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NRK TodayTRENDs and issues impacting metrology & spatialanalyzerVolume 5A Joint Effort to Build theJoint Strike FighterCreating a 5th generation integrated air system isa complex endeavor. The requirements for theJoint Strike Fighter are numerous–it must be lethal,stand up to the rigors of combat, and be supportable inaustere environments. The F-35 JSF must meet diverseneeds of multiple services and still be affordable. Oneof the ways Lockheed Martin has done this is to useNikon’s laser radar and the SpatialAnalyzer software.In October 2001, the U.S. Department of Defensenamed Lockheed Martin to lead the Joint StrikeFighter (JSF) team as the winner of the contract todevelop the F-35 JSF until 2030. Partners in theF-35’s System Design and Development (SDD) phaseinclude nine nations. Final assembly of the F-35 willtake place at Lockheed Martin Aeronautics in FortWorth, Texas, with parts from California and England.This joint effort makes the need for precision metrologyextremely important. The parts are built at differentlocations so the measurements must be exact, so theparts fit together seamlessly.Since securing the F-35 contract, LockheedMartin undertook immense efforts to identify and vetpotential aircraft design, manufacturing, inspection,F-35 Joint Strike Fighterand assembly options. While the end productcontinues to evolve successfully, it’s important toassure that products at all levels meet or exceeddesign parameters. Some concerns still exist regardinghow to make rate both at final assembly and at themajor component level. This concern extends to theease of use, repeatability and speed with which partconformance can be verified and reported. As part ofcontinued on page 4Across the Great WallSpatialAnalyzer goes to ChinaIn the past, manufacturers in Europe and in NorthAmerica came to China to locate new low-costsupply sources for components. So SpatialAnalyzerwas used because it was specified by theseestablished companies, and Chinese companiesadopted it. But as the demand for locally-madeproducts increased in Asia, the Chinese sought tonot just make components but to actually performfinal assembly of finished products to satisfy localdemand.Major world class companies established finalassembly factories in China. These factories wereestablished using European and American technologylike SpatialAnalyzer. More recently, the Chinesehave made the development of Chinese-designed andbuilt products a top priority. This transition of movingfrom a low-cost part provider to a major completedproduct manufacturer is happening in industriessuch as automotive, aerospace, transportation, andshipbuilding. All of these industry transitions createhuge growth opportunities for SpatialAnalyzer.For these reasons, NRK created a version ofSpatialAnalyzer called SA-CHINA.SA-CHINA has all the functionality of SAUltimate such as measurement acquisition andgeometric dimensioning and tolerancing, plus thecapability to import native CAD files from most anypopular CAD package. Enhanced by an aggressiveprice, the power of SA is easily affordable in therapidly emerging manufacturing economy in China.The math functions of SA transcend any languagebarriers, but the user interface of SA-CHINA is fullytranslated into Chinese.SA is even used in energy-related tasks forsustainable energy projects such as wind, water,and solar power generation. Chinese shipbuilders,aerospace vendors, high-speed train manufacturers,automotive companies, and satellite constructioncompanies all depend on SA. Naturally, universities,scientific and research development organizations havecome to rely on SA as well.SA enables local companies to automate andintegrate precision portable metrology control intomanufacturing processes, thus saving time whileensuring improved product quality. Shop floorproduction can be quickly compared to the originalnative CAD design file closing the loop on thedesign > build > inspect production life cycle.Currently new manufacturing companies in Chinaare established based on technologies developed andvalidated in more mature manufacturing economies.As these manufacturing processes are mastered andduplicated, the leading edge technology tools such asSpatialAnalyzer will equip local engineers to meet thechallenges of the most populous world economy.CUSTOMERSSpatialAnalyzerIntegral to Airbus2 2 3 4InfrastructureCustomers Growingwith NRKApplicationSA Powers UpDuke EnergyDecisionsMaking the Gradeat Janicki

TRENDs and issues impacting metrology & spatialanalyzerCan you see the SA in AirbuS?No – because it’s integral.Metrology is now part of every industrialproject, and embedded metrology is theemerging standard. Embedded metrology hasbecome an essential tool for manufacturing. FrenchbasedG²Métric is fully involved in the developmentand integration of measurement solutions forMetrology Assisted Assembly and does significantwork with aerospace manufacturer Airbus.G²Métric has been using SpatialAnalyzerfor years, and Nicolas Prost, atechnical engineer from G²Métricsaid SA was chosen due to the manydifferent capabilities it has.“SA is a very powerfulsoftware, I would say that it’s themost versatile on the market rightnow. Whatever you want to do, youcan do it. As a service company,SA works for us because we needto answer many different cases andSA provides us these solutions,”Prost said.Relying on metrology to guideassembly processes began on theAirbus 380 program but has sincespread to other Airbus programssuch as the A340, A320 and A400M. But the newAirbus 350 project is significantly different. It isnotable that this aircraft is one of the first projects forAirbus where embedded metrology was assumed fromthe beginning of the project.The goal of this A350 project is to harmonize thesolution so all Airbus facilities in Europe (France,Germany, United Kingdom and Spain) follow the sameprocess and do not deploy uniquely developed softwarefor each new integration process.Airbus A380 Air France“…it’s the most versatile software onthe market right now.”Prost explained that a group of Airbus expertsdesignate the required metrology systems andsoftware to be used on the project, and also all thedata management architecture. SA has been approvedin the list of software to be embedded within suchapplications.He said that every A350 part is followed by itsmeasurement characteristic, meaning that everysubassembly is measured and results are stored forthe next step. All measurement phases need to beautomated for the next step, thus driving the assemblyby measurement. Assembly of every part is based onthe measured “as built” value, not on the nominal.This allows simulation of the assembly to identifyin advance if there will be issue, and then drive thetooling and actuators based on feedback from themeasurement system.G²Métric provides the full solution to perform alltasks in an industrial environment under automationthat drives a tool’s movement based on automatedinstrument measurements. SA is embedded inprograms using the software development kit to initiateMeasurement Plan automation functions. This SDKhelps perform calculations on the surface and definingthe proper reference frame. It’s also used during thedevelopment to justify all the processes and provideessential understanding of measurement uncertainty.The assembly of large components can be moreeffectively performed with the assistance of leadingedge metrology instruments and SpatialAnalyzer,according to Prost.“We do really think that both of our companiescan help each other to grow; NRK as a great softwaresolution provider and G²Métric as a leader inmetrology integration in Europe,” said Prost.G²Métric has been building a partnership withNRK since 2003, first as a user, then a reseller andnow as an integrator.New RiverKinematics:Up, Upand Away!NRK’s premier product SpatialAnalyzerwas developed by PhDs Bob Salerno andJoe Calkins, two years after the start of NewRiver Kinematics. The pair continued to worktogether and picked up a few employees alongthe way. Since then, the company has grownsubstantially.NRK had their first burst of growth from 2002to 2005 when the company grew from a couple ofdozen customers to the point where SA was beingused worldwide. This initial growth leveled off after acouple of years.Then, NRK decided to increase its distributionchannels and with additional product enhancements,the company’s growth surged. The results are that thecompany’s growth has averaged over 20% year afteryear over the last four years.With growth comes the challenge of creatingthe correct infrastructure, while continuing theindividualized support that customers have cometo expect from NRK. This support and engineeringexpertise are key for NRK customers to be able tomeet and exceed their business objectives.“Listening to our customers is how we’ve grown.We know intimately what they deal with day-to-dayat their jobs, and with their projects. We are hereto help them solve the issues that come up,” PaulCollins, President of NRK, said.NRK’s growth helps create the infrastructure tosupport their customers to a greater degree. Recently,NRK doubled the number of application engineersfor support. They have also opened a new facility witha 10,000 square foot lab for engineers, customers,and partners to use. The lab includes dozens ofinstruments and robots that are integrated with SAfor ease of use. And, because NRK continues to growinternationally, additional international support hasbeen added as well.“The NRK goal has always been to continuedeveloping SA, to support our customers, andstructure the company so that we can continue ourtrademark of great software, individual support, andengineering solutions,” Collins said.NRK’s plan for the future is continued growth…but the same customer experience.2New River Kinematics HeadquartersWilliamsburg, Virginia

TRENDs and issues impacting metrology & spatialanalyzerFPower Up: 3Space Multiplies Precision with SAMike Gunn, president of 3Space, runs aspecialty measurement company that workswith several industries, including power generation.He uses SpatialAnalyzer for two reasons: confidenceand consistency.“It’s confidence that we have the correct data,that we’ve made all of our quality checks, and whenwe hand that data over to the customer, we know it’scorrect. Consistency across all of our measurementplatforms is another key,” Gunn said.During scheduled outages, 3Space checks criticalcomponents of the turbine generators for worn out,damaged, or misaligned parts. Parts are disassembledand replaced as needed – and all of it needs to be putback in proper alignment.“The lifecycle of a power plant system isDuke Energy Plantuturamic Tooling and Engineering Company is ahigh end tooling provider for the aerospace andautomotive industries. They are located in Warren,Michigan and began as a tool supplier for the boomingauto industry in the 1950s. They continue to have areputation for providing exotic tooling with speed andprecision.“SA has given us the edge in theindustry to show real time and withcomplete clarity in reporting that highlevel of integrity.”Chris Guiney, the Laser Tracker DepartmentManager at Futuramic, explained the history of thecompany and how they made a transition to aerospace.“When automotive fixture manufacturing began tomove out of the United States, the auto tooling industrybegan to back off. Naturally, due to our high level ofaccuracy in our fixture manufacturing, meeting theaerospace requirements was not a stretch. With over50 years experience in manufacturing tight toleranceinspection fixtures, we’ve excelled at conforming to ourcustomer requirements and processing them throughdesign and build,” Guiney said.dependent on proper alignment and fit. Anything that’sout of position on a turbine unit takes time off theiruseful life and causes need for more maintenance inshorter intervals,” Gunn explains.That’s where SpatialAnalyzer comes in – theprecision measurements are key for maintenance andfor minimizing the outages. NRK Southeast RegionManager, David O’Neal, sees the benefit of a commonsoftware platform for power industry giants like DukeEnergy. “This allows power gen companies to use alltypes of metrology equipment including API Trackers,Leica Total stations, and the Faro Focus 3D Scanner inone software environment,” O’Neal said.Gunn explains why precision is critical for powerprojects: “The consequences of components not fittingcorrectly the first time are all bad, but mostly the costFuturamic Moves into theFuture with SpatialAnalyzerIn large part, Futuramic relies heavily on their useof laser trackers and SpatialAnalyzer to meet aggressiveproduction demand. SpatialAnalyzer is used duringthe tool building process, final inspection of toolingand for advanced analysis and reporting. With theincreased need for aerospace tooling in the commercialmanufacturing and defense industries, Futuramic hadthe need to decrease build and inspection times andgenerate detailed reporting. Also, since SA is alreadywidely accepted as the standard in the aerospacemeasurement world, Futuramic provides final inspectionreporting back to their clients in a format they arefamiliar with.“SA has given us the edge in the industry toshow real time and with complete clarity in reportingthat high level of integrity. It was a logical choice ininspection software, one that holds the same level ofprofessionalism as we do. This software works for bothbeginners and advanced inspectors. And NRK has avery knowledgeable support staff, who are willing toanswer any call,” Guiney said.SpatialAnalyzer’s advanced functionality hasbenefited Futuramic in several specific ways: SA canhandle numerous CAD formats, which have allowedFuturamic to take advantage of nominal CAD models forbuilding and inspection of tooling. Relationship fittinghas allowed Futuramic to fit to nominal CAD precisely3to the power company is phenomenal for them to buypower from other utilities while they are in an outage.Many of the components we work on contain exoticalloys of metal and take many months to fabricate,so the old adage of ‘measure twice – cut once’ is veryappropriate here. It simply has to be right,” he said.Outages are usually planned around low powerusage periods in the spring and fall when people aren’tusing heat or A/C in their homes. The power companyrotates which turbines and equipment are undergoingmaintenance and finds alternative energy sources tocover the needs of their customers. How long an outagelasts depends on how much work needs to take placeand how long it takes to do it. The power company triesto minimize this time because they never know when aheat wave or a cold spell will hit and more power willbe needed.“We have retained clients and had manycallbacks because of the results we can provide, andthe level of confidence the customer has in the datawe give them. This is directly attributable to our useof SA,” Gunn said.That’s why SA is making a difference forcompanies like 3Space – more efficiency and lesstime out of service. It’s win-win for everyone involved.Having confidence and consistency means powerfulresults.and quickly while maintaining engineering constraintsand tolerances.Measurement Plan (MP) has allowed Futuramicto decrease tool inspection times by automating whatwas historically a manual process and providing fasteranalysis and reporting. This functionality has led tofaster tool inspections, resulting in quicker sign offon the tools. Reporting is an important part of theprocess, and SpatialAnalyzer’s Dynamic Reportinglets Futuramic generate reports for their internal andexternal customers. The ability to drag and drop itemsfrom the SA Tree makes reporting easy, and whencombined with Measurement Plan, reporting can beinstantaneous.SA continues to help Futuramic grow and preparefor any measurement challenges it might encounter inthe future. Guiney said that they are excited to possesssoftware like SA that’s prepared for today’s challengesand dedicated to meeting tomorrow’s responsibilities.“Surprisingly we are still probing the depthsof abilities this software has to offer. So far it hasperformed impeccably each time it has been tasked.I have not found a scenario that SA cannot handle,”Guiney said.That is great news for the future of Futuramic andall other SA users.

TRENDs and issues impacting metrology & spatialanalyzercontinued from page 1Joint Strike Fightertheir process, Lockheed Martin Aero subcontractedcomponent parts to qualified partner suppliers. Thismakes rapid deployment of part production andverification to a quickly expanding supplier basecritically important.Lockheed Martin selected the Nikon LaserRadar measurement system for part inspection. TheNikon scanner, like most other portable measurementsensors, can be used for highly precise measurementtasks. Because of the instrument’s unique capabilitiesfor quick, high accuracy, target-less measurement, ona wide variety of surface materials, it’s an ideal choicefor automated inspection routines. The technologyis both leading edge and proven–and includes animportant advantage: a premium graphical metrologysoftware package called SpatialAnalyzer.SpatialAnalyzer was developed in 1996 by NewRiver Kinematics. Lockheed Martin uses SA withvarious portable metrology systems. NRK was the firstto develop and maintain a complete software interfaceaccessing the full capabilities of the Nikon laser radarsystem.Using SA, the Nikon instrument can beguided through complex measurement tasks withpredefined SA Measurement Plans. While SA MP’soffer tremendous flexibility and a wide range ofmeasurement process control, an operator can alsorevert to manual instrument control as needed. Whilethe Nikon laser radar and SpatialAnalyzer offer themost versatile portable measurement technologyavailable for Lockheed Martin’s inspection tasks,the challenge is to make a cutting edge, very flexiblemeasurement system easy to use, repeatable andscalable.“Nikon Metrology’s Laser Radar system, poweredby NRK’s SpatialAnalyzer software, is an essentialcomponent to the Cured Laminate Compensation(CLC) process – it increases customer productivity andquality. This is all accomplished with an added benefitof reducing overall manufacturing cost,” said RobertWasilesky, Nikon’s senior vice president of sales andmarketing.NRK has successfully delivered unique,simplified user interfaces that enable shop floorpersonnel with little initial training to quickly performrelatively complex data collection, analysis andreporting activities using such instruments as theNikon Laser Radar system.This interface is called Metrology AutomationPart Inspection System (MAPIS) and using acombination of proprietary NRK development toolsand SA base libraries, a unique users interface (UI)was developed for Lockheed Martin’s JSF program.The UI is simple enough that shop floor personnelhave successfully used it, yet it is robust enough toaccommodate Lockheed Martin’s needs for proper andthorough inspection.Lockheed Martin and the Joint Strike Fightergain many benefits from the innovations of Nikonand SpatialAnalyzer including: repeatable accurateprocesses, less uncertainty and consistent results.Those benefits aren’t stealth, they’re measurable!SA: Making the Grade at JanickiJanicki Industries designs and builds highprecisiontooling for aerospace, marine, windenergy and transportation customers. Some of itsaerospace customers include Boeing, Lockheed, ATKand NASA. To serve the challenging needs of theseJanicki Industriesindustries, Janicki integrated portable metrologytechnology into its daily manufacturing processesseveral years ago.As technology in this area advanced, so havecustomer demands for tighter tolerances and supportingquality documentation. The requirements of currentand new customers for more sophisticated componentsand production rates continue to drive Janicki to seeknew ways to leverage its investment in the area ofmetrology. Janicki responded to these demands withsignificant investments in both hardware and software.Today, Janicki has a world class array of portablemetrology instruments that includes laser trackers,laser radar, CMMs and various other devices. But it’simportant to note that these instruments are only asgood as the software that controls them.In 2010, there were two primary softwaresolutions in use at Janicki, and SpatialAnalyzer (SA)from New River Kinematics was one of them. For years,Janicki used a combination of metrology solutions.However, to meet the ever-increasing and stringentrequirements mandated by its customers, Janicki founditself routinely turning to SA as the portable metrologysolution of choice.Standardization was the next logical step to improvetheir metrology program. After a thorough evaluation,Janicki selected SA as its standard solution for portablemetrology applications at all of their facilities.As a result of their standardization program,Janicki will see measurable gains in productivity andreductions in operational cost. Improvement areasinclude: reduced training cost, work cell automationwith SA measurement plans, improved communicationsand reporting. That’s why SA has emerged as thesoftware of choice at Janicki and also at many of itslarge aerospace customers.SpatialAnalyzer is a traceable metrology 3Dgraphical software platform that can simultaneouslycommunicate to virtually any number and type ofportable dimensional measurement systems. It alsosimplifies complex analysis tasks.The SA Advantage• NRK’s founders and lead developers areMechanical Engineer PhDs – that meansSA was designed from day 1 as a MetrologyEngineering Solution• Optimization capabilities assure qualityproduction and reduce cost• SA’s unique USMN function provides answersto measurement uncertainty issues in an easyto-useenvironment. It’s a tool that providesdetailed information that is indispensable inachieving customer quality requirements andenhancing communications• 100% traceability for total quality assurance• Full automation of measurement and analysistasks improves productivityAutomation, is a significant new opportunity forJanicki. SA’s Measurement Plan functionality providesthe ability to automate many tasks associated withcapture of measurement data, model comparisons,subsequent analysis and reporting. MP is a configurableand programmable platform that is easy-to-use, yetdelivers solid reliable solutions for engineers andproduction work cells. It reduces errors, saves time andcan be integrated into production processes. Customersusing SA and well-crafted MP’s routinely realizesignificant savings. Just ask Janicki!NRK TodayPublished byNew River Kinematicswww.kinematics.com4