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Ballbar 20 software

Powerful and easy to use software which supports 220° partial arc testing (QC20 only, with optional hardware) and volumetric diagnostics.

Enhanced software to give greater flexibility for testing and reporting.

Ballbar 20 software has been developed for use with the QC20 ballbar but is also compatible with existing QC10 ballbars, it can even use existing Ballbar 5 test files and templates. This means that you can use a single software programme even if you use both QC10 and QC20 ballbars.

Key benefits

  • Ballbar 20 test on monitorVolumetric diagnostics - Allows you to select 3 test files from orthogonal planes (subject to matching criteria) and display on a single page. A new analysis finds overall max & min circularity values to give 'sphericity' and also shows individual test circularity results. (Note: volumetric analysis will only work with test data files collected using Ballbar 20 software).
  • Latest standards - Diagnosis available to ISO 230-4:2005 and ANSI/ASME B5.54-2008 whilst retaining the option to analyse to previous issues of these standards.
  • Export and import machine folders and files - Allows service engineers to easily update and share data located on a central/shared directory.
  • 'Clone' machines function - Makes it easier to create multiple similar machines by selecting an existing machine and then 'cloning' and editing.
  • Repeat/multiple tests (in advanced mode only) - Allows a user selected number of sequential tests to be performed, with automatic data file saving (and file reference name incrementing).

Key features

Comprehensive test and reporting

Ballbar 20 enables you to set up and run ballbar tests, either as a 'one off' or using a customer defined test template. Captured data can be displayed as analysis reports in a variety of international standards, e.g. ISO 230-4, ANSI B5.54, etc., as well as a comprehensive Renishaw analysis format.

In addition to the graphical trace display, Ballbar 20 software ranks each diagnosed error according to its impact on overall machine accuracy which is clearly stated along with a value for positional tolerance.

Machine performance history

Using a customer defined test template to allow 'like for like', you can now clearly see how many of the machine performance characteristics measured by the ballbar (e.g. ISO 230-4 circular and radial deviations, positional tolerance, squareness, backlash etc) have varied over a period of time. In short, it compiles a complete ballbar 'medical record' for the machine!

The plots make trends clearly visible, allowing maintenance requirements to be scheduled in advance, whilst plot discontinuities help fault diagnosis after a machine crash.

Warning and failure tolerances can also be set on any of the machine's characteristics measured by the QC20 ballbar. Once set, these tolerances are displayed on the history graphs and can be used to instantly check the results of every ballbar test as it is carried out.

'Part program generator'

This enables you to quickly and automatically generate ballbar test CNC part programs. Just set up the test and then select a machine controller type (several defaults supplied with the software but these can be added to and customised). With a single click you can then generate a programme for further editing if required and downloading for transfer to the CNC. Generated programmes can be stored in the software for future use.

Ballbar plot simulator

Predicts the effect of maintenance and adjustment on a machine's performance.

Allows the user to see the test results recreated on screen, and then has the facility to change various machine geometry, play and dynamic parameters, to try 'what if' scenarios on the ballbar plot and on circularity and positional tolerance values. As this is done on a separate simulator, there is no chance of corrupting the original test data.

Multilingual support

Ballbar 20 software includes the following supported languages: English, Czech, French, German, Italian, Portuguese, Russian, Spanish, Japanese, Korean, Chinese, Polish, Turkish, Swedish and Hungarian.

Note that Ballbar 20 allows alternative language report generation, independent of the software operating language, ideal if you need to supply test reports to overseas customers.

Selectable user modes

Ballbar 20 is simple to use, but with 3 different operation modes you can restrict the options available to suit your needs and the level of operator skills and authorisation.

  • Quick Check - Use for one-off testing of machines with different set-ups.
  • Operator - Use for regular comparative testing of a machine's condition. Pre-defined test templates speed up the machine check and ensure consistency of set-up.
  • Advanced - Full access to set-up, edit and organise machine data

Image gallery

PC requirements

Operating system Windows 10 64-bit (version 1803 or greater) and Windows 11 64-bit
Hard disk space Minimum 2 GB available
Available RAM Minimum 2 GB available
Screen resolution Minimum 1024 x 768 or above
PDF viewer
.NET Framework 4.8
Visual C++ runtimes for 2019