an offline programming station. Ultimately, these programs are used throughout the widely dispersed concurrent engineering and manufacturing enterprise to generate standardized outputs: PDFs, RTF fi les or PC-DMIS program data fi les. The fi rst programming step at JPL involves importing Rev A of the computer-aided design (CAD) model into PC-DMIS as a step fi le from Unigraphics. At this point an engineer will work with a quality staffer to specify the most important design intent criteria and appropriate datums. A member of the lean inspection team will then create the program using point-and-click programming techniques. Because the entire spacecraft is essentially a prototype, design criteria may not be nailed down until after manufacturing has already begun. “We have one pass to make something that has never been made before and achieve something that has never been done before,” says Clark. “Design refi nements continue throughout the fabrication and assembly process.” For example, it was determined that some important components had to be trimmed down to reduce their weight. This made it necessary to add stabilizing structures to the parts for improving the strength-to-weight ratio. In turn, the altered design and manufacturing processes made it necessary to change the key characteristics and measurement strategies when it came time to measure the part—something that happens quite frequently. When the time comes to validate a completed part, the design has typically progressed from Rev A to Rev E, F or G. Revising the program may require Senior Quality Engineer Gerald Clark leads the Jet Propulsion Laboratory’s (JPL) quality assurance team, which uses PC-DMIS Enterprise Metrology Solutions (EMS) software to evaluate the more than 10,000 parts, components and assemblies comprising the vehicles and instrumentation that will be used in the Mars Science Laboratory (MSL) mission. Source: Wilcox Associates Inc. THINKING OF TESTING MATERIALS? THINK • auto • aero • medical Stotz is a fast-growing supplier of high-precision air gages and related instruments for in-process or post-process metrology. From a single column to an integrated system for plantwide measurement and online monitoring, there’s only one place you need to go… UNITED UNITED offers a full line of material testing instruments for most material applications. Economy series SSTM Table model series STM Floor Model series SFM Hydraulic servo controlled series HFM Table top hydraulic “Speedy” Tru-Blue II – Rockwell Hardness Tester Tru-Blue U – Universal Hardness Tester A full line polymer testing equipment For more information contact United at (800) 765-9997 E-mail infounited@tensiletest.com ■ www.tensiletest.com Quality Quick Clicks 428 at qualitymag.com www.stotz-usa.com Visit our website or call 815-297-1805 for the whole Stotz story! Quality Products Since 1952 Quality Quick Clicks 427 at qualitymag.com www.qualitymag.com March 2009 | QUALITY 57 http://www.tensiletest.com http://www.stotz-usa.com http://www.stotz-usa.com http://www.tensiletest.com http://www.qualitymag.com http://www.qualitymag.com http://www.qualitymag.com
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