Inspection program editing environment providing user defined collision avoidance volumes with integral modification properties

A system for programming workpiece feature inspection operations for a coordinate measuring machine, the coordinate measuring machine (CMM) including at least one sensor used for determining workpiece feature measurement data, a stage for holding a workpiece wherein at least one of the sensor or the stage are movable relative to one another, and a CMM control portion, the system comprising:

• a computer aided design (CAD) file processing portion which inputs a workpiece CAD file corresponding to a workpiece and analyzes the file to automatically determine inspectable workpiece features on the workpiece corresponding to a plurality of geometric feature types;
• a user interface comprising:
• a workpiece inspection program simulation portion configured to display a 3D view including at least one of workpiece features on the workpiece or inspection operation representations corresponding to inspection operations to be performed on workpiece features according to a current workpiece feature inspection plan;
• and
• one or more auxiliary collision avoidance volume creation elements operable to perform operations that at least one of create or define an auxiliary collision avoidance volume that is displayed as a 3D collision avoidance volume representation in the 3D view;
• and
• an inspection motion path generation portion that automatically generates at least part of an inspection motion path used in an inspection program generated by the system for inspecting the workpiece represented by the input workpiece CAD file, wherein:
• the 3D collision avoidance volume representation has graphical modification properties which are controllable by a user in the user interface, and the modification properties are activated by user selection of a face of the 3D collision avoidance volume representation without explicit activation of a separate modification control element mode or modification control tool;
• the defined auxiliary collision avoidance volume resulting from the operation of the auxiliary collision avoidance volume creation elements and subsequent modifications is operable within the context of the user interface of the system for programming workpiece feature inspection operations, and is not operable to modify physical features of the workpiece represented in the input workpiece CAD file;
• and
• the inspection motion path generation portion automatically generates an inspection motion path configured to avoid the auxiliary collision avoidance volume such that moving parts of the CMM do not enter the auxiliary collision avoidance volume during execution of the inspection program generated by the system for inspecting the workpiece represented by the input workpiece CAD file.