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Ballbar 5 software cuts test times by up to 40%, provides online help and a user-friendly Windows interface

Renishaw Inc. has made ballbar diagnosis of machining centers and lathes quicker and easier with its new Ballbar 5 software. Used with the company's QC10 ballbar system, the Windows-based software provides a user-friendly interface, comprehensive online help and three convenient user modes for high-accuracy calibration checks in minimal time.

The Ballbar 5 software can further cut already-speedy ballbar test times by up to 40%. It provides three user modes for maximum test flexibility, including:

• "Quick check" mode for one-off tests of machines with differing setups, providing live data capture, calculated feedrate and true position tolerance
  
• Operator mode for regular tests using pre-defined machine test templates
  
• Advanced mode for customizing test templates and folders for individual machines

Renishaw's QC10 ballbar measures contouring errors that are only apparent when the machine is in motion, converting data into a polar plot of the machine's true movement. It tracks machine movement to ±0.5 micron and has a resolution of 0.1 micron, allowing precise calculation of circularity error, servo gain mismatch, vibration, stick-slip errors, backlash, repeatability and scale mismatch, as well as machine geometry.

Ballbar 5 software not only provides diagnosis of specific errors in accordance to ISO 230-4 and ASME B5.54 and B5.57 standards, but also ranks the errors according to their overall affect on machine accuracy. An open file data format allows easy information exchange with SPC packages, company databases and other applications. Ballbar 5 software comes standard with new QC10 ballbar systems and as a low-cost upgrade for current users.

Renishaw Inc., 5277 Trillium Boulevard, Hoffman Estates, IL 60192 USA. Tel: 847-286-9953; Fax: 847-286-9974.

Source: Renishaw Inc.