Micro manufacturing

As manufacturing technologies are scaled down from macro to micro level, unexpec-ted process behavior emerges, so called size effects. This also regards reliable optical quality inspection, as tolerances in micrometer range require microscopic solutions. Optical magnification comes with a strong reduction in field of depth as well as a decrease in the measured area, which makes exact positioning and possibly measurements at different depth levels necessary. Here we present and evaluate a demonstrator platform for the automatic measurement of micro parts using a light field camera.

In the field of micro manufacturing, a highly precise adjustment of relevant process parameters is of major importance. The continuing miniaturization of work pieces and machines leads to very small tolerances. The occurrence of so called size-effects interferes with a direct application of knowledge and experiences from macro manufacturing. Moreover, the high specialization of manufacturing technologies and processes in micro manufacturing requires a careful review of each process’s suitability with respect to the involved materials and components. This article presents a method that supports process designers with structured procedures and notations, to model and evaluate technological as well as logistic dependencies along the process chain. Thereby, it supports the selection and configuration of suitable processes for a given process chain.