Nonterrestrial utilization of materials: Automated space manufacturing facility

Four areas related to the nonterrestrial use of materials are included: (1) material resources needed for feedstock in an orbital manufacturing facility, (2) required initial components of a nonterrestrial manufacturing facility, (3) growth and productive capability of such a facility, and (4) automation and robotics requirements of the facility

Micro and Desktop Factory Roadmap

Terms desktop and microfactory both refer to production equipment that is miniaturized down to the level where it can placed on desktop and manually moved without any lifting aids. In this context, micro does not necessarily refer to the size of parts produced or their features, or the actual size or resolution of the equipment. Instead, micro refers to a general objective of downscaling production equipment to the same scale with the products they are manufacturing. Academic research literature speculates with several advantages and benefits of using miniaturized production equipment. These range from reduced use of energy and other resources (such as raw material) to better operator ergonomics and from greater equipment flexibility and reconfigurability to ubiquitous manufacturing (manufacturing on-the-spot, i.e. manufacturing the end product where it is used). Academic research has also generated several pieces of equipment and application demonstrations, and many of those are described in this document. Despite of nearly two decades of academic research, wider industrial breakthrough has not yet taken place and, in fact, many of the speculated advantages have not been proven or are not (yet) practical. However, there are successful industrial examples including miniaturized machining units; robotic, assembly and process cells; as well as other pieces of desktop scale equipment. These are also presented in this document. Looking at and analysing the current state of micro and desktop production related academic and commercial research and development, there are notable gaps that should be addressed. Many of these are general to several fields, such as understanding the actual needs of industry, whereas some are specific to miniaturised production field. One such example is the size of the equipment: research equipment is often “too small” to be commercially viable alternative. However, it is important to seek the limits of miniaturisation and even though research results might not be directly adaptable to industrial use, companies get ideas and solution models from research. The field of desktop production is new and the future development directions are not clear. In general, there seems to be two main development directions for micro and desktop factory equipment: 1) Small size equipment assisting human operators at the corner of desk 2) Small size equipment forming fully automatic production lines (including line components, modules, and cells) These, and other aspects including visions of potential application areas and business models for system providers, are discussed in detail in this roadmap. To meet the visions presented, some actions are needed. Therefore, this document gives guidelines for various industrial user groups (end users of miniaturized production equipment, system providers/integrators and component providers) as well as academia for forming their strategies in order to exploit the benefits of miniaturized production. To summarise, the basic guidelines for different actors are: • Everyone: Push the desktop ideology and awareness of the technology and its possibilities. Market and be present at events where potential new fields get together. Tell what is available and what is needed. • Equipment end users: Specify and determine what is needed. Be brave to try out new ways of doing things. Think what is really needed – do not over specify. • System providers / integrators: Organize own operations and product portfolios so that supplying equipment fulfilling the end user specifications can be done profitably. • Component providers: Design and supply components which are cost-efficient and easy to integrate to and to take into use in desktop scale equipment. • Academia: Look further into future, support industrial sector in their shorter term development work and act as a facilitator for cooperation between different actors

Liiketoimintamallit ja sovellukset mikro- ja desktoptehtaille

The terms microfactory and desktop factory originates from Japan in the 1990’s. Small machines were developed to produce small parts and save resources. In the late 1990’s, the research spread around the world, and multiple miniaturized concepts were introduced. However, the level of commercialization remains low. More empirical evidence and business aspect is needed. This thesis discusses how the systems can be used and how the providers benefit of it, now and in the future. The research includes 18 semi-structured interviews in Europe. The interviewees are both from academic and industry, including equipment and component providers, and users and potential users. According to the interviews, research and the industry have different viewpoints to the miniaturization. Within the academics, miniaturization links to a general philosophy to match the products in size. In the industry, the small size is only a secondary sales argument. The main factors preventing breakthrough are the lack of small subsystems, the lack of examples and production engineers’ attitudes. It appears that the technology is in the beginning of the S-curve, and it has systematic development as well as slow technology diffusion. More cooperation and a large scale demonstration are needed. In the literature, there are multiple applications. The MEMS industry is stated as one promising industry. The research aims usually for high level of automation. Based on interviews, the systems are used as a semi-automatic tool for component manufacturing and assembly. In the future, educational and laboratory use as well as prototyping are promising. Local cleanrooms interest but questions arise. In addition, retail level personalization, home fabrication and the MEMS industry include problems. For providers, the technology offers two promising customer segments (Lean manufacturers and fully loaded factories), few additional segments (e.g. educational, laboratories and offices) and it eases some alternative charging models (e.g. leasing, and capacity sales)

DEVELOPMENT OF A LOW COST PRECISION POLISHING MACHINE BASED ON PARALLEL KINEMATIC SYSTEM

The increasing demand on mass production of high precision parts, has pushed the precision manufacturing industry to develop reliable precision finishing processes such as Bonnet polishing to address market requirements. Indeed, the nature of the surface to be polished plays an important role in the design of a possible polishing machine. A gap within the research in polishing for precision industry needs has been identified. Small parts with <50mm x 50mm and possible freeform curvature containing small slopes cannot be polished with available bonnet polishing (BP) processes on market. This is caused by the tool head size and the tool holder being bigger than part curvature or the part itself. Although, the BP process has a huge potential for surface roughness improvement and form accuracy, it is generally seen in industry as an expensive solution for a non-deterministic finishing process. Therefore, this project has sought to develop a BP machine to cover the gap with an innovative and inexpensive design. In order to develop a machine which responded to the market expectations all possible requirements were listed from a customer point of view. Based on the requirement, a machine concept was produced. Market analysis helped to identify sub-systems of the machine. FEA analysis of the design was performed to check for stress distribution and displacement due to its own mass. Additional assembly parts are designed and a prototype of the machine was produced. The designed machine is tested for its ability as precision polishing machine. Flat surfaces of P20 tool steel were targets for polishing to nanometric surface finishes. Empirical experiments helped to identify parameters which influenced the surface roughness. Taguchi method were then used to optimise the parameters for better surface roughness. Optimum parameters conditions helped to reach less than 10 nm Ra systematically and repeatedly. The samples were also polished using re-circulating slurry techniques, and the obtained results were discussed. Further, pre polishing, Grolishing processes capable of improving surface roughness from ground finish to mirror like finish were developed for cost effective manufacturing procedures. The material removal was analysed to identify parameters capable of improving surface roughness over a step grolishing process. Two grolishing procedures were developed. Both processes produced nanometric range surface finishes. Other variations in results were compared and discussed. Although, machine axis has the ability to produce freeform movement, tool holders need to be improved to facilitate the identification of the distance between tool origin and workpiece origin. Therefore, a new spindle holder assembly is produced to hold the tool and an optical measurement device DRI used to evaluate accurately the distance separating the tool-workpiece origin and further align the workpiece inclination with respect to the machine axis. A CAD-CAM package is also developed to generate programme capable of performing freeform curvature

Research and development of a reconfigurable robotic end-effector for machining and part handling.

Masters Degree. University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban.Abstract available in PDF

Advanced Automation for Space Missions

The feasibility of using machine intelligence, including automation and robotics, in future space missions was studied

Reliability and Maintenance

Amid a plethora of challenges, technological advances in science and engineering are inadvertently affecting an increased spectrum of today’s modern life. Yet for all supplied products and services provided, robustness of processes, methods, and techniques is regarded as a major player in promoting safety. This book on systems reliability, which equally includes maintenance-related policies, presents fundamental reliability concepts that are applied in a number of industrial cases. Furthermore, to alleviate potential cost and time-specific bottlenecks, software engineering and systems engineering incorporate approximation models, also referred to as meta-processes, or surrogate models to reproduce a predefined set of problems aimed at enhancing safety, while minimizing detrimental outcomes to society and the environment

41st Aerospace Mechanisms Symposium

The proceedings of the 41st Aerospace Mechanisms Symposium are reported. JPL hosted the conference, which was held in Pasadena Hilton, Pasadena, California on May 16-18, 2012. Lockheed Martin Space Systems cosponsored the symposium. Technology areas covered include gimbals and positioning mechanisms, components such as hinges and motors, CubeSats, tribology, and Mars Science Laboratory mechanisms