Moveable articulated arm of three dimensional coordinate measurement machine (CMM) with position transducers connected to a controller via serial clock

摘要

An articulated arm of a three dimensional CMM has encoders (80) functioning as position sensors. The encoders are connected to interfaces (92) which each have unique addresses and include a memory (93) for storing position data. The interfaces are connected to a controller (24) via a serial bus (20) and a capture line (21). In use, a signal on the capture line instructs the interfaces to store position data in the memory. The controller then serially addresses each interface in turn to transfer the stored information to the controller over the serial bus. An Independent claim is also included for the following: The method of transferring data from a number of transducers in a movable arm of a CMM.