CAD and 3D quality

CAD models and measurement data in one view.

The SPC CAD panel renders your part inside a Grafana dashboard and lets you pin measured characteristics to the features they were taken from. Each pin shows the current value, its tolerance and, if you want it, the chart behind that feature.

Read the CAD docs All SPC plugins

SPC CAD is open source, AGPL-3.0

Ø 12.42 mm USL 12.50 / LSL 12.30 In tolerance Watch Out of control

STL · 3MF · PLY

model formats read in the browser

13

metrology feature templates

0

software to install for viewers

AGPL‑3.0

open source licence

Reading results off a characteristic list

Dimensional results usually come back as a list of characteristic IDs with values and tolerances. The list is accurate, and it is hard to read, because an ID does not say where on the part the feature sits. Anyone looking at it has to go and find the drawing first.

Location

If three characteristics drift together, a table gives you the three values but not the pattern. On the model you can see that all three sit along the same edge, which is usually a fixturing or clamping issue.

Readable outside the metrology room

Supervisors and suppliers end up acting on quality data too, and most of them do not read GD&T. A model they can rotate and click is easier to hand over than a report someone has to talk them through.

History behind each feature

An inspection report covers one part. Clicking a balloon opens the control chart for that characteristic across every part measured at the same location.

Interactive balloons carrying charts pinned to features on a CAD model

What a balloon can show

A balloon is a small panel in its own right. It can display the current value, the tolerance, a control chart, a histogram or a table, and it takes its colour from the data.

  • Thirteen templates for common metrology features like point, circle, plane, cylinder and so on
  • Thresholds and conditional styling, so an out-of-tolerance feature changes colour
  • Several metric dimensions on one model, each with its own balloon view
  • Click through from a balloon to the full history of that characteristic

Several parts, one screen

A dashboard can hold more than one model. Mating parts can sit side by side over the same time range, each reading from its own data source, which helps when a fit problem could have come from either side.

  • Multiple models on a single dashboard, each with its own data source
  • Touch gestures for rotate, pan and zoom, so it works on a tablet at the machine
  • Point clouds coloured by deviation, for scan data rather than discrete features
  • Models load from cloud storage, a web URL or your own file server
Several CAD models on one SPC dashboard
A KensoBI dashboard shown in dark and light themes

Runs unattended on a wall screen

This is Grafana's own behaviour, and it applies to any dashboard. One can sit on a screen by the line, cycling through cells, with nobody logged in to keep it going.

  • Kiosk mode hides the menus and chrome
  • Playlists rotate through dashboards on a timer
  • Layouts scale from a phone to a 65-inch panel
  • Dark and light themes, for whatever the lighting on the floor is like

How you get from a model to a dashboard

The model file goes in as it is. There is no conversion pipeline to maintain, and people who only need to look at the results do not need a CAD seat.

Full documentation
  • Export the model as STL, 3MF or PLY

    Every CAD package exports these. Put the file on cloud storage, a web server or Grafana's built-in file manager.

  • Point the panel at your measurement data

    Any Grafana data source works. If your results are in PostgreSQL or MSSQL, the SPC Characteristic data source can push the statistics down into the database.

  • Pin the characteristics to the geometry

    Place a balloon on each feature, pick a template and choose what it shows. Balloon positions are saved with the dashboard.

  • Share the link

    Anyone with access opens the dashboard in a browser and sees the current data.

Where the numbers come from. The CAD panel draws the geometry and the balloons. The control charts, capability indices and run rules behind them come from the other plugins in the suite. See the full plugin catalogue.

Try it with one of your own parts

SPC CAD is open source under AGPL-3.0. Install it into your Grafana, load one of your models and point it at your measurement data.

Get the plugin Contact us