What's new in Inspire?

What’s New in Inspire 2025.2

134 Separate Enhancements & Improvements.

Updated CAD Import Format Support:

Iterative RPS Alignment

• Improved Alignment Results
• Simulate Physical Gage “pin” locations
• Manual or Action
• Settable User Tolerance

GD&T Datum Alignment

GD&T & SPC Scripting Support

This version introduces scripting support for GD&T and SPC.

• Define Datum Features, Add GD&T Checks to feature’s Criteria, and modify existing GD&T Checks
• Add and Delete SPC Samples

Added Actions to Easily Repeat Inspections

• Save Spreadsheet - This operation builds on Spreadsheet report functionality introduced in Inspire 2024.2. It automatically saves a spreadsheet within the actions.
• Export Criteria to CSV - Allows for automated exporting of criteria within the actions. Perfect for working with 3rd party tools
• Export Points to CSV - Similar to criteria export, but for the measurements. Perfect for working with 3rd party tools

Customize HUD Display Size

A new display control is available under the default cloud controls for intensity colourisation.

Tracker Serial Number

The Laser Tracker Serial Number was sometimes not shown under Properties >> Hardware Details. This was due to the S/N being extracted from the TrackerName, which can be changed by the user. There is a separate TrackerSerial, from which this can be, and now is extracted.

HHScan Enhancements - Support for Hole Flash Capture technology

• Updated to support 2025.5 HHScan
• With Hole Flash Capture allows the simultaneous capture of multiple circular hole or slotted features is quickly and easily – Now fully supported in Inspire for Holes and Slots

Additional Changes

Visibility:

• Added the ability to hide/show objects by click-dragging across their eyeball icons in the tree.
• Show All" in the context menu has been renamed to "Show Selected and Children" to better reflect the intent of the command.
• "Show" and "Hide" context menus are now always available regardless of whether selected items are currently shown or hidden.

Performance Improvements

• Increased the speed of cloud noise deletion.
• Performance improvements for face filtering.

ISO 16610-71 Areal Surface Filtering

• Updated Surface Filtering logic improves performance.
• Point thinning enabled to further increase performance.
• Surface filter is now concealable from both the command window as well as the compute cancellation button at the bottom left of the status bar.

Actions:

• During playback, "Next" and "Previous" functions will no longer have an effect during "Run Program", "Run Script", and "Prompt for Datafield" actions.
• Improved support for stopping playback.
• 'Set Instrument Probe or Reflector' action filters selectable targets upon connection.
• Upon connection, users receive toast for any action that has invalid targets selected.

Spreadsheet

• Added context menu for creating 'save spreadsheet' play action.
• Drag and drop of a xlsx file into the graphics area imports that file into new spreadsheet.

Python Scripting

• IN_PromptForUserSelection, if active in a running script, will be cancelled if running script is cancelled.
• Add SPC support with IN_AddSPCSample, IN_DeleteSPCSamples and IN_SPCSample data wrapper.
• Redo of Run Script play action no longer hangs the play action or the application.
• Added Criteria ID to IN_CriteriaDetail.
• Added IN_AddDatumAlignment, which creates a Datum Alignment.

Inspire 2025.1 What’s New Hotfix

Improvements

•  Slightly improved the precision of least squares circle fit orientations.
• Updated language translations.

Fixes

• When adding guide points for a Mesh to CAD alignment, the graphical markers on the mesh wouldn't update their position during the temporary "bucking" alignment. This has been fixed.
• For SPC, fixed an issue where changes to visibility in 'Control' would not be synchronized properly to samples.
• Fixed an issue with the quality of colorized meshes created from a comparison.
• When projecting points to CAD, when the points were farther away from the CAD, the projection time increased significantly. This has been fixed.
• Fixed an issue when duplicating some spreadsheets.
• Fixed an issue with renaming that would cause errors and crashing under certain conditions.
• Fixed an issue which prevented some report items from renaming when the object they report was renamed
• Center-to-center and center-to-axis vector groups for measured features were not recomputing if an alignment merely caused the features to transform. This has been fixed.
• Python Scripting
• Fixed an issue which could incorrectly show an error message about units mismatch when running a script from an action
• Fixed an issue where the Run Script action could cause subsequent actions to freeze
• Temporarily disabled automatic sweep cancellation. If you would like to make a change to a setting that incurs long-running recomputation, manually cancel the existing computation, then change the setting. Automatic sweep cancellation is expected to return in the next release.
  
  

Inspire 2025.1

The latest version of Inspire brings many new features and functions

RPS Alignment Improvements

In previous versions, errors in measuring a surface point on inclined surfaces would introduce errors in the RPS alignment, pulling the alignment away from the ideal position.
These errors are now automatically compensated, removing this influence from the fit. No user intervention is required.
Compensation is performed by comparing to a point along the nominal point’s surface plane, not to the nominal point itself.

Dynamic Excel Fields

• Open any XLSX-formatted Excel Spreadsheet for use as a template
• Drag/drop fields into a cell to dynamically extract live data
• Fields automatically update
• Use equations/conditional fields for complex behaviour
• Export spreadsheet from within Inspire
• Spreadsheet saves inside SAI file
• Useful for AS-9102 FAI or any other Excel
  
  

Improved Measured Geometry Support

• Measured geometry (e.g. from the Hexagon Handheld 3D Scanner) now imports into feature input buckets
• New construction method, “Measured Geometry”, is used, which simply duplicates the input geometry to make the feature’s actual
• This enables setting nominals on these features and using measured geometry in alignments
• Measured geometry can also be set as the nominal for a feature if desired
• Note: Properties of measured geometries (e.g. radius) cannot be edited

Dynamic Perimeters

• Can be created from any number of point-reducible objects (points, circles, etc.), CAD faces, or other perimeters
• Recompute automatically when necessary
• Can be Open or Closed
• Can be Additive or Subtractive to support Boolean operations (combinations/cutouts)

CAD Edge Curves

• Curves can now be extracted from CAD using “Extract from CAD”
• Resulting curves are projectable: can be used in comparisons
• Those comparisons can be used in relationship alignments

Line/Curve Offset Handling

• Lines and Curves now have an “Offset Handling” option
• Allows you to decide whether to ignore offsets or compensate using planar offsets when projecting to a line or curve

Theme Specific Colours

• Custom Colours are now Theme-Specific (for more visual contrast)
• Simply define custom colours with a given theme active
• Drawings will now always use the light theme colours to ensure proper contrast on a light (printed) background
• Object colours can always be overridden explicitly

Areal Surface Filtering

• Surface features now support ISO-16610 Surface Filtering
• More rigorous outlier rejection (see spec for details)

• Extract features from multiple CAD faces and partial surfaces
• New display options for dimensions and the graphic window
• Added a new feature intersector operation

What’s New in Inspire 2024.1

Real-time Meshing

• When enabled, a real-time mesh will be automatically created when scanning
• Can be enabled or disabled for individual cloud features in their properties

Statistical Process Control

• Basic SPC Capabilities/Improved Connection to Nexus Metrology Reporting
• Added support for statistical reporting across multiple samples

Simulated Measurement

• Generate data without measuring
• Simulate scanning or probing measurements on CAD models, faces, or features

Vector Group Improvements

• Improved visual control
• Vector groups can now be assigned a visual length and/or position offset to help improve the positioning or visibility of vectors

And much more!

What’s New in Inspire 2024.1

Real-time Meshing

• When enabled, a real-time mesh will be automatically created when scanning
• Can be enabled or disabled for individual cloud features in their properties

Statistical Process Control

• Basic SPC Capabilities/Improved Connection to Nexus Metrology Reporting
• Added support for statistical reporting across multiple samples

Simulated Measurement

• Generate data without measuring
• Simulate scanning or probing measurements on CAD models, faces, or features

Vector Group Improvements

• Improved visual control
• Vector groups can now be assigned a visual length and/or position offset to help improve the positioning or visibility of vectors

And much more!

What’s New in Inspire 2024.1

Real-time Meshing

• When enabled, a real-time mesh will be automatically created when scanning
• Can be enabled or disabled for individual cloud features in their properties

Statistical Process Control

• Basic SPC Capabilities/Improved Connection to Nexus Metrology Reporting
• Added support for statistical reporting across multiple samples

Projection Normal Matching

• Projection support for thin parts
• Previously, points always projected to closest face
• With projection normal matching, cloud directions determine which face is used for projection

Simulated Measurement

• Generate data without measuring
• Simulate scanning or probing measurements on CAD models, faces, or features

Vector Group Improvements

• Improved visual control
• Vector groups can now be assigned a visual length and/or position offset to help improve the positioning or visibility of vectors

And much more!

Inspire brings many new features to 2023.3, including:

• Inspire 2023.3 is now NIST certified
  • Inspire 2023.3 geometry fitting is now certified by NIST in accordance with ASME B89.4.10-2000 and NISTIR 5686.
  • See https://hexagon.com/company/divisions/manufacturing-intelligence/software-certificates
• Faster Multi-Hole Extraction from CAD
  • Extract Multiple CAD Features has been renamed to Extract Holes from CAD and moved to the Features tab.
    • Now you can select which faces on the CAD model to extract from:  
      
    • Choose an existing hole to define the size, or use the (traditional) advanced dialog:
• Cylinder Fit – Exhaustive Search
  • Added Use Exhaustive Search option for cylinder fits.

  

• Outlier Rejection
  • Options for Auto/On/Off
  • Auto: On for clouds, off for probed points
    
• Face-specific Comparisons
  • When creating a comparison, pick individual CAD faces to only compare to those faces. Or pick the entire CAD model from the tree.
    
    

Inspire brings many new features to 2023.2, including:

• Enhanced feature extraction – there are now more ways to analyze your feature extraction parameters and inputs
  • Extraction cloud – the generalized region of cloud data being sampled
  • Ringband cloud – the focused area that is set with the offset and bandwidth values in the extraction parameters
  • BestFitPoints cloud – the resulting points being used for the geometry fit
  
  
  

• Custom color bars – you can now customize the colour segments in a colorbar

• 6 degrees of freedom control for alignments – you can now control all six degrees of freedom in a Best-Fit Points to Points alignment

Inspire 2022.2 brings numerous memory, performance, and functionality improvements.

To improve performance, the way you scan and store cloud data is completely rewritten.

Expect increased speeds for scanning and processes with point clouds by parallelizing operations, making algorithms more efficient and avoiding unnecessary copy of data under the hood.

In production, this means you can scan a part with 5 – 7 scan passes in about 15 seconds. Where it used to take about a minute to process the data into a full scan, it now takes 20 seconds.

Many operations are two to three times faster, including Alignments and Feature extractions.

Some operations are up to 10x faster, including scanning large files, and selecting and deleting large sections of cloud data. Deleting sections of a point used to take twenty seconds, now take only two.

Major improvements include:

• To improve performance, the way you scan and store cloud data is completely rewritten
• Improved speeds for scanning and operations with point clouds by parallelizing operations, making algorithms more efficient and avoiding unnecessary copy of data under the hood.
• Many operations are 2 – 3 times faster, including Alignments and Feature extractions
• Some operations are up to 10 times faster, including scanning large files, selecting and deleting large sections of cloud data

• New functionality enabling a password security upgrade. Password protect job files and lock features.
• Comparison enhancements – add a comparison that reverses the direction / magnitude of deviations, and a comparison to save colorization settings and changing the default colorization selection.
• New features including the addition of a construction method for calculating a diameter and location where two cones intersect, updates to analysis tools, offsetting along a normal, instrument jumping, cloud to cloud alignments, added GD&T support for ASME and ISO, and more, all designed to continue making Inspire more robust and easier to use.

• Create features and dimensions from individual cross sections
• Enhanced feature callout visualizations and value display logic
• Added functionality to the ATS600 interface and updated camera views