Forced touch-down: A customer's further examination of a touch trigger probe

Abstract This paper extends the investigation reported in Int. J. Mach. Tools Manufact., 1997, 37(10), 1375. A number of factors influencing the accuracy of measurements on coordinate measuring machines (CMMs) are discussed. The use of simple artefacts to establish probe system performance is outlined. The behaviour of the probe system and stylus assembly are investigated. The paper presents an approach which can be readily utilised by CMM operators to establish reliable performance information about their CMM systems.