SBIR Phase I: Integrating Electrical Discharge Non-Contact Measurement into Manufacturing Platforms for Precision On-Board Metrology

这个小型企业创新研究第一阶段项目将开发一种皮焦耳能级的车载微放电电路，用于制造平台作为自动化微计量系统。这将是一种非接触、非破坏性的测量过程，并具有用于小孔和去毛刺过程的传统电火花加工能力。微小零件加工中最大的障碍之一就是检验。传统上，零件从加工平台上移走，并由专用计量平台测量。当关键尺寸超出公差时，零件被替换到加工平台内进行额外的工作。然而，由于尺寸和公差被缩小到微米或更小，一旦拆卸，这些零件就不可能重新定位。然后这些部件被报废，工艺被修改，然后在原来的位置制造一个新的部件，这需要花费时间、材料浪费和金钱。这一障碍将通过开发一种优雅而有效的现场计量过程来消除。此外，通过利用微细电火花加工电路的能力，传感器可以现场制造，成本很低，可以测量任何已加工的形状。有了这项技术，在平台上加工的任何东西都可以在平台上测量和重新加工，而不会损失位置精度。该项目更广泛的影响/商业潜力是具有微型特征的微型化产品的先进性和可靠性。这些产品是医疗、汽车和航空航天行业的一个快速扩张的部门。例如，微创医疗产品市场由微米计量支持，预计到2011年将成为一个价值190亿美元的行业。这些行业是由继续塑造它的微型制造商提供的。随着这一市场的快速增长，更多的常规机床供应商也在将设备引入微制造市场。然而，在所有这些制造商中，微细电火花加工供应商凭借其非接触式、高纵横比和高精度能力，具有独特的优势，能够为微型零部件开发优雅的非接触式板载测量解决方案。微制造公司与客户在从医疗器械到消费品和政府/国防等领域建立了不可或缺的关系，实现了他们的原型和生产需求。这些关系将意味着对消费产品的直接影响，因为有效的微计量和微制造工具的整合将迅速投入使用。将这项技术安装在传统的数控系统上也将对宏观加工行业产生巨大影响，因为它还将改善工艺资格，增加生产能力，并减少操作员的时间和材料浪费。

This Small business Innovation Research Phase I project will develop an on-board micro-electrical discharge circuit, at pico-Joule energy levels, for manufacturing platforms to act as automated micro-metrology system. This will be a non-contact, non-destructive metrology process as well as have traditional EDM capabilities for small holes and de-burring processes. One of the greatest obstacles in machining micro-parts is inspection. Conventionally, a part is removed from the machining platform and measured by a dedicated metrology platform. When a critical dimension is out of tolerance, the part is replaced within the machining platform for additional work. However, as dimensions and tolerances are reduced to microns and smaller, it is impossible for these parts to be re-positioned, once removed. These parts are then scrapped, the process is modified, and a new part is manufactured in its place, costing time, material waste, and money. This obstacle will be removed by this development of an elegant and effective in situ metrology process. Additionally, by using the abilities of the micro-EDM circuit, sensors can be manufactured on-site, at little cost, to measure any machined forms. With this technology, anything machined on the platform can be measured and re-machined on the platform without losing positional accuracies.The broader impact/commercial potential of this project is the advancement and increased reliability of miniaturized products with micro-sized features. These products are a rapidly expanding sector of the medical, automotive, and aerospace industries. As an example, the minimally invasive medical products market, supported by micro-metrology, is predicted to be a $19 Billion industry by 2011. These industries are supplied by the micro-manufacturers that continue to shape it. As this market shows rapid growth, more conventional machine suppliers are also introducing equipment into the micro-manufacturing market. However, of all these manufacturers, micro-EDM suppliers, with their non-contact, high aspect ratio, and high precision capabilities, are uniquely situated to develop an elegant non-contact on-board metrology solution for micro-parts. Micro-manufacturing companies have formed integral relationships with customers in areas ranging from medical devices to consumer products and government/defense, realizing their prototyping and production needs. These relationships will mean an immediate impact on consumer products as the integration of effective micro-metrology and micro-manufacturing tools will be rapidly put to use. Mounting this technology on conventional CNC systems will also have a great impact on the macro-machining industry, as it will also improve process qualification, increase throughput, and reduce operator time and material waste.