Towards Instrument-Oriented Calibration of CMMs

Abstract The calibration of CMMs has become a more and more important matter of investigation and discussion stimulated by the increasing demand of calibration in manufacturing. CMM errors are very complex to describe in simple terms suitable to be stated in a calibration certificate; even more complex is the evaluation of uncertainties of these errors and of their combination. This paper proposes a methodology which enables a simple representation of CMM errors in terms of scale factors, and of their uncertainties in terms of binomials, intended to meet the requirements of brevity and simplicity of a calibration certificate. A numerical example is given of the actual calibration result of a CMM.