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I co-authored the first commercial CMM software in the world in 1967 and I continued working in CMM software til 2000... That is nearly 33 years. My co-author did not continue with CMM software work. Therefore, for those 33 years, I must have been writing CMM software longer than anyone else on the planet.(HaHaHa!!!... BIG DEAL but it is my only real claim to fame!!!)
In 1968, I went to work for the CMM company directly and was involved in many early innovations and firsts for CMMs. In 1970, I wrote the control software for the first servo controlled CMM. I remember well accompanying that CMM to an industrial show in Chicago where I watched with great interest as people stood 4 deep around the machine all through the week-long show to see our CMM measure parts by itself. Today most new CMMs are servo controlled because of the the great time saving that feature offers.
In 1972, I wrote the first computer language specifically geared to coordinate measurement with a CMM.
In 1979, I served as system engineer for a project which introduced distributed processing architecture to our CMM line. Although the product has undergone many changes in the many years to follow, today's CMM products still adhere to that basic architecture.
Simultaneous with that system engineering effort, I also lead the development of the firmware for the CMM's controller or measurement processor. That involved the design and implementation of:
In any case, I have more than 30 years of CMM software experience. I have written many programs for controlling these interesting robotic machines, both system software and application software.
In case you are not familiar with what a CMM is, maybe this will help a little. In general, a CMM resembles a machine tool in that it typically has 3 axes which are at right angles to one another. The axes are usually labeled X, Y, and Z. A part to be measured is placed on the CMM's worktable and a sensor on the end of the CMM's moving arm approaches the part until the sensor detects the location of a surface of the part. Most of the time, this means that the sensor touches the part but some sensors (or probes) detect the presence of a part surface without actually touching it.
While some CMMs are moved around by an operator, most today are driven around automatically by motors. Usually a special program is prepared to direct the CMM in the measurement of a particular type of part. Such a program is called a part program.
To see some pictures of CMMs and to read more about them click here.
