SBIR Phase I: Development of an interferometer-based Coordinate Measuring Machine

这个小企业创新研究第一阶段项目的更广泛/商业影响是推进高精度，快速，在车间或精密加工零件的机器尺寸测量。这些测量是用坐标测量机（CMM）进行的，代表着40亿美元的市场。该项目将开发一种新的便携式三坐标测量仪，用于受高成本固定式三坐标测量机或低精度便携式三坐标测量机限制的精密机械车间。机器内零件检测将减少一次性或原型车间的浪费。它将通过允许在加工过程中对CNC加工零件的精度进行快速统计抽样，进一步改善大批量作业的CNC加工过程控制。这项新技术将提高机械车间的效率和精度，降低制造零件的成本。该项目的智力优势在于克服了完成新型干涉仪坐标测量机（CMM）工作原型所需的两个主要技术障碍。这些障碍包括开发绝对距离干涉仪测量系统，专门针对新型三坐标测量机进行调整，以及开发其功能所需的定制机械，光学和数据采集/处理系统。与现有的便携式三坐标测量机相比，新型干涉仪三坐标测量机将具有多种固有优势，包括灵敏度、绝对精度（与光的波长直接相关）和长期可靠性。这种新颖的方法解决了三维计量领域的许多挑战。研究任务包括高绝对精度的二极管激光锁频、多种绝对距离干涉测量方法的融合、机械与光学系统的构建与优化、软件与硬件的集成。该奖项反映了美国国家科学基金会的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

The broader/commercial impact of this Small Business Innovation Research Phase I project is to advance high-accuracy, rapid, on‐shop floor or in‐machine dimensional measurements of precision machined parts. These measurements are conducted with Coordinate Measuring Machines (CMM), representing a $4 B market. The proposed project will develop a new portable CMM instrument for precision machine shops, bottlenecked by their high‐cost stationary CMMs or limited by low-accuracy portable CMMs. In‐machine part inspection will reduce waste for one‐off or prototyping shops. It will further improve CNC machining process control of large batch jobs by allowing rapid statistical sampling of the accuracy of CNC-machined parts mid‐process. The new technology will improve efficiency and accuracy in machine shops, lowering the cost of manufactured parts. The intellectual merit of this project is to surmount two primary technical hurdles needed to complete a working prototype of the new interferometer‐based Coordinate Measuring Machine (CMM). These hurdles include the development of an absolute distance interferometer measurement system, tuned specifically for the novel CMM, and the development of the custom mechanical, optical, and data acquisition/processing systems required for its function. The new interferometer‐based CMM will have multiple inherent advantages over existing portable CMMs, including sensitivity, absolute accuracy (tied directly to the wavelength of light) and long‐term reliability. The novel approach addresses many challenges in the 3D metrology domain. Research tasks include diode laser frequency locking with high absolute accuracy, merging of multiple absolute distance interferometry methods, construction and optimization of the mechanical and optical systems, and integration of software and hardware.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.