Here are some exciting features of VGSTUDIO MAX 2025.2 for enhancing your Non-Destructive Testing

• Absolute Arm and AS1 integration : This integration enables tactile measurement of features, point cloud scanning, and surface mesh reconstruction, all within a unified scan object. This scan object supports the full suite of metrology and reverse engineering functions, allowing measurement, evaluation, and automation strategies to be applied consistently, just as with CT data.
• Project-wide overview of features and geometry elements : The new coordinate measurement overview dialog empowers users to efficiently analyze measurements and geometric tolerances across multiple scans, transforming the way users manage multipart projects with numerous coordinate measurement (CM) elements.
• And a lot more…

 

What’s New in VGSTUDIO MAX 2025.2

 

[New] Integration with Hexagon’s Absolute Arm and AS1 scanners

Key Features and Functions

• Integration of Tactile Measurement and Optical Scanning Touch probing with the Absolute Arm (tactile dimensional measurement) and high-speed laser scanning with the AS1 scanner (non-contact point cloud acquisition) can be processed within a single “scan object” which makes VGSTUDIO MAX not only for Non-Destructive Testing (NDT) but also for 3D scanning.
• Unified Scan Object This integration allows different acquisition techniques, such as CT data, touch measurement, laser scanning, and even roughness data from GelSight scans, to be handled as a unified scan object.
• Unified Metrology/Reverse Engineering Functions Scan objects, like CT data, support a wide range of analysis, evaluation, and automation functions, including coordinate measurement, actual measurement vs. tolerance comparison, and reverse engineering.
• Parallel processing of different analysis methods on a single platform
  CT data: Detection of internal defects, which is an important analysis in Non-Destructive Testing (NDT)
  Absolute Arm: Measurement of positional deviation and dimensional accuracy
  AS1 scanner: Evaluation of surface shape accuracy
  GelSight scan: Surface roughness analysis (integrated with GelSight Mobile software)
  → All analysis can be performed in an integrated manner on VGSTUDIO MAX, eliminating the need for multiple software programs.
• Simplifying workflows and improving processing accuracy
  Standardizing software operation procedures (no need to switch between multiple tools)
  Ensuring consistency in evaluations across data sources
  Improved analysis accuracy and reduced operational costs

Example usage scenarios

• Manufacturing/quality assurance Comprehensive evaluation of small parts for internal defects (CT), dimensional deviations (Absolute Arm), and surface irregularities (AS1) can be performed, and a final quality report can be generated in a single software program.
• Reverse engineering Comprehensive CAD models can be created by capturing the internal structure of existing parts using a CT data through the Non-Destructive Testing and the external shape using AS1, along with surface roughness data obtained using GelSight.
• Deployment to Automated Lines Inspection workflows that combine multiple scanning methods can be automated using macros and templates, enabling reproducible high-volume part inspection.

Summary

The “Absolute Arm + AS1 Integration” feature added to VGSTUDIO MAX version 2025.2 combines tactile, laser, CT in Non-Destructive Testing (NDT), and roughness scans, which were previously handled separately, into a single scan object, enabling an integrated non-destructive evaluation workflow. This streamlines analysis work, standardizes accuracy, and reduces operational costs and software management complexity.

 

VGSTUDIO MAX Add-on Modules

VGSTUDIO MAX allows customers to choose from a variety of add-on modules for material analysis, geometry analysis, simulation and CT reconstruction according to the analysis needs.

Geometry Analysis

This category of modules specializes in high-precision measurement, comparison, and inspection to verify that products meet design specifications. Ensure quality at every stage of the manufacturing process and reduce rework.

• Coordinate Measurement: Directly measure and evaluate dimensions and Geometric Dimensioning and Tolerancing (GD&T) from CT data. This module provides a comprehensive suite of metrology tools that work on the native voxel data, enabling highly accurate measurements without the need for surface determination or triangulation, making it a powerful solution for quality control.
• Nominal/Actual Comparison: Three-dimensionally compare CAD data with CT scan data and visualize geometric deviations with intuitive color maps. This is essential for first article inspection, tool validation, and identifying manufacturing trends. The module allows for a full-field comparison, highlighting any warpage, shrinkage, or other geometric discrepancies across the entire part.
• Wall Thickness Analysis: Non-destructively analyze the wall thickness of an entire part and identify areas that deviate from the design. Using a sphere-based method, it accurately measures thickness even in complex geometries like castings or injection-molded parts. This helps ensure structural integrity and prevent potential failure points caused by walls that are too thin or too thick.
• Manufacturing Geometry Correction: Corrects tooling, mold data, or 3D printing models based on the deviation analysis between a first-off part and the nominal CAD data. It automatically compensates for predictable manufacturing effects like warpage and shrinkage, enabling the production of dimensionally accurate parts much faster and with fewer iteration loops.
• CAD Import: Directly import native data from major CAD systems like CATIA, Creo, NX, and SOLIDWORKS, as well as standard formats. This ensures that all geometric information and product structure data are transferred without translation errors, providing a solid foundation for comparison and measurement tasks. It streamlines the workflow by eliminating cumbersome data conversion steps.
• PMI Extension for CAD Import: Read Product and Manufacturing Information (PMI) directly from CAD data to assist in automating measurement plans. This includes GD&T, annotations, and dimensional tolerances embedded in the 3D model. By using this information, inspection plans can be created much more efficiently, reducing manual input and ensuring that inspections are performed exactly as specified by the design engineer.
• Reverse Engineering: Recreate CAD models from CT data by extracting high-precision surface determined data through VGSTUDIO MAX. This module provides a comprehensive toolset for generating NURBS surfaces from the voxel or mesh data, which can then be exported in standard CAD formats like STEP or IGES. It is ideal for creating CAD models of legacy parts, competitors’ products, or for as-built design modifications.

Material Analysis

Analyze the internal structure of materials at a micro-level to clarify their properties. This enables a deeper understanding of product performance and reliability, leading to material development and quality improvement.

• Porosity/Inclusion Analysis: Detect and analyze internal defects such as porosity, voids, or inclusions, and evaluate them based on industry standards (e.g., BDG P 203). The module provides detailed statistics on defect size, shape, and location, which is critical for assessing the quality of castings and ensuring the reliability of safety-critical components in automotive and aerospace applications.
• Fiber Composite Material Analysis: Analyze the orientation, volume fraction, and other key properties of fibers in composite materials such as fiber-reinforced plastics (FRP). Understanding the local fiber orientation is crucial for accurately predicting the mechanical behavior and performance of composite parts. This module provides the detailed data needed for advanced structural simulations.
• Foam/Powder Analysis: Quantitatively evaluate the cell or particle structures of materials like metal foams, porous materials, and powder sinters. It calculates statistics on cell sizes, wall thicknesses, and strut orientations. This information is vital for understanding the mechanical, thermal, and acoustic properties of these complex materials, enabling better design and process control.
• Battery Analysis: Analyze the detailed internal structure of battery cells to evaluate quality and safety. This module provides specialized tools for measuring critical parameters like anode overhang, electrode curvature, and particle distribution. It helps detect manufacturing defects such as delamination or foreign particles, which is essential for improving battery performance and preventing failures.
• Digital Volume Correlation Compare CT data of a part before and after deformation (e.g., from an in-situ load test) to visualize and quantify internal strain and displacement fields. This powerful technique provides a full 3D view of how a material behaves under stress, revealing local strain concentrations and deformation mechanisms that cannot be observed with external measurement methods.

Simulation

Provides functionality for simulating physical phenomena and correcting data to solve manufacturing issues, significantly contributing to the reduction of prototype iterations and shortening development time.

• Structural Mechanics Simulation: Perform stress and strain simulations directly on the voxel data from a CT scan. This approach uses the actual manufactured geometry, including any internal defects like pores, providing a highly realistic prediction of how a part will behave under load. It eliminates the need for mesh generation and allows for more accurate performance validation than simulations based on idealized CAD models.
• Transport Phenomena Simulation: Simulate flow, diffusion, and thermal or electrical conductivity in porous or multi-material components. By working directly on the scanned microstructure, this module can accurately calculate properties like permeability, tortuousity, and effective conductivity. This is invaluable for designing filters, heat exchangers, or fuel cell components.
• Fixture Simulation: Simulate the deformation of a part when it is clamped in a fixture. This allows for the virtual alignment of a free-state scan to its clamped condition, improving the accuracy of metrological comparisons between the scan and the CAD model. It helps to differentiate between manufacturing deviations and deformations caused by the measurement setup.
• Volume Meshing: Create high-quality tetrahedral volume meshes from your CT scans for use in external FEM software. The advanced meshing algorithms can create meshes from complex, subvoxel-accurate surfaces of your scanned object, including internal structures. This bridges the gap between CT data and third-party simulation workflows like FEA or CFD.

CT Reconstruction

Provides specialized modules for generating high-quality 3D volume data from the 2D projection images acquired by a CT scanner, forming the foundation for all subsequent analyses.

• CT Reconstruction: Reconstruct high-quality 3D volume data sets from the 2D projection images generated by a CT scanner. This module offers advanced algorithms for artifact reduction, such as beam hardening correction and ring artifact removal, resulting in clearer and more accurate data for subsequent analysis. It provides the flexibility to optimize reconstruction parameters for the best possible image quality.

Artificial Intelligence

Provides specialized modules that leverage AI and deep learning to automate complex and time-consuming tasks, such as the segmentation of intricate structures.

• Deep Segmentation: Efficiently perform segmentation of complex materials and structures using AI (deep learning). Users can train a neural network on a small, manually segmented region to automate the segmentation of the entire dataset. This is particularly powerful for multi-material assemblies, fiber composites, or porous materials where traditional thresholding methods fail.
• GelSight Integration: Import and analyze high-resolution surface topography and texture data acquired with GelSight sensors. This module allows for the combination of internal 3D structure from a CT scan with highly detailed surface information. This integrated approach enables a comprehensive analysis of both surface features, such as roughness or micro-defects, and internal characteristics in a single coordinate system.

VGSTUDIO MAX add-on module can be installed as a pre-configured package together with Basic Edition according to the application field. Alternatively, customers can purchase the add-on module individually or as a bundle later after having VGSTUDIO MAX Basic Edition license.

Feature Comparison by Software Editions

Even the basic edition of VGSTUDIO MAX without add-on modules, it’s clearly different from VGSTUDIO. VGSTUDIO MAX is a more comprehensive, high-performance, advanced version that expands the functionality of VGSTUDIO.

VGTRAINER

VGTRAINER is model training software that utilizes AI (deep learning) and specializes in the segmentation of industrial CT data. For example, the aforementioned AI-based add-on module, “Deep Segmentation,” is realized by integrating VGTRAINER with VGSTUDIO MAX (or VGinLINE).

Key Features and Functions

• No-Code AI Model Generation: AI models can be created using labeled training data, even without programming or AI expertise. Users simply upload trained CT data, and the AI ​​automatically builds a segmentation model.
• On-Premises Support and Secure: Data security is ensured with a completely on-premise system, with no cloud dependency.
• Fast and Stable Segmentation for High-Throughput Environments: High-speed, highly reproducible segmentation is achieved, even for hundreds of CT data sets.
• Seamless Integration with VG Software: Trained models can be directly applied to the Deep Segmentation module in VGSTUDIO MAX or VGinLINE, enabling easy deployment to production lines and R&D environments.
• Retraining (Fine-Tuning): Existing deep learning models can be fine-tuned for similar new inspection tasks using a small number of CT data sets (e.g., 2-3). This is particularly useful when fine-tuning multiple production lines or equipment.

 

Free Viewer myVGL 2025.2

Customers can freely download a viewer software, myVGL 2025.2 to open the 3D project data which was created by VGSTUDIO or VGSTUDIO MAX. Not only rotating or moving the CT scan model to evaluate at any angle or cross section but some simple measurement tools are available in the software. Please refer to our other article for knowing how to use myVGL.>>Learning myVGL Basics within 10 minutes

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