The newly announced Maestro CMM was conceived with a digital-first approach.
Hexagon’s Manufacturing Intelligence division has launched Maestro, a next generation coordinate measuring machine (CMM) engineered from the ground up to meet the changing productivity demands of modern manufacturing.
The company says Maestro was designed to be fast, easy to use, connected and scalable. Its digital-first architecture delivers rapid measurement routines, an intuitive user experience and seamless data integration.
With modular software and hardware, it will scale with evolving production needs, making it ideal for aerospace, automotive, and high-precision manufacturing environments where there is a high demand for accuracy to deliver safety, compliance, and performance.
Hexagon developed an all new digital architecture, incorporating digital sensors, a single cable system, and a completely new controller with brand new firmware in an effort to address long standing issues with CMM technology.
“When we started developing this five years ago, we came up with a very crazy idea: let’s pretend nobody ever invented the CMM, and we invented one today, how would we build up a system from ground zero if we were making the first CMM in the world? So, this is how it started,” says Jörg Deller, General Manager Stationary Metrology devices at Hexagon. “And what came out [Maestro] was what we call the “all digital CMM.”
Maestro’s redesigned mechanical structure, single-cable digital platform, and advanced sensors enable fast measurement with sub-micron tolerances that satisfy stringent industry standards. Synchronised axis movements, rapid calibration, and cloud-connected software significantly accelerate set-up, programming, execution, and reporting.
An intuitive user interface, combined with next-generation cloud-native metrology apps powered by Hexagon’s Nexus platform, enable both expert metrologists and less-specialised staff to generate repeatable, standard-compliant measurements without the need for coding.
It was designed with the digitalization trend in mind—an Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) native measuring device that integrates into Hexagon’s Nexus ecosystem to share real-time data across design, production, and quality teams, driving data-driven decision-making and improving overall equipment effectiveness (OEE). Near-line or in-line integration with automation systems is seamless.
With a modular design and a robust roadmap for future upgrades, scalability is ensured. Manufacturers can easily update software, sensors, and additional capabilities over time, ensuring that their investment remains future-proof and continuously supports evolving production needs.
“Manufacturers told us they needed a next-generation system that tackles rising quality demands and skills shortages,” said Deller. “By rethinking our hardware and software from the ground up, rather than iterating on existing systems, we’ve had the freedom to create a high-accuracy inspection solution that is so intuitive that anyone from expert to new hires become significantly more productive.”
Pilot users report dramatic productivity gains and reduced inspection lead times, helping to avoid production bottlenecks and to keep pace with fast-changing customer requirements. Customers have tested various sensors, ranging from high-speed laser scanning to tactile probes, with consistently strong results in both R&D and production applications.
“It has a lot of use cases. We introduced it to some selected beta customers before its release and every customer found their own unique part of it,” says Deller. He mentioned some customer anecdotes, including one user who was amazed by the synchronized movement. They can do five axis moves to get most efficient measurement in place, lock the probe in, then measure fast and move directly out again. Another beta user mentioned the connectivity, specifically the integrated camera to see what’s on the machine, wherever they are in the world.
“So, the big thing about Maestro is there is not one big thing. It’s a system which delivers a lot of value for very different users,” says Deller. “it’s having the right technologies with the right people in mind and taking the time really to understand what is happening.”
Hexagon’s software tools and services such as PC-DMIS and the Metrology Mentor, Metrology Asset Manager, and Metrology Reporting Nexus Apps were developed in tandem with Maestro to create an integrated system that significantly boosts productivity from part loading to analysis, compared to isolated component solutions. The end goal is to deliver ease of use and fast workflows, from programming, execution and usage, to reporting and collaboration with colleagues in design and manufacturing.
Maestro will be offered initially in multiple sizes and configurations, each engineered for automated multi-sensor workflows utilising tactile probes and laser scanning probes from a new “digital rack” that tracks occupancy status, sensor supply health and status that can be accessed on-device and throughout the desktop and cloud-native apps.
