What's new in Inspire?

Inspire 2024.2 What’s New Hot Fix

- Compute Engine

• If anything is being computed and a change is made triggering that object to recompute, the current compute operation is immediately canceled and restarted. This can make the recalculation significantly faster.

- Mesh Settings

• Refinements to the new mesh engine include new settings so customers can tune for quality and performance

- Instruments

• For Hexagon’s Handheld 3D Scanner – improved robustness for importing cloud, mesh, and geometry data from the HHScan. Data can now be imported from the HHScan either before OR after connecting the instrument in Inspire. Any existing exported files will be imported upon connecting.

Inspire 2024.2 Release

The latest version of Inspire brings many new features and functionality

New Settings Profile System

• More Intuitive Way to Manage Presets
• Switch between read-only factory defaults or a custom profile
• Create Profiles from Current Settings
• Import/Export Profiles to disk to share them across multiple computers
• New “Apply Colorization Settings Profile” action to apply a profile to a colorized object.

New Caliper Tool

Simulates Real World Caliper Measurement

• Calipers measure the distance between two surfaces as a caliper would measure them (with circular pads).
• Direction of each pad is controllable (allows internal, external, and step measurement).
• 3 Types:

1. Straight. Direction defined by first pad. Second pad must be along the axis.
2. Offset. Direction defined by first pad. Second pad can be offset from this axis (but is still parallel to it).
3. Free. Direction is defined by two arbitrary points

• Direction can be constrained by any directional object (line, frame, etc)
• Pad radius is controllable
• Does not require nominals
• Works in cross sections as well

Upgraded Meshing Engine

Isolation Mode

• Isolate selected objects by hiding everything else
  • To Isolate:
    • Right-click selection and choose “Isolate,” or
    • Use Shift+I keyboard shortcut
  • Can do “nested isolation” (Isolating within Isolation mode) by right-clicking the selection in the tree and Isolating while already in Isolation mode
  • Exit Isolation by clicking the button or pressing Shift+I again

Derived Cloud Transformations

• What are “derived“ clouds?
  • Cloud slices in cross sections
  • Clouds created from other clouds
  • Finalized clouds from multiple source instruments
• In older versions:
  • These clouds did not know where they came from
  • Finalizing clouds from multiple source instruments created an “instrument proxy”
• Clouds now know “where they came from” and transform appropriately
• Proxy instruments for finalized clouds are no longer required
  • Inspire prevents moving the source instruments independently of each other

Individual Pattern GD&T Results

• Previous versions showed a single result for pattern GD&T checks

2024.1

• Now, worst result is shown along with individual results for each feature in the pattern

Python Scripting Additions

• GD&T errors/warnings now exposed to scripting
• IN_ExecuteNativePython
  • Allows running Python scripts in an external process to support modules using native libraries, e.g. Tkinter or NumPy
  • Direct transfer of values between Inspire and the Python script is supported
• IN_ConfigureInstrumentConnection
  • Connect by IP address via wired/wireless/USB or simulation (where supported)
• GetColorizers
  • Retrieves IN_Colorizers for IN_Features, IN_Alignment, IN_Comparison, and IN_CrossSection
  • ApplySettingsProfile can be called to apply a settings profile to a colorizer
• IN_CreateQuickDrawing
• IN_CreatePointProjector
• IN_ErrorSet and IN_ErrorItem
  

Other Improvements

• 26 new keyboard shortcuts
• Match Nominal Direction(Lines/Cylinders)
  • Disable if feature used in alignment and solving 180 degrees out
• Improved circular dependency detection
• Detection of infinite/unstable computation scenarios
• GD&T evaluation standard in status bar
• Optional Automatic Tree Grouping
• Support for importing geometry from Hexagon Handheld 3D Scanner
• Actions are now automatically executed after Hexagon Robotic Automation completes a program
• Section headers in reports
• Performance
  • Faster property panel, file load with CAD, cross section recompute
  • Deletion of cloud points from output clouds up to 10x faster
  • Autoscale with many objects up to 60x faster
  • Cloud noise detection up to 30% faster

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 is updated to the new branding to support the Nexus platform.

Major improvements include:

• Move Dimension Leader Lines
• Duplicate Objects in the Tree
• Create Colorized deviation Clouds to 3D Features
• Highlighting Nominal Features during measurement
• Project Comparison errors on Actuals
• Comparisons to STL show positive and negative deviations
• Cardinal Points for slots
• Best Fit Points to Points Alignment: Force point pairs
• GD&T: Projected Tolerance Zones
• Set Project information for the job file
• Set Project Info Action
• Set Measurement Method
• Point Instrument at Feature Centers

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.

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

• 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