System and method for automated object measurement

Abstract

A method for automated part probing using a physical machine defining a physical working volume, the method including: generating a virtual model based on a virtual part design received from a user account, the virtual model comprising a virtual part model, based on the virtual part design, virtually fixed to a virtual fixture plate arranged within a virtual working volume representative of the physical working volume; generating a probing routine based on the virtual model; sending the probing routine to the machine; receiving probe outputs from the machine; and validating the virtual model based on the probe outputs.

We claim: 
     
         1 . A method for automated part manufacture using a physical machine defining a physical working volume, the method comprising:
 automatically selecting a first and second virtual part design from a plurality of virtual part designs based on a manufacturing process optimization, each virtual part design received from a different user account;   automatically generating a preliminary virtual model, the preliminary virtual model comprising: a first and second virtual preliminary part precursor based on the first and second virtual part designs, respectively, the first and second virtual part precursors virtually fixed to a virtual fixture plate; the virtual fixture plate arranged within a virtual working volume representative of the physical working volume;   sending a probing routine, generated based on the preliminary virtual model, to the machine;   receiving probe outputs from the machine for a physical assembly associated with the preliminary virtual model, the probe outputs generated based on the probing routine;   validating the preliminary virtual model based on the probe outputs;   controlling the machine to execute a machining procedure on the physical assembly in response to validation of the preliminary virtual model;   automatically generating a reference virtual model based on the preliminary virtual model and the machining procedure;   sending a second probing routine, generated based on the reference virtual model, to the machine;   receiving secondary probe outputs from the machine for a modified physical assembly, the modified physical assembly comprising the physical assembly modified by the machining procedure, the secondary probe outputs generated based on the second probing routine;   validating the reference virtual model based on the secondary probe outputs;   determining a feature parameter of a physical feature of the modified physical assembly, based on the secondary probe outputs; and   updating a virtual feature on the reference virtual model, corresponding to the physical feature, with the feature parameter.