Automation for mass production of high performance optics

高性能光学器件大规模生产的自动化

• 批准号: 101541
• 金额: $ 45.74万
• 依托单位: LOXHAM PRECISION LIMITED
• 依托单位国家: 英国
• 项目类别: Collaborative R&D
• 财政年份: 2013
• 资助国家: 英国
• 起止时间: 2013 至 无数据
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://gtr.ukri.org/projects?ref=101541
• 关键词: Automation; mass; production; performance; optics

This project will devise and verify new automated manufacturing technologies that will enable effective mass production of high-end (high performance) optics. The project will realise new UK-designed and built automated manufacturing technologies appropriate for defence and commerial sector optics. Today, leading companies producing high-end optics employ very precise machines which are manually loaded/unloaded and have separate post-production inspection requiring manual operation. This project will develop and verify new automation methods that are functional for delicate optical workpieces and integrate a new in-situ measurement technique that can improve production rate and yield. The project will advance research outputs of a previous research council funded project (which created a highly novel compact machine concept) and apply to that concept new automation techniques for loading/unloading and in-situ measurement appropriate for both infrared and visible optics. This type of automation has previously not been applied. Today, demand for reduced size optics is common, and production batch sizes are increasing. These two factors raise the importance of automation. Significantly, the load/unload times are becoming a greater % of overall cycle times in optics production. The project partners include the UK's leading optical systems manufacturer and a spin-out company from the UK's leading Precision Engineering research institute.

该项目将设计并验证新的自动化制造技术，从而实现高端（高性能）光学器件的有效批量生产。该项目将实现英国设计和建造的适用于国防和商业部门光学的新自动化制造技术。如今，生产高端光学器件的领先公司采用非常精密的机器，这些机器是手动装载/卸载的，并且需要手动操作进行单独的生产后检查。该项目将开发和验证适用于精密光学工件的新自动化方法，并集成可提高生产率和产量的新原位测量技术。该项目将推进先前研究委员会资助的项目（该项目创建了一种高度新颖的紧凑型机器概念）的研究成果，并将适用于红外和可见光学的新的装载/卸载和现场测量自动化技术应用于该概念。这种类型的自动化以前没有被应用过。如今，对缩小光学器件尺寸的需求很普遍，并且生产批量规模也在不断增加。这两个因素提高了自动化的重要性。值得注意的是，装载/卸载时间在光学器件生产中占总周期时间的比例越来越大。该项目的合作伙伴包括英国领先的光学系统制造商和英国领先的精密工程研究所的一家衍生公司。