Creaform MetraScan System Issues

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Cinensroom
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Creaform MetraScan System Issues

Post by Cinensroom »

Good Day,

My company recently acquired a Creaform MetraScan system to assist with our die mold surface inspection process. This system is great for our application, however I am having a troublesome issue with cable which runs from the "brain box" to the measuring device itself (which my associates have dubbed the bowling ball). It appears that after a few days of use the connection between the ball and the cable becomes loose resulting in a new cable. It has gotten to the point that we constantly stock 5 cables at the plant just in case.

We have had to send the "ball" itself back 3 times now for service at the connection point.

When we contacted support we were told that although this is a complaint point for some customers, most customers do not end up replacing the cord as often as we do. They attributed it to our frequency of use of the device (14 hours/day).

Has anyone else had an issue with the connection point? Did you find any countermeasure to the issue? My engineers are literally using rubber bands now to create a make shift anchor point to try to hold the cable at a more friendly angle to avoid damaging the connection point.

Many Thanks,
Dave
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3DForensics
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Re: Creaform MetraScan System Issues

Post by 3DForensics »

Hi Dave, sorry I can't help you but it would appear to me that they have a design problem. If the scanner is rated with a life of XXXX number of hours, then you would think the cables should also be worthy of standing up to that kind of use.

I don't know what the connection is like on that unit, but you should think about posting a photo of it here on the forum and you might get a few of the "enginerds" jumping in giving you some design tips. There is also a number of us who have 3D printers and we could likely help with a custom cable protector at the termination point.

Cheers,

Eugene


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Re: Creaform MetraScan System Issues

Post by Daniel_Brown »

Hello Dave,

I am product manager at Creaform for MetraSCAN 3D products. I am sorry to hear that you had some connection issues with your system but at the same time really happy to see how intensively you use your system!

You sure use your system for long periods of time but it shouldn't justify the cable issues you experienced. I am sure that we can find a way to provide a better reliability of connection even with your frequency of use.

I can also say that we released a new generation of MetraSCAN 3D scanners last April and we obviously took this opportunity to improve the shop-floor reliability of all components of the system, including the cables.

Feel free to contact our technical support team or myself directly if you need to.

Thanks,

Dan
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Re: Creaform MetraScan System Issues

Post by 3DForensics »

Hi Dan,

Could you contact me offline as I would like to ask you some questions.

Thanks,

Eugene
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Re: Creaform MetraScan System Issues

Post by scrichard83 »

Cinensroom wrote: Tue Aug 23, 2016 11:38 pm Good Day,

My company recently acquired a Creaform MetraScan system to assist with our die mold surface inspection process. This system is great for our application, however I am having a troublesome issue with cable which runs from the "brain box" to the measuring device itself (which my associates have dubbed the bowling ball). It appears that after a few days of use the connection between the ball and the cable becomes loose resulting in a new cable. It has gotten to the point that we constantly stock 5 cables at the plant just in case.

We have had to send the "ball" itself back 3 times now for service at the connection point.

When we contacted support we were told that although this is a complaint point for some customers, most customers do not end up replacing the cord as often as we do. They attributed it to our frequency of use of the device (14 hours/day).

Has anyone else had an issue with the connection point? Did you find any countermeasure to the issue? My engineers are literally using rubber bands now to create a make shift anchor point to try to hold the cable at a more friendly angle to avoid damaging the connection point.

Many Thanks,
Dave
David,
I am wondering if this issue was ever resolved for you, or is it ongoing? I am sending my machine in due to the same issue (On my 4th cable) but I have my doubts it's really a cable issue. It's hard to reproduce the problem, and it never happens during calibration.
Thanks in advance!

Regards,
Shaun
Cinensroom
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Re: Creaform MetraScan System Issues

Post by Cinensroom »

Hello Shaun,

Despite our best efforts this is an ongoing issue for us. After speaking with the Creaform reps we learned that we are in the 99th percentile for use (24/7 shop). Because of the near constant use the connection point between the cable and the scanner wears out (or the cables wear out if someone steps on it.....). We have to send our unit in for repairs a few times per year.

We did have some luck with cable life by suspending the scanning head from a tool balancer. We also routed our cabling in a way that removed it from the floor and also took the tension off of it. By doing this we cut down on the amount of bad cables by about 50%. The only issue we have now is the connection for the cable to the scanner. Over time (months of repeat use) this connection point wears out and causes errors in the software.

I have one of my engineers working on a bracket to help suspend the cable off the scanning head to try to hold it in position better so this dosent happen. Hoping my 3D printer can help us out on it.

Great system, but with the ammount of data transfer going on the cable is necessary. $100k system thwarted by a $350 cable connection. We keep plugging along with it and just make sure we are checking it on a regular basis so we dont end up with any suprises.

Hope this helps
David
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Re: Creaform MetraScan System Issues

Post by guillaume_bull »

scrichard83 wrote: Mon Feb 11, 2019 3:31 pm
Cinensroom wrote: Tue Aug 23, 2016 11:38 pm Good Day,

My company recently acquired a Creaform MetraScan system to assist with our die mold surface inspection process. This system is great for our application, however I am having a troublesome issue with cable which runs from the "brain box" to the measuring device itself (which my associates have dubbed the bowling ball). It appears that after a few days of use the connection between the ball and the cable becomes loose resulting in a new cable. It has gotten to the point that we constantly stock 5 cables at the plant just in case.

We have had to send the "ball" itself back 3 times now for service at the connection point.

When we contacted support we were told that although this is a complaint point for some customers, most customers do not end up replacing the cord as often as we do. They attributed it to our frequency of use of the device (14 hours/day).

Has anyone else had an issue with the connection point? Did you find any countermeasure to the issue? My engineers are literally using rubber bands now to create a make shift anchor point to try to hold the cable at a more friendly angle to avoid damaging the connection point.

Many Thanks,
Dave
David,
I am wondering if this issue was ever resolved for you, or is it ongoing? I am sending my machine in due to the same issue (On my 4th cable) but I have my doubts it's really a cable issue. It's hard to reproduce the problem, and it never happens during calibration.
Thanks in advance!

Regards,
Shaun
Hi Shaun,

I’m a product manager at Creaform.
I believe our support team already contacted you and fixed the issue.
Hopefully you are satisfied with the solution.
Thank you for your comments. Your feedback is important to us.

Regards,

Guillaume
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Re: Creaform MetraScan System Issues

Post by guillaume_bull »

Cinensroom wrote: Wed Feb 20, 2019 11:02 pm Hello Shaun,

Despite our best efforts this is an ongoing issue for us. After speaking with the Creaform reps we learned that we are in the 99th percentile for use (24/7 shop). Because of the near constant use the connection point between the cable and the scanner wears out (or the cables wear out if someone steps on it.....). We have to send our unit in for repairs a few times per year.

We did have some luck with cable life by suspending the scanning head from a tool balancer. We also routed our cabling in a way that removed it from the floor and also took the tension off of it. By doing this we cut down on the amount of bad cables by about 50%. The only issue we have now is the connection for the cable to the scanner. Over time (months of repeat use) this connection point wears out and causes errors in the software.

I have one of my engineers working on a bracket to help suspend the cable off the scanning head to try to hold it in position better so this dosent happen. Hoping my 3D printer can help us out on it.

Great system, but with the ammount of data transfer going on the cable is necessary. $100k system thwarted by a $350 cable connection. We keep plugging along with it and just make sure we are checking it on a regular basis so we dont end up with any suprises.

Hope this helps
David

Hi David,

My name is Guillaume and I’m a product manager at Creaform.

I’m sorry to hear about your cable issues but be sure that we value your feedback.
Even though you’re among the most “intense” users, it doesn’t justify the cable issues.
Furthermore, it is something we addressed specifically with the MetraSCAN 350 and 750 launched in April 2016. (I believe your system is an older version). The latest version is improved in connection and reliability.

We also recently developed a robotic grade MetraSCAN cable to make sure we can support our most intense users but unfortunately it is not compatible with your version of the scanner. I understand it is not going to solve your specific issue.
Feel free to contact me or our support team and we’ll do the best we can to help you.

Again, thank you for your feedback, it is very valuable to us.

Regards,

Guillaume
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