Micro-manufacturing : research, technology outcomes and development issues

Besides continuing effort in developing MEMS-based manufacturing techniques, latest effort in Micro-manufacturing is also in Non-MEMS-based manufacturing. Research and technological development (RTD) in this field is encouraged by the increased demand on micro-components as well as promised development in the scaling down of the traditional macro-manufacturing processes for micro-length-scale manufacturing. This paper highlights some EU funded research activities in micro/nano-manufacturing, and gives examples of the latest development in micro-manufacturing methods/techniques, process chains, hybrid-processes, manufacturing equipment and supporting technologies/device, etc., which is followed by a summary of the achievements of the EU MASMICRO project. Finally, concluding remarks are given, which raise several issues concerning further development in micro-manufacturing

A Novel Method and Mechanism for Micro-Sphere Singularization

The paper presents an innovative mechanism for the singularization of micro-spheres, which can be effectively employed in a diverse range of robotized applications in micro-electronics and micro-mechanics. Many miniaturized devices are currently being developed and consist of different micro-components to be precisely assembled. The demanding product and process requirements can be met by automating the assembly phases, which include sorting and feeding the micro-components. Therefore, accurate, high-throughput, and modular mechanisms and tools able to supply a number of micro-components, or even a single element for the subsequent operations, play a significant role. In this context, this work focused on the development of a novel strategy for separating a single component from an unstructured stock of identical parts, in particular of micro-spheres with diameters of 0.2–1 mm. Suitable expedients were considered to overcome the adhesive effects that can become significant at the micro-scale due to the very small size and low mass of the micro-spheres. The paper describes the operating principle and the actuation strategies of the mechanism. The design and the development of a prototype for singularizing micro-spheres with a diameter of 0.6 mm are thoroughly discussed. Finally, the results of experimental singularization tests demonstrate the method effectiveness and the mechanism performance

VELOX – A Demonstration Facilility for Lunar Oxygen Extraction in a Laboratory Environment

The ultimate goal of a permanent human presence on the Moon is discussed intensively within the global lunar community. Obviously, such an effort poses stringent demands not only on the technology but also on logistics, especially considering the important aspects of masses and volume for materials and replenishments of consumables. On-site propellant production (i.e. liquid oxygen) is one of the main needs and would lead to more efficient return-to-Earth or further exploration missions. Additionally, the supply of breathable air and water for the survival of the crew on the lunar surface is also a major aspect. Thus, large effort is put into the development and research of technologies for in-situ resources utilization (ISRU) to drastically reduce the required supply from Earth and to increase the level of autonomy of a lunar outpost. The major resource on the Moon for such a purpose is regolith, which covers the first meters of the lunar surface and contains about 45% of mineralogically bounded Oxygen in terms of mass. By using adequate processing methods of this material, one could be able to extract valuable minerals and volatiles for further utilization. At DLR Bremen a compact and flexible lab experimenting facility has been developed, built and tested, which shall demonstrate the feasibility of the process by extracting oxygen out of lunar regolith, respectively soil simulants and certain minerals in the laboratory case. For this purpose, important boundary conditions have been investigated such as temperatures during the process, chemical reaction characteristics and material properties for the buildup of the facility, which shall be analyzed within this paper. Since it is one of the most elaborated chemical processes regarding ISRU and has comparably low temperature and energy constraints it has been primarily concentrated on the Hydrogen-reduction process which reduces the iron oxide component of Ilmenite (FeTiO3) within the lunar regolith. Based on the obtained results, a first line-out of a planned superior test set-up and infrastructure with pre- and post-processing units such as feeding and extraction is also presented, as well as an analysis of reaction products with common methods. This paper will present the first results of DLR efforts regarding these topics. Finally, important aspects of the future development of the processes and technologies are discussed with special consideration of lunar applicability and with respect to environmental conditions as well as mass and energy constraints

TUT-microfactory – a small-size, modular and sustainable production system

Part of: Seliger, Günther (Ed.): Innovative solutions : proceedings / 11th Global Conference on Sustainable Manufacturing, Berlin, Germany, 23rd - 25th September, 2013. - Berlin: Universitätsverlag der TU Berlin, 2013. - ISBN 978-3-7983-2609-5 (online). - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:kobv:83-opus4-40276. - pp. 78-83.Micro and desktop factories are small size production systems suitable for fabricating and assembling small parts and products. The development originates in the early 1990’s Japan, where small machines were designed in order to save resources when producing small products. This paper introduces the modular TUTMicrofactory concept, developed at Tampere University of Technology during the past 15 years, and its applications. The sustainability of miniaturized production systems is discussed from three perspectives – environmental, economic and social. The main conclusion is that micro and desktop factories can remarkably enhance the sustainability of manufacturing from all these three perspectives

Data representation for the control of full-automated microfactories.

International audienceThe increase greater than ever in the developments of microproducts leads us to consider the design of an automatic, flexible, reconfigurable and upgradeable microfactory. Thus defined, the microfactory has the ability to implement an infrastructure of automated manufacture in small or average batches, and will be able to prove the feasibility of automated production in greater quantity. Two main difficulties have been identified. First, the operator in charge of the production setting has accessibility problem in the microworld. Second, the permanent adaptation of the production system to the variations of the intrinsic parameters of the microworld. Consequently, such a concept of microfactory must assist the operator by the capitalization of last experiments and the restitution of acquired know-how. Taking into account the importance and diversity of information, our approach consists in defining all this technical information system. Our method went on a modeling of the microfactory under UML, using the “use-cases” and “classes” diagrams. The technical information system resulting from our work is the spinal cord of the microfactory, it will constitute the base of the piloting structure

Adaptive aerodynamic part feeding enabled by genetic algorithm

Aerodynamic feeding systems represent one possibility to meet the challenges of part feeding for automated production in terms of feeding performance and flexibility. The aerodynamic feeding system investigated in this article is already able to adapt itself to different workpieces using a genetic algorithm. However, due to the operating principle, the system is susceptible to changes in environmental conditions such as air pressure and pollution (e.g. dust). To minimise the effect of ambient influences, the system must be enabled to detect changes in the feeding rate and react autonomously by adapting the system’s adjustment parameters. In this work, based on pre-identified factors interfering with the aerodynamic orientation process, a new approach is developed to react to changes of the ambient conditions during operation. The presented approach makes us of an alternating sequence of monitoring and corrective algorithms. The monitoring algorithm measures the ratio of correctly oriented parts to the total number of fed parts of the process and triggers the corrective algorithm if necessary. Simulated and experimental results both show that an increased feeding rate can be achieved in varying conditions. Furthermore, it is shown that integrating both known process and parameter information can reduce the time for re-parametrisation of the feeding system

Towards automatic control for microfactories.

International audienceMicrofactories are new specific and flexible systems to produce and assemble micrometric products. These systems are different of standard production platforms because they are confronted with a lot of constraints without influence at human-scale systems. This approach will lead to the development of an architecture of the technical information system adapted to a modular, reconfigurable and evolutionary microfactory. In such a context of production of microproducts, the technical information system is the spinal cord of the microfactory. The definition of the data, their architecture and their organization will build up the base of the control structure. To efficiently and surely control the set of cells, the traditional control scheme must be integrated in a global information model. This paper presents the design of an information model dedicated to microfactories and its advantages

Creation of configurations for an assembly system with a scalable level of automation

Due to shortened product lifecycles and an increasing number of variants, the need for scalable assembly systems is rising. This trend is even stronger in the production of emerging technologies. An important step in the planning of a scalable assembly system is the creation of system configurations. State of the art is a scaling of the system from a manual, over semi-automated to an automated system during the start of production. This process is very rigid and does not offer the flexibility which is necessary to react to highly volatile influencing factors. The authors have identified the urgent need for a thorough scenario analysis to adequately consider the risk in predicting volatile influencing factors. In this paper, a two-part methodology is proposed considering multiple scaling mechanisms allowing for a swift and cost-effective adaptation to external factors. The first part is concerned with the scenario analysis. In this part, the planner has to identify the volatile receptors that influence their production. For each of the identified receptors, market studies and workshops with internal experts are conducted to develop a detailed scenario analysis, modelled in a modified BPMN logic. In the second part, the planner needs to develop production system configurations according to the results of the scenario analysis. The appropriate scaling mechanisms are chosen based on the volatile receptors. The application of these mechanisms on station level results in various station concepts satisfying the entire range of expected values within the volatile receptors

Chain of refined perception in self-optimizing assembly of micro-optical systems

Today, the assembly of laser systems requires a large share of manual operations due to its complexity regarding the optimal alignment of optics. Although the feasibility of automated alignment of laser optics has been shown in research labs, the development effort for the automation of assembly does not meet economic requirements – especially for low-volume laser production. This paper presents a model-based and sensor-integrated assembly execution approach for flexible assembly cells consisting of a macro-positioner covering a large workspace and a compact micromanipulator with camera attached to the positioner. In order to make full use of available models from computer-aided design (CAD) and optical simulation, sensor systems at different levels of accuracy are used for matching perceived information with model data. This approach is named "chain of refined perception", and it allows for automated planning of complex assembly tasks along all major phases of assembly such as collision-free path planning, part feeding, and active and passive alignment. The focus of the paper is put on the in-process image-based metrology and information extraction used for identifying and calibrating local coordinate systems as well as the exploitation of that information for a part feeding process for micro-optics. Results will be presented regarding the processes of automated calibration of the robot camera as well as the local coordinate systems of part feeding area and robot base