Active versus Passive Scanning for

Multi-Point Measurement

ActivevsPassiveScanningforMultiPointMeasurement

Thedistinctionbetweentouchtrigger(singlepoint)measurementandscanningiswellknown.Touch
triggerhasbeendescribedasawoodpeckerapproachmeasureapoint,movetoanotherlocation,
measureagain,andrepeatuntilthejobisdone.Thesurfaceorfeatureconditionbetweenthepoints
thatareactuallymeasuredmaybeestimatedbyinterpolation,butsignificantdeviationscanbemissed.
Also,becauseeachmeasurementisadiscreteoperationandthemeasuringheadmustberepositioned
tomeasurethepoint,theprocesscanbeveryslow.Scanning,ontheotherhand,isaccomplishedwitha
fluidandcontinuousmovementthatcanquicklyandaccuratelymeasurehundredsorthousandsof
pointsalongapathasthestylusmovesacrossasurface.Butwhileallscanningtechnologiesoffer
advantagesoversinglepointmeasurement,allscanningprobeheadsarenotthesame.
Therearetwoavailablecontactscanningtechnologies:passiveandactive.Bothrecordsurfacedata
basedonthemovementofastylusconnectedtoascanninghead.Thedifferenceiswhatgoesoninside
thescanninghead.Passivescanningprobeheadsusespringstoholdthestylusinitsneutralpositionand
straingaugestomeasuredeflectionasitismovedbycontoursofthesurfacebeingmeasured.(See
figure1)Activescanningprobeheadsusesoftwarecontrolledelectromagnetsandforcecontrollersin
placeofspringsandstraingauges.

Figure1
PassiveMultiPointScanning
Theproblemwithspringsisthatthefarthertheyarecompressedorstretchedfromarestingstate,the
hardertheyresist,andthatchangeinresistancecanoccuroveraverysmalldeflection.Inascanning
operation,thisoccurswhenahighspotonethatisclosertothescanningheadasitmovesacrossthe
surfacedeflectsthespringsignificantlymoreorlessthansurroundingareas.Increasedresistanceby
thespring,evenarelativelysmallamount,canactuallyreducetheaccuracyofthestraingaugereading.
Higherresistancebythespringalsoincreasesthepressureofthestylustipagainstthesurfacebeing
measured,whichcandistortthesurfaceofathinorsoftmaterialandthrowoffthemeasurement.In
addition,stylusbending(whichoccurswithanyformofcontactmeasurement),ismuchmore

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pronouncedandisnotlinearinapassivescanningsystemsincethespringforceisnotaconstant.This
willreducethereliabilityofthemeasuringresults.
Theonlywaytominimizetheseproblemsinaspringbasedpassivesystemistokeepspring
compressionwithinanarrowrangefromneutral,asweetspot.Thisdistancecanberelativelysmall
andisgenerallynotaproblemifthesurfacebeingscannedismostlyflatandhasalowsurface
roughness.Butifthesurfaceismorecontouredthescanningheaditselfmustbefrequently
repositionedtokeepstylustravelwithinitsnarrowrangeofmaximumaccuracy.(Seefigure2)Asthe
diagramshows,thescanningheadmustberegularlyrepositionedtostaywithintheacceptabledistance
fromthesurfaceasitscansuptheslopeofthesurface.Butevenwithineachstep,measuringforce
changesasthestylusiscompressedandreleasedwithinitslimitedrange.Eachrepositioningofthe
scanningheadtakestime,significantlyslowingthemeasuringprocess.

Figure2
ActiveMultiPointScanning
Inanactivesystem,ontheotherhand,forcecontrollersmaintain
asteadyforceonthestylusregardlessofitsposition.Unlike
springs,whichcannotbeadjusted,anactivesystemmonitors
deflectioninrealtimeandadjuststhemeasuringforcetokeepit
bothlowandconstantregardlessofposition.Thisallowsamuch
largerrangeofmovementforthestyluswithouthavingto
repositionthescanningheadandwithoutchangingtheforce
exertedonthemeasuredsurface.(seefigure3,right)Withinthe
activesystemswiderrangeofmotion,themeasuringforce
remainsconstant.Thisincreasesaccuracyandspeedsupthe
wholeprocessbyeliminatingtheneedtofrequentlyrepositionthe
scanninghead.

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Activescanningslessfrequentrepositioningbecomesmorevaluableasthecontourofpartsbeing
measuredincreases.Butitisparticularlybeneficialinapplicationslikereverseengineering,inwhich
thereisnopreexistingCADmodeltoworkfromandthecontoursofthepartarenotpreprogrammed.
Ineithercaseaspringbasedpassivesystemwouldhavetofrequentlyinterruptscanningtoreposition
theheadorscanmuchmoreslowlysotheCMMcouldkeepspringcompressionwithinacceptable
range.Otherwiseitwouldhavetousereadingstakenwhenspringsarecompressedbeyondtheirideal
rangeandacceptthattheymightbelessprecisethandesired.Thisisnotthecasewhenusinganactive
systemwithforcecontrollerstokeepscanningpressureevenoverafarwiderrangeoftravel.
Inaproductionenvironmentscanningspeedcandirectlyaffectyield.Factorsliketoolwearorthermal
deformationcancausepartstodeviatefromspecificationevenduringasingleshift.Ifmanyorallparts
arebeingscanned,measurementthroughputiscritical.Fasterscanningwillrequirefewermachinesto
handlemeasurement.Fasterscanningalsomeansquickeridentificationofproblemsontheline,
reducingtheamountofscraporrequiredrework.Ineithercase,anythingthatslowsscanningor
reducesaccuracycostsmoney.Activescanningkeepsthingsmoving.
DynamicInfluences
Themorecomplexameasuredsurfacebecomes,thegreatertheadvantageofanactivescanning
system.Inadditionfortheneedtofrequentlyadjustthescanningheadofapassivesystem,complex
surfacesmayrequirealongerstylusinsomecasesuptohalfameterinlengthtoreachintoholesor
alongverticalsurfaces.Wherecontourscreatelateralpressureonthestylusorwherethestylusmust
approachthesurfacehorizontally,athicker,heavierstylusmaybeneededtominimizebending,
resultingininaccuratereadings.Becausethespringsinpassivescanningprobeheadsarentadjustable,
theyarelessabletocompensateforthelengthandweightofthesestyli.Anactivesystem,ontheother
hand,caneasilyadjusttomaintainevenpressureregardlessofthelengthand/orweightofthestylus
andregardlessoftheangleofthesurfacebeingmeasuredortheorientationofthestylustakingthe
measurement.
ConsequencesofScatter
Nomeasuringdeviceisperfect,butpassivesystemsaresignificantlymoresubjecttoscatter(orprobe
systemnoise)thanactivesystemsdueto:
Inconsistenciesinprobingforceasspringsarecompressed
Potentialdeflectionoflightweightprobesormeasuredsurfacescausedbyexcessive
measuringforce
Inabilityofspringstocompensateforheavierstylusweight
Datadistortionduetomixandmatchcomponentry

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Scatterindatafrompassivesystemsistypicallyaddressedusingfilteringalgorithmsthatsmoothout
bumpsinthemeasureddata.Thiscanpartiallyovercomeinaccuraciesinmeasuringlargerfeatures
butcanblurortotallyeliminatefinerfeatures,essentiallyaveragingthemoutofexistence.Active
scanningprobeheads,byreducingscatter,providemoreaccuratereadingofbothlargeandsmall
features.(Seefigure4)

Figure4
BalancingSpeedandPrecision
Measuringtasksvaryinthedegreeofaccuracyrequiredandinhowquicklytheymustbecompleted.
Thesoftwarecontrolofactivescanningallowseasyrebalancingofoperationstoemphasizespeedor
accuracy.Essentially,thisisapiebeingdividedbetweentwocompetingvalues.Butregardlessofhowit
isdivided,activescanningprovidesalargerpiethanpassive,allowinghigherspeedwithcomparable
accuracyorgreateraccuracywithcomparablespeed.
ReturnonInvestment
Activescanningtechnologyhasbecomemoreaffordableandmoremainstreamascapabilitiesimprove,
anditisdiversifiedamongabroaderrangeofapplications.Wherespeedisessential,activesystemsare
significantlymoreproductiveandcanactuallyreducethenumberofmeasuringsystemsrequiredforthe
application.Exceptinthesimplest,flattestapplications,activesystemsaremoreaccuratethanpassive
systemsatanygivenspeed.Theadvantageofactivescanningsystemsgrowsasthemeasurementtask
ortheobjectbeingmeasuredbecomesmorecomplex.

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18003279735

www.zeiss.com/metrology

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