Angles and polar angles

[James Doolittle]

Hi guys, I have a question regarding how PC-DMIS calculates angles. How does the software "guess" as to which plane you wish to calculate the polar angle from and is it possible to override this "guess" somehow?

I have a cylindrical part with holes on the OD and using the location->polar angle dimension I'm trying to get the angle with respect to the x-axis, having set my plane off of the yz face, but I believe it's trying to find the polar angle assuming an xz plane.

Can anyone explain how I can get these angles right?

This also occurs sometimes with concentricity of two circles not coming off the same plane if they're not measured with the same probe angle.

Thanks,
Jim


Running 3.7MR2 with no hope of upgrades as our software license has expired

[Wes Cisco]

active workplane

It is based on your active workplane. Try switching around and you will get the hang of which workplane you need to be in for what you are trying to do. HTH

[James Doolittle]

So simple, yet so effective.

Thanks a million, I honestly didn't really know what the purpose of the workplane was until just now. Good thing to know...

-Jim

[Wes Cisco]

workplanes are tres important

Anytime you are trying to achieve a 2d dimension you need to be in the correct workplane. Otherwise your angle, distance, etc will be crazy. If you are new to CMMs, workplane is an idea you really need to understand. Many elements are 3d, like planes and cylinders, and workplane is not as important with them. But for lines, circles, etc, the wrong workplane will quickly equal a shiny skull.

[John Kingston]

. Many elements are 3d, like planes and cylinders, and workplane is not as important with them. But for lines, circles, etc, the wrong workplane will quickly equal a shiny skull.

Or gray hair.

[James Doolittle]

Ya, I do mostly 3d distances and I guess by default have been working in the correct workplane all this time (~1.5 years and I have other responsibilities in addition to QC) just by setting it to whatever probe articulation I was working with. Now that I think about it, I've had some funky readings when it came to location distances and I went around that by using 3d distances instead of dimension locations. Learn something new everyday.

Thanks guys.

[dfiola66]

Ya, I do mostly 3d distances and I guess by default have been working in the correct workplane all this time (~1.5 years and I have other responsibilities in addition to QC) just by setting it to whatever probe articulation I was working with. Now that I think about it, I've had some funky readings when it came to location distances and I went around that by using 3d distances instead of dimension locations. Learn something new everyday.

Thanks guys.

Yes....we all learn something new every day...thats what makes this board so valuable!

another thanks to all help here!