PFI-RP: Measurement system for high speed and precision manufacturing

这个创新研究伙伴关系（PFI-RP）项目的更广泛的影响/商业潜力是机器上测量（也称为计量）系统的开发和商业化，可以提高美国在精密制造方面的经济竞争力，或者以低误差边际加工复杂部件和零件的能力。该项目将提高高效加工高度工程化零件的能力，解决许多行业面临的共同成本和劳动密集型技术障碍，包括光学，增材制造或3D制造，以及其他具有高加工要求的行业。该项目还将与工业界建立新的更广泛的合作关系，加强学术界和工业界之间的伙伴关系，并为研究和教育建立基础设施。拟议的活动将为下一代创新和创业领袖提供技术开发、翻译和商业化方面的第一手经验。此外，这项工作将扩大妇女和代表性不足群体的学生在创新、技术翻译和创业方面的参与。该项目有望推进高通量精密制造。目前，金刚石车削等高精度加工的关键技术瓶颈是用于质量控制的计量过程。现有的刀具居中和确保加工工件质量的做法非常耗时，需要多次迭代才能将工件从机器中取出进行离线测量，然后再将工件重新安装到机器上。拆卸和重新安装过程通常会引入额外的制造误差。提出的紧凑、快照、双模、多波长干涉测量系统将结合几种独特的技术，以显着提高速度和制造精度。具体来说，基于偏振的多波长快照技术将实现对加工表面的实时测量，同时对环境的影响最小。基于深度学习的相位展开技术将消除干涉测量中耗时的相位展开问题。独特的配置确保了一个非常紧凑的干涉测量系统，可以无缝地集成到现有的原位测量设备中。据估计，采用实时、原位计量的新型制造工艺可将刀具对准效率提高30%或更高，在表面计量方面可将效率提高50%或更高。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 impact/commercial potential of this Partnerships for Innovation-Research Partnerships (PFI-RP) project is the development and commercialization of an on-machine measurement (also called metrology) system that can increase the economic competitiveness of the United States in precision manufacturing, or the ability to machine complex components and parts with low margins for error. This project will enhance the ability to efficiently machine highly engineered parts, solving a common costly and labor-intensive technical hurdle facing many industries including optics, additive or 3D manufacturing, and other sectors with highly demanding machining requirements. This project will also create new and broader collaborations with industry, enhance partnerships between academia and industry, and build infrastructure for research and education. The proposed activities will provide next generation leaders in innovation and entrepreneurship with firsthand experience in technology development, translation, and commercialization. In addition, this work will expand the participation of women and students from underrepresented groups in innovation, technology translation, and entrepreneurship. The proposed project is expected to advance high-throughput precision manufacturing. Currently the key technical bottleneck in diamond turning and other high-precision fabrication is the metrology process used for quality control. Existing practices to center a tool and to ensure the quality of the fabricated workpiece are very time-consuming, requiring several iterations to remove the workpiece from the machine for offline measurements and then to remount workpiece onto the machine. The removal and remount processes often introduce additional manufacturing errors. The proposed compact, snapshot, dual-mode, multi-wavelength interferometric system will incorporate several unique techniques to significantly improve speed and manufacturing accuracy. Specifically, a polarization-based multi-wavelength snapshot technique will enable the real-time measurement of machined surfaces with minimum environmental impact. A deep-learning-based phase unwrapping technique will eliminate the time-consuming phase unwrapping problem in interferometric measurement. The unique configuration ensures a very compact interferometric system that can be integrated seamlessly into existing equipment for in-situ metrology. The new fabrication process with real-time, in-situ metrology is estimated to improve efficiency by 30% or greater in tool alignment, and another 50% or greater in surface metrology.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.