CMM measurement data not importing correctly

[Anonymous]

I did some 3d Laser & Probe scanning with a Faroarm and their software CAM2 and upon importing in the data into F360 I've ran into some issues. The measurement data was done with a probe, not a laser scanner so this isn't pointcloud work. The probe was used to create planes, circles and simple slots directly in CAM2. Then the measurements were exported out directly from CAM2 into F360 as STP, IGES, Parasolid binary and VDA but all the file types failed to load. When the data loads all of the circles, points, planes, slots, etc just come in as surfaces that are unworkable. I really don't know what's going on, this seems like it should be a simple thing for F360 to do. Here is what the data comes in looking like.

http://imgur.com/RUKlyTB

Now i thought this may be an issue on Faro's end so i had another company take a look at the files and they imported them into Powermill with no issues. All the circles, planes, slots, etc where there without flaw. They were even able to overlayed the raw pointcloud and all scaling/coordinate system without a problem so it's not something with CAM2. On top of that they exported the data/mesh out of powermill as an .OBJ and i was able to import that file in which looks like this, but again all the measurement probe data came in as surfaces only.

http://imgur.com/kxBCegi


Usually it's the other way around with scan/probe data, usually it's a pain to work with the pointcloud/mesh and the probe data is a breeze. The raw step file from CAM2 are attached if anyone want's to take a look at them. The forums won't let me attach the IGES, VDA or parasolids but i can email them upon request.

[paul.clauss]

Hi @Anonymous

Thanks for posting! While I am not very familiar with CMM measurement data, I have a few thoughts here.

When you said "the measurements were exported out directly from CAM2 into F360 as STP, IGES, Parasolid binary and VDA but all the file types failed to load," are you referring to when you uploaded the file to the Fusion 360 Data Panel, or was there are error when opening the file in Fusion? I had no problems uploading and opening the STEP file you attached in Fusion, but it did come in as shown in your first screenshot - as a collection of disconnected surfaces. If you could attach your diagnostic logs to this forum thread I am happy to have a look at this! 

What is the expected behavior when opening the STEP file in Fusion? Have you imported the Faro data to Fusion 360 before with different results? When I opened the STEP file in Inventor, Fusion, and Solidworks they appeared identically - as shown in your first screenshot. I would expect the STEP file to give the results in surfaces (as STEP files , but am unsure of what may have caused the hole features to be lost. 

When I opened the STEP file in Powermill, I noticed that the results are identical to Fusion/Inventor/Solidworks with wireframe turned off, but enabling wireframe revealed many hole features. Do you know how the document was edited in Powermill to give the results in your second screenshot? I have shown the results I received in Powermill below:

With shading in Powermill - surfaces appear identical to opening the file in Fusion, as shown above. 

With a wireframe view in Powermill - the hole features are shown.

It is possible that Fusion does not yet support STEP wireframes. I am curious, however, to see if the IGES file will import correctly. Feel free to email me the IGES copy of the file at paul.clauss@autodesk.com. I am also curious about what export options you are using in CAM2 - can you try a few different options and let me know if any of them work for you?

It also seems like the point cloud data may need to be exported from CAM2 as an STL file. Using this procedure, originally written for Solidworks, should allow you to import the point cloud data as a mesh to Fusion 360 - I imagine this is how Faro was able to add the point cloud to their file in Powermill.

Hopefully this helps us begin troubleshooting this issue! I have reached out to some members of our development team to see if they have any ideas on this behavior - please feel free to let me know if you have any questions. I look forward to hearing from you.

[Anonymous]

 Not sure how powermilll was configured but it was able to see the circles and points like your is. Log files are attached and it's not that the files fail to upload, it's that every format loads in as a surface. All files were loaded using the upload button in the project panel. I've designed in solidworks for 10 years and just recently switched to F360 as I've also worked with Hsmworks since 11' but I've never had issues of importing data like this, even from 1990's mitutoyo CMM's running early 2000's MCOSMOS. I'd expect at least 1 of the many file formats to be able to load in the geometry since this is very simple 2D stuff we are working with and considering it coming from a current version of faro software, one of the oldest scanning and measurement companies around.

[paul.clauss]

Hi @Anonymous

Thanks for sending the files over - they all came into Fusion identical to the original STEP file from earlier. As we move forward, I wanted to clarify a few things with you;

• You said you recently switched to Fusion 360 - have you successfully imported data from CAM2 into Fusion before? If so, did it import as a solid body?
• As I am unfamiliar with the Faro/CMM data, it does not seem unexpected to me that the STEP file would come in as surfaces. How are you expecting the files to come into Fusion? As the files came in as surfaces in Fusion, Inventor, and Solidworks I am having trouble understanding the issue with that. I do see that the wireframe elements shown in Powermill are omitted - I have reached out to our development team to see if Fusion currently supports IGES or STEP wireframe data. You mentioned you have worked with this data in Solidworks for some time - does it come into Solidworks as anything other than surfaces for you? When I imported the STEP file to Solidworks it came in exactly as it did in Fusion - are you doing anything differently than you have in the past when exporting from CAM2?
• Did you have any success with trying out any of the different export options from CAM2? If you have not tried playing with these options please do  - see the link in my previous post. It looks like some export options have different output options for each type of file - see the "Output As > IGES solid/surface entities" screenshot at the link - perhaps exporting the file from CMM in a different format will give the results you are looking for when uploaded to Fusion?

I will keep looking into this on my end and let you know what I find out. I think it will be critical to know the output settings you are using in CAM2, as we can then begin trying to find out what filetypes will be supported by Fusion - I apologize for any inconveniences this has caused you! 

[Anonymous]

I haven't worked with CAM2 in solidworks but usually scan data from any CMM or measurement data comes in as splines or the actual 2D geometry of circles, points, lines, etc. I currently don't have access to solidworks so I couldn't check the import.

CAM2 has limited export options when selecting the export. The faroarm was leased to me so I'll have to contact the company and schedule another visit to see if i can get into the preferences/options and fine tune the exports. As far as i know they are set to whatever the default is.

[paul.clauss]

Hi @Anonymous

Thanks for the response! I spoke with a colleague who has worked with Faro data in Fusion 360 today and confirmed that you cannot import the point cloud data into Fusion 360. He recommended using Geomagic as an intermediary (you will need to take data from CAM2 to Geomagic and then export it in a mesh format to Fusion). I apologize for any inconveniences this may cause you - unfortunately Fusion 360 does not yet include the import tools necessary to include all the data from CAM2. 

I would recommend voting for this Ideastation post to show interest in adding IGES point cloud import options! 

[Anonymous]

This isn't pointcloud data it's basic CMM 2D geometry. In CAM2 you can use the laser scanner which creates pointcouod or a 3mm CMM ball that generates plans, circles, spline etc. in simple sketch form.

I did generate point cloud but saved it separately, ran it through mesh lab, then meshmixer, turned it quad and imported it into f360 without a problem. It's the CMM data I'm having issues with as that's the critical machine data needed for the CNC shop to make the part I'm working on.

I'm currently trying to get back into the shop to check out the export data but haven't heard back from the company yet.

[paul.clauss]

Hi @Anonymous

Thanks for the response!

One of the unknowns here is how "sketch" geometry from CAM2 is being stored within the CAD Neutral file formats (STEP, IGES) you're writing to. For example, is the sketch interpreted as a BREP (boundary representation) edge, or is a a series of points that create a wireframe or sketch asset?

I'm not familiar enough with CAM 2 or the export options that are being used to determine this. It might help if you could shed some light on this area. There may be export options available in CAM2 that will allow Fusion to open these files directly with the "sketch" geometry included, but I am unsure of what CAM2 options will allow this.

On the read side of things, Fusion works best with BREP geometry and its not too shabby with mesh (STL/OBJ) - the translation process seems to be able to create the surfaces but not the circular geometry in your example. However, points and wireframe information are not supported in the current version of the Fusion translators. It is also worth mentioning that even native Fusion designs exported as STEP or IGES files will not include sketches when re-uploaded to Fusion - the translation will only include the surfaces and solid bodies.

I also did some testing by creating some holed surfaces in Inventor and then using the IGES export options to experiment before importing the IGES files into Fusion. When I chose to output solids as wireframe data, the file opened as a blank design containing no data in Fusion. This confirms that IGES wireframes (and STEP wireframes) are not recognized by Fusion, and suggests that this is what occurring with your files. As we saw in my first post on this thread (post #2), Powermill was able to read the wireframe data in the STEP file but Fusion is unable to do so and it will not be included. This leads me to believe that the 2D CMM data you mentioned is currently being output as CAD neutral wireframe data, preventing it from being "seen" during the translation to Fusion.

In my previous post with the screenshot from Powermill, we can see the BREP geometry (surfaces) identical to how they appear in Fusion. Because Powermill supports the wireframe/sketch geometry from CAM2, it can be shown there as well (see second screenshot). This is a limitation with the translation process you are currently using from CAM2 to Fusion/Inventor/Solidworks - either on the read or the write side. Because Fusion does not include IGES or STEP import options and does not recognize CAD neutral wireframe data, troubleshooting will need to occur on the write side in CAM2 and I cannot guarantee that any of the export options will create a STEP or IGES file containing any "sketch" geometry.

[Anonymous]

It probably is the incompatibility of wireframe, hopefully I'll have better results with changing the parasolid settings.

I'll update once I'm able to get back with the company and check out the parameters of CAM2 export.

[Anonymous]

wasn't able to get back in and check the backend parameters but I did make a video over the process I took.