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This paper presents an overview of the literature on tangential composite and radial composite gear inspection. It demonstrates -by dealing with their origins and key milestones in their history and development -the important role that inspections play in terms of the functional nature of the gears concerned. This comprehensive consideration of the subject also attempts to demonstrate how the lack of clear guidelines and standards designed to unify the criteria applied to testing, the interpretation of results and calibration of equipment, along with the number of simultaneous variables involved in trials of this type, leads to doubts (including with respect to the actual standards concerned) as to whether these tests are valid, or instead accepted only has partial validations. Even so, the repeatability of the experimental data demonstrates not only their metrological potential, with respect to functionality, but also the fact that they are both effective and original.

This paper presents a new verification procedure for articulated arm coordinate measuring machines (AACMMs) together with a capacitive sensor-based indexed metrology platform (IMP) based on the generation of virtual reference distances. The novelty of this procedure lays on the possibility of creating virtual points, virtual gauges and virtual distances through the indexed metrology platform’s mathematical model taking as a reference the measurements of a ball bar gauge located in a fixed position of the instrument’s working volume. The measurements are carried out with the AACMM assembled on the IMP from the six rotating positions of the platform. In this way, an unlimited number and types of reference distances could be created without the need of using a physical gauge, therefore optimizing the testing time, the number of gauge positions and the space needed in the calibration and verification procedures. Four evaluation methods are presented to assess the volumetric performance of the AACMM. The results obtained proved the suitability of the virtual distances methodology as an alternative procedure for verification of AACMMs using the indexed metrology platform.

Screw axis measurement methods obtain a precise identification of the physical reality of the industrial robots' geometry. However, these methods are in a clear disadvantage compared to mathematical optimisation processes for kinematical parameters. That's because mathematical processes obtain kinematical parameters which best reduce the robot errors, despite not necessarily representing the real geometry of the robot. This paper takes the next step at the identification of a robot's movement from the identification of its real kinematical parameters for the later study of every articulation's rotation. We then obtain a combination of real kinematic and dynamic parameters which describe the robot's movement, improving its precision with a physical understanding of the errors.

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Investment in the productive systems of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in the manufacturing sector is usually quite limited. For this reason, normal practice is to apply minor developments internally, or upgrade equipment as it becomes obsolete to increase their productive capacity and competitiveness at lower cost. However, the work team, mostly made up of engineers, does not usually have experience in the use of design methodologies but also they are often familiar with the functioning of various design and quality-management tools. This paper presents a clear and simple design methodology that facilitates the development of adaptations to items of equipment that might be considered one-off products. It includes a selection of design tools that are, according to literature on the subject, the most common and best-known among engineers, and which are also best-suited to the environment of an SME. The design methodology was validated experimentally with the upgrading of a gear-rolling tester installed on the premises of an SME in the sector. The recommended techniques and tools were satisfactory applied opening the possibilities for further application of the methodology in similar machine's upgrades in the future.

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