Miniature Flexible & Reconfigurable Manufacturing System for 3D Micro-products

Lead Research Organisation: University of Strathclyde
Department Name: Design Manufacture and Engineering Man

Abstract

The proposal attempt to set out a new agenda to create an integrated miniature flexible and reconfigurable manufacturing system to deliver to UK industry disruptive and transformative technology for the next generation of high added-value micro-products. The proposed research will focus on the development of underlying techniques, such as embedded sensors for on-line metrology, parallel robots for 3D materials handling and assembly, multiscale modelling and hybrid micromachining approach, which are core techniques for future flexible micro-manufacturing process. The project is grounded on the consortium's immense experience in surface metrology, robotics, machine tool design, micromachining and microforming, with industrial partners being leading experts from machine-tool, metrology, medical instrument and photonics manufacturers. The research will start from a very solid baseline in technology achieved from previous several successful EPSRC and EU projects in this subject area.

Planned Impact

The immediate beneficiary will be the UK's high value manufacturing industry. The developed manufacturing system and process will significantly improve productivity, precision and reduce capital investment, floor space, energy consumption and emissions during manufacturing of micro-products. Providing access to this reconfigurable & flexible manufacturing system research will greatly enhance the competitiveness of UK industry, especially photonics, medical instruments, automotive and aerospace sectors which represent a major percentage of the UK export trade.

The research will stimulate micro-products designers to consider more ambitious desigsn to underpin the next generation of high added-value micro-products such as micro optical sensors, solar cells, biomedical sensors, etc across several sectors in the next 10 to 15 years. These micro-products will be widely used in cars, mobile phones, aircraft and personal care and medical devices which obviously benefit our daily life by improving living standard and challenging problems associated with the aging population.

Net shape manufacturing (which is seen as one of the most important methods for economical mass manufacture to the tight tolerances demanded for the micro-products) sector will also benefit from enhanced flexibility due to the capability to produce low cost high quality precision moulds/dies not attainable before.

The research will influence people's perception of manufacturing as with such a developed disruptive technology micro-products can be manufactured on-site, on-demand, for example, in a workshop or in a hospital operation room. The developed manufacturing system is also a kind of transforming technology which will redistribute manufacturing capability from the hands of a few to the hands of many. It will help transfer innovative production techniques to SMEs which are the backbone of the UK manufacturing industry. The project is therefore a key enabler for UK's grand societal challenges as it can help maintain and create more jobs in high value manufacturing , increase value added by manufacturing and reduce the environmental impact.

The project has a potential benefit of further improvement of quality of life as an enabling technology and the link between the nano- and macroworlds, the research will bridge the innovation gap for the widespread exploitation of nanoscience and nanotechnology in the next 50 years.

Upon success the project will obviously influence government policy maker to make long term (50 years) investment in the UK's productive capacity and future capabilities. Current UK R&D density (R&D/GDP) is behind major EU countries like Germany, Sweden and Finland.

Publications

10 25 50
 
Title Data for: "Acceleration feedback control for enhancing dynamic stiffness of fast tool servo system considering the sensor imperfections" 
Description This dataset is for the journal paper titled "Acceleration feedback control for enhancing dynamic stiffness of fast tool servo system considering the sensor imperfections". This paper established an analytical model to reveal how much positioning errors are caused by the added sensor noises and how the acceleration feedback technique changes the closed loop stiffness. The measured positioning error spectrum agrees with the modelled one with different acceleration gains. The ka0.fig to ka4.fig data are the measured following error from the controller during cutting, in the unit of micrometre; The psd_ka0.5.fig and the psd_ka4.fig files are the power spectrum density analysis results for different Ka gains; The Surface_Ka_0.dat and Surface_Ka_4.dat files are the measured surface shapes by ZYGO white light interferometer. .fig file can be opened by MATLAB and the .dat file can be opened by ZYGO software. 
Type Of Art Image 
Year Produced 2019 
URL https://pureportal.strath.ac.uk/en/datasets/41b877dd-e394-47c6-856f-51559e241570
 
Description • A novel machine structure which can be easily reconfigured for different operations and realize in-process measurement. A new computer numerical control algorithm which can reduce 70% tracking error of a normal PID controller. A novel real-time interpolation for parametric curves (RTIPC), which provides a near time-optimal solution. It can not only simplify the coding significantly, but also achieve ten times productivity increase compared with the linear interpolator. The proposed interpolator can also achieve much smoother motion profiles than the state-of-the-art PVT interpolator and has the advantage in limiting contour error.
• Flow behaviour of single crystal silicon under different cutting temperatures. It observed first time substrate material underneath the cutting tool to experience a rotational flow akin to fluids at all the tested temperatures up to 1200 K. The degree of turbulence in the machining zone scales linearly with an increase in the machining temperature. It not only enriched material science knowledge but also led to development of a new heat-assisted ultra precision diamond turning process with twice longer tool life than state of the art and it has greatly potential to commercialise this finding. The deformation behaviour of polycrystalline and single crystal silicon. As an international effort involved researchers from our EPSRC team, Japan and USA, this finding revealed that high pressure phase transformation (HPPT) in silicon (Si-I to Si-II phase transformation) occurred in all cases, however, its extent and the manner in which it occurred differed significantly between polycrystalline silicon and single crystal silicon. It confirmed that HPPT is the primary mechanism in inducing plasticity in silicon for the first time through MD simulation and experiment. This findings help develop silicon processing techniques to obtain high quality surface finish and surface integrity for this widely used semi-conductor materials.
• A mesoscopic scale gripper (meso-gripper) which has two modes: passive adjusting mode and an angled precision gripping mode. The gripper can adjust its shape automatically according to the appropriate mode. Underactuated gripper is found to be very useful in material handling system to manipulate a wide range of objects. A low-cost compliant decoupled XY stage actuated with voice-coil actuators, which has been integrated within a micro-assembly system.
• Dispersed reference interferometry, a single-point optical method of surface topography measurement, has been demonstrated to achieve nanometre vertical resolution over a range of 800 µm. A common path fibre probe topology has been implemented to provide robustness to on-machine environmental effects and allow future integration of miniaturised optics in a manufacturing environment. Investigations to improve interferometer temporal stability and demonstrate machine tool error compensation are underway.
• A novel manufacturing process has been developed to obtain anti-basterial surface on surgical tools. Such tools can reduce the after surgery infection and use of antibiotics.
Exploitation Route We have published these findings on journals and international conferences. The developed new interpolation algorithm and surface processing method have been made available to the public through open-access data sets. We may seek licensing other published work in the future.
Sectors Aerospace, Defence and Marine,Digital/Communication/Information Technologies (including Software),Healthcare,Manufacturing, including Industrial Biotechology

URL https://pureportal.strath.ac.uk/en/persons/xichun-luo/datasets/
 
Description 1.Dissemination of research findings on several international conferences, seminars and workshops to maximize the academic impact. 2. Provided consultancy service to high-tech companies worldwide 3.Formed new international research collaborations with international leading research institution and high-tech companies. 4. Applying commercialization funding towards establishing a spin-out company to commercialize the findings 5. A machine developed under Micro-3D ESRPC has been used to machine optics and medical devices to support new product development for 2SMEs and 3 large companies. 6. Micro-3D machine has been used to develop new manufacturing process to generate antibacterial surfaces on surgical tools, in collaboration with a world leading surgical tool manufacture. 7. Software for interpolation for parametric curve has been created and made open access to both academia and industry. 8. Two international workshops have been held to disseminate the outcome of the projects. 9: The Micro-3D project consortium has published a book "Hybrid Machining Technology: Theory, Methods and Case Studies" to disseminate the research outcome. 10: Support a telecommunication company on development of optics used in harsh environment.
Sector Aerospace, Defence and Marine,Digital/Communication/Information Technologies (including Software),Education,Healthcare,Manufacturing, including Industrial Biotechology,Pharmaceuticals and Medical Biotechnology
Impact Types Societal,Economic

 
Description Participating Manufacturing Professor Forum_Contribute inputs to Industrial Strategy (2016-2019)
Geographic Reach National 
Policy Influence Type Membership of a guideline committee
 
Description UK Manufacturing Forum-policy on sustainable manufacturing
Geographic Reach National 
Policy Influence Type Contribution to a national consultation/review
 
Description (Carbo4Power) - New generation of offshore turbine blades with intelligent architectures of hybrid, nano-enabled multi-materials via advanced manufacturing
Amount € 7,898,458 (EUR)
Funding ID 953192 
Organisation European Commission 
Sector Public
Country European Union (EU)
Start 11/2020 
End 10/2024
 
Description A Multiscale Digital Twin-Driven Smart Manufacturing System for High Value-Added Products
Amount £2,805,908 (GBP)
Funding ID EP/T024844/1 
Organisation Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) 
Sector Public
Country United Kingdom
Start 05/2020 
End 04/2024
 
Description A hybrid precision manufacturing platform for next-generation of nanoscale products
Amount £766,513 (GBP)
Funding ID EP/V055208/1 
Organisation Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) 
Sector Public
Country United Kingdom
Start 06/2021 
End 06/2024
 
Description EPSRC HMVC Fellowship
Amount £35,000 (GBP)
Organisation Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) 
Sector Public
Country United Kingdom
Start 01/2014 
End 12/2016
 
Description Engineering the Future PhD studentship
Amount £34,500 (GBP)
Organisation University of Strathclyde 
Department Faculty of Engineering
Sector Academic/University
Country United Kingdom
Start 03/2014 
End 02/2017
 
Description Impact Acceleration Account
Amount £10,000 (GBP)
Organisation Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) 
Sector Public
Country United Kingdom
Start 04/2015 
End 09/2015
 
Description Impact Acceleration Account
Amount £9,819 (GBP)
Organisation Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) 
Sector Public
Country United Kingdom
Start 04/2015 
End 09/2015
 
Description Industrial Cash Contribution for a PhD studentship
Amount £21,000 (GBP)
Organisation ST Microelectronics 
Sector Private
Country Switzerland
Start 03/2016 
End 03/2019
 
Description Industrial cash contribution for PhD studentships
Amount £60,000 (GBP)
Organisation Depuy International 
Sector Private
Country United Kingdom
Start 10/2015 
End 10/2018
 
Description James Watt Scholarships
Amount £45,000 (GBP)
Organisation Heriot-Watt University 
Sector Academic/University
Country United Kingdom
Start 10/2014 
End 09/2017
 
Description KNOWLEDGE TRANSFER PARTNERSHIP
Amount £159,658 (GBP)
Funding ID KTP011091 
Organisation Innovate UK 
Sector Public
Country United Kingdom
Start 09/2018 
End 08/2021
 
Description Marie Sklodowska-Curie Innovative Training Network
Amount € 290,000 (EUR)
Funding ID H2020-MSCA-ITN-2015 Grant Agreement 674801 
Organisation European Commission 
Sector Public
Country European Union (EU)
Start 10/2015 
End 09/2019
 
Description Newton Funds
Amount £12,000 (GBP)
Organisation The Royal Society 
Sector Charity/Non Profit
Country United Kingdom
Start 03/2015 
End 03/2017
 
Description Sino-UK Higher Education Research Partnership for PhD Studies
Amount £36,000 (GBP)
Organisation Department for Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy 
Sector Public
Country United Kingdom
Start 01/2013 
End 12/2014
 
Title An atomistic simulation investigation on chip related phenomena in nanometric cutting of single crystal silicon at elevated temperatures 
Description Forces and associated parameters related to the chip while cutting silicon, created by MS Word 2010 
Type Of Material Database/Collection of data 
Year Produced 2016 
Provided To Others? No  
Impact Unknown 
 
Title Atomic-scale characterization of occurring phenomena during hot nanometric cutting of single crystal 3C-SiC 
Description Stress data, created by MS Word 2010 
Type Of Material Database/Collection of data 
Year Produced 2017 
Provided To Others? Yes  
Impact n/a 
 
Title Data for: "A sequential process for manufacturing nature-inspired anisotropic superhydrophobic structures on AISI 316L stainless steel" 
Description Original Excel data of Figure 5 and 6 in the paper 
Type Of Material Database/Collection of data 
Year Produced 2020 
Provided To Others? Yes  
URL https://pureportal.strath.ac.uk/en/datasets/a4a6a68a-dfc0-47df-8cdd-04db6207d927
 
Title Data for: "A single-step fabrication approach for development of antimicrobial surfaces" 
Description Original data of Fig 5, 7 and 8 in the paper titled "A single-step fabrication approach for development of antimicrobial surfaces". 
Type Of Material Database/Collection of data 
Year Produced 2019 
Provided To Others? Yes  
 
Title Data for: "Analysis of diamond wheel wear and surface integrity in laser-assisted grinding of RB-SiC ceramics" 
Description This dataset is for the investigation of wear of diamond grinding wheel and surface integrity in laser-assisted grinding of RB-SiC ceramics under high temperatures. The data are in Excel format. The name and units of the data is explained in the Excel file titles. The data correspond to the Figure 4, 5, 7, 8, 10 and 11 in the paper. The EDS is measured by SEM and the surface profile is measured by ZYGO interferometer. Fig_4: EDS analysis of the adhesion of the diamond grit at different temperatures in grinding test; Fig_5: Pullout of grits and EDS analysis in grinding tests at different temperatures by; Fig_7: 3D surface topography measured by white light interferometer for RB-SiC ceramics ground at elevated temperatures; Fig_8: Surface roughness in laser-assisted grinding of RB-SiC ceramics at different temperatures; Fig_10: Cutting force at different temperature; Fig_11: Results of the Raman spectra; 
Type Of Material Database/Collection of data 
Year Produced 2019 
Provided To Others? Yes  
 
Title Data for: "Dynamic behaviours of water droplets impacting on laser ablated surfaces" 
Description CFD simulation results of contact angle, experimrntal results of contact angle, theoretical and experimental surface profiles. 
Type Of Material Database/Collection of data 
Year Produced 2019 
Provided To Others? Yes  
 
Title Data for: "Laser-assisted grinding of reaction-bonded SiC" 
Description The dataset contains numerical data to illustrate variation of surface roughness Ra value of RB-SiC processed by a nanosecond pulsed fibre laser which has a central emission wavelength of 1064 nm under different grinding depth at several sets of laser power and frequency. The data can be read by using normal Words software. 
Type Of Material Database/Collection of data 
Year Produced 2020 
Provided To Others? Yes  
URL https://pureportal.strath.ac.uk/en/datasets/d80d1509-25d0-459d-813d-c60771fe6cc2
 
Title Data for: "Manufacturing of anti-fogging Super-hydrophilic Microstructures on Glass by Nanosecond Laser" 
Description The dataset contains numerical data to illustrate variation of surface roughness Ra value of glass processed by a nanosecond pulsed fibre laser which has a central emission wavelength of 1064 nm under different cutting feed rates and laser focus distances at two sets of laser power and frequency. The data can be read by using normal Words software. 
Type Of Material Database/Collection of data 
Year Produced 2020 
Provided To Others? Yes  
URL https://pureportal.strath.ac.uk/en/datasets/105e55c3-1444-4e44-8cd4-c146347e755e
 
Title Data for: "Material removal and friction behaviour in scratching of RB-SiC ceramics at elevated temperatures" 
Description Original Excel data of Fig.3,5,6,7,8,9 and Table 5 in the paper 
Type Of Material Database/Collection of data 
Year Produced 2019 
Provided To Others? Yes  
 
Title Data for: "Product and Process Fingerprint for Nanosecond Pulsed Laser Ablated Superhydrophobic Surface" 
Description Original Excel data of Figure 4,5,7,8,10 in the paper 
Type Of Material Database/Collection of data 
Year Produced 2019 
Provided To Others? Yes  
Impact
 
Title Data for: "ReaxFF Molecular Dynamics Simulation Study of Nanoelectrode Lithography Oxidation Process on Silicon (100) Surface" 
Description MD simulation data includes chemical compositions, Oxide thickness, RDFs of oxide film, number of Oxygen atoms along the Z axis in the oxide film, Oxide thickness for the variation of efield, Oxide thickness for the variation of RH. 
Type Of Material Database/Collection of data 
Year Produced 2019 
Provided To Others? Yes  
 
Title Data for: "Rolling Nanoelectrode Lithography" 
Description This data set contains the parameters value and the calculation method for the measurement of the contact area between stamp and the substrate that are used in the Rolling Nanoelectrode Lithography. The calculations has been done in an excel spreadsheet. 
Type Of Material Database/Collection of data 
Year Produced 2020 
Provided To Others? Yes  
URL https://pureportal.strath.ac.uk/en/datasets/10de90c2-f34d-4d18-ba4d-9dfc715cd12e
 
Title Data for: "Study on the subsurface damage mechanism of optical quartz glass during single grain scratching" 
Description The dataset contains numerical data to illustrate variation of maximum depth of subsurface crack and plastic deformation at different scratching depths. The data can be read by using normal MS Word software. 
Type Of Material Database/Collection of data 
Year Produced 2020 
Provided To Others? Yes  
URL https://pureportal.strath.ac.uk/en/datasets/22062ced-ded2-4716-86be-629792a5002d
 
Title Data for: "Substrate Orientation Effects on Nanoelectrode Lithography: ReaxFF Molecular Dynamics and Experimental Study" 
Description Molecular Dynamics (MD) simulations dataset for the research output of 'Substrate orientation effects on nanoelectrode lithography: ReaxFF molecular dynamics and experimental study'. 
Type Of Material Database/Collection of data 
Year Produced 2020 
Provided To Others? Yes  
URL https://pureportal.strath.ac.uk/en/datasets/f92d7c9f-a52f-4908-afbf-c50330be2edd
 
Title Database for laser processing 
Description A database to record the laser processing parameters for processing a variety of engineering materials. 
Type Of Material Database/Collection of data 
Provided To Others? No  
Impact We will disseminate the database on project web-site once it is fully validated so it will reach more wide users and research groups. 
 
Title Dataset for: "A hybrid laser ablation and chemical etching process for manufacturing nature-inspired anisotropic superhydrophobic structures" 
Description Original Excel data of Figure 4 in the conference abstract 
Type Of Material Database/Collection of data 
Year Produced 2019 
Provided To Others? Yes  
 
Title Demonstration application for the real-time interpolator for parametric curves 
Description The authors have developed two applications for readers to test the Real-time Interpolator algorithms. Those algorithms are implemented in the RTInterpolator.exe Windows application. It can interpret the specified G-code and generate interpolated points, which can be sent to servo system to control axes motions. The IntDataVisu.m is a Matlab program, it is used to visualize the output file from RTInterpolator.exe. It helps readers to analyze the characteristics of the Real-time Interpolator with user-friendly figures. Full documentation is available in the PDF file provided in the zip file. Please note that an updated versions (Ver 1.1) of this data is available and linked to from this record. 
Type Of Material Database/Collection of data 
Year Produced 2017 
Provided To Others? Yes  
Impact Unknown 
 
Title Demonstration application for the real-time interpolator for parametric curves Ver1.1 
Description The authors have developed two applications for readers to test the Real-time Interpolator algorithms. Those algorithms are implemented in the RTIPC.exe Windows application. It can interpret the specified G-code and generate the interpolated points, which can be sent to servo system to control axes motions. The IntDataVisu.m is a Matlab program, it is used to visualize the output file from RTIPC.exe. It helps readers to analyze the characteristics of the Real-time Interpolator with user-friendly figures. Full documentation is available in the PDF file provided in the zip file. Please note that this is the updated version 1.1 dataset. 
Type Of Material Database/Collection of data 
Year Produced 2017 
Provided To Others? Yes  
Impact Unknown 
 
Title High temperature nanoscratching of single crystal silicon under reduced oxygen condition 
Description Data for nanoscratching experiment under low and high temperature; created by MS word 2010 
Type Of Material Database/Collection of data 
Year Produced 2017 
Provided To Others? Yes  
Impact n/a 
 
Title Linear toolpath smoothing demonstration application 
Description The authors have developed two applications for readers to test the real-time global linear toolpath smoothing algorithm. The algorithm is implemented in the SmoothingDemoApp.exe Windows application. It can read linear toolpath points from a file and save the smoothing results to a file for the following applications. The ToolpathVisu.m is a Matlab program, it is used to visualize the smoothing process. It helps readers to analyze the characteristics of the smoothing algorithm with user-friendly figures. Full documentation is available in the PDF file provided in the zip file. 
Type Of Material Database/Collection of data 
Year Produced 2018 
Provided To Others? Yes  
Impact Unknown 
 
Title Molecular dynamics simulation investigation on the plastic flow behaviour of silicon during nanometric cutting 
Description Cutting forces and associated parameters while cutting silicon, created by MS Word 2010 
Type Of Material Database/Collection of data 
Year Produced 2017 
Provided To Others? Yes  
Impact n/a 
 
Title Molecular dynamics simulation study of deformation mechanisms in 3C-SiC during nanometric cutting at elevated temperatures 
Description Cutting force and specific energy under different temperature for cutting 3C-SiC,, created by MS Word 201o 
Type Of Material Database/Collection of data 
Year Produced 2017 
Provided To Others? Yes  
Impact n/a 
 
Title Smoothed particle hydrodynamics study of Surface defect machining for diamond turning of silicon 
Description The data is created by MS Word 2010. It contains data of material properties and model specifications for the SPH simulation of diamond turning Silicon while applying SDM approach. 
Type Of Material Database/Collection of data 
Year Produced 2017 
Provided To Others? Yes  
Impact n/a 
 
Title The investigation of influence of tool wear on ductile to brittle transition in single point diamond turning of silicon 
Description Material property diagram obtained; Created by MS Word 2010 
Type Of Material Database/Collection of data 
Year Produced 2017 
Provided To Others? Yes  
Impact n/a 
 
Description Focused Ion Beam micro and nano fabrication 
Organisation Indian Institute of Technology Kanpur
Country India 
Sector Academic/University 
PI Contribution A researcher (Nitul) from IIT Kanpur spent a year to carry out visiting research at the University of Strathclyde. He work together with Prof. Xichun Luo's (PI of the project) researchers and colleagues from the University of Glasgow on focused ion beam micro and nano fabrication.
Collaborator Contribution The researcher from IIT-Kanpur developed a new FIB based fabrication approach for nanowire for this EPSRC project while Researcher at the University of Glasgow has help material characterisation.
Impact It is a multi-disciplinary research involves researchers from the background of physics, materials, mechanical engineering. Two journal papers and one book chapter were publication as a result of the collaborative research. 1 N. S. Rajput, X. Luo, FIB Micro-/Nano-fabrication, in Micromanufacturing engineering and technology, 2nd Edition, (Editor: Y. Qin), Elsevier, 2015. ISBN: 9780323311496 2 N. Rajput, Z. Tong, X. Luo, Investigation of ion induced bending mechanism for nanostructures, Materials Research Express, 2015, Vol. 2, 015002, doi:10.1088/2053-1591/2/1/015002. 3 N. Rajput, Z. Tong, H. C. Verma and X. Luo, Ion beam assisted fabrication and manipulation of metallic nanowires, Micro and Nano Letter, 2015, Vol. 10 , No. 7, pp.334-338, DOI: 10.1049/mnl.2014.0267
Start Year 2013
 
Description Focused Ion Beam micro and nano fabrication 
Organisation University of Glasgow
Country United Kingdom 
Sector Academic/University 
PI Contribution A researcher (Nitul) from IIT Kanpur spent a year to carry out visiting research at the University of Strathclyde. He work together with Prof. Xichun Luo's (PI of the project) researchers and colleagues from the University of Glasgow on focused ion beam micro and nano fabrication.
Collaborator Contribution The researcher from IIT-Kanpur developed a new FIB based fabrication approach for nanowire for this EPSRC project while Researcher at the University of Glasgow has help material characterisation.
Impact It is a multi-disciplinary research involves researchers from the background of physics, materials, mechanical engineering. Two journal papers and one book chapter were publication as a result of the collaborative research. 1 N. S. Rajput, X. Luo, FIB Micro-/Nano-fabrication, in Micromanufacturing engineering and technology, 2nd Edition, (Editor: Y. Qin), Elsevier, 2015. ISBN: 9780323311496 2 N. Rajput, Z. Tong, X. Luo, Investigation of ion induced bending mechanism for nanostructures, Materials Research Express, 2015, Vol. 2, 015002, doi:10.1088/2053-1591/2/1/015002. 3 N. Rajput, Z. Tong, H. C. Verma and X. Luo, Ion beam assisted fabrication and manipulation of metallic nanowires, Micro and Nano Letter, 2015, Vol. 10 , No. 7, pp.334-338, DOI: 10.1049/mnl.2014.0267
Start Year 2013
 
Description Hybrid machine development 
Organisation Ultra Precision Motion Ltd
Country United Kingdom 
Sector Private 
PI Contribution Conceptual design of the hybrid machine for this project
Collaborator Contribution Detailed design of machine tool, air bearing systems
Impact Not multi-disciplinary. The team has successfully completed the design and built of a prototype machine.
Start Year 2013
 
Description Joint research with Heriot-Watt University 
Organisation Heriot-Watt University
Country United Kingdom 
Sector Academic/University 
PI Contribution University of Strathclyde researchers worked on this project with researchers from Heriot-Watt University
Collaborator Contribution We have worked together on the design of the material handling device in this EPSRC project. So far Heriot-Watt Team has completed the material handling design and are working on the 3D micro-assembly devices at the moment.
Impact We have completed the design of the work handling device and decided the work holding device.
Start Year 2013
 
Description Joint research with Huddersfield University 
Organisation University of Huddersfield
Country United Kingdom 
Sector Academic/University 
PI Contribution University of Strathclyde researchers worked on this project with researchers from Huddersfield University
Collaborator Contribution we have worked together on thedevelopment of the in-process metrology system in this project. Huddersfield team has developed DRI system and completed an initial evaluation so far.
Impact We have developed the first generation of the DRI.
Start Year 2013
 
Description Medical implant manufacturing 
Organisation Depuy International
Country United Kingdom 
Sector Private 
PI Contribution Consultancy service on knee joint implants manufacturing
Collaborator Contribution Providing raw materials for machining trials; potential financial support for EngD or KTP projects,
Impact DePuy has organised a technical meeting with R&D directors and Production managers after a factory tour for Prof. Xichun Luo. Through the meeting an initial machining trial plan has been fixed; the financial support mechanism has also been discussed. Depuy (Ireland) has sponsored £60k for two PhD students who worked on process development of artificial knee joints by using the machining system developed in this project started from October 2015. The artificial knee joints are perfect demonstrators for the project.
Start Year 2014
 
Description Research Strategic Alliance Agreement with MIRDC, Taiwan 
Organisation Metal Industries Research and Development Centre, Taiwan
Country Taiwan, Province of China 
Sector Academic/University 
PI Contribution Exchange of research staff and researchers; exchange of information on micro machine tool market; joint technical workshop and proposal applications
Collaborator Contribution Validation machining trials in MIRDC; promote University of Strathclyde's micro machining and machine tool development capacity in Asia market.
Impact First joint technical meeting has been held in November 2013 to discuss the CNC control system for micro machine tools; Ten sets of demonstrators (micro lens and mounts) have been machined in October 2014 at MIRDC which will be used as bench mark to evaluate the new machined to be developed in 2015 at the University of Strathclyde.
Start Year 2013
 
Description UCLA - Microfluidics manufacturing 
Organisation University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA)
Country United States 
Sector Academic/University 
PI Contribution Providing consultancy service to manufacture new optomicrofluidics
Collaborator Contribution Providing design of new type of optomicrofluidics (as demonstrator) of the project; provide raw materials
Impact A research seminar on optopmicrofluidics was given by Prof. Eric Chiou in August 2014 at the University of Strathclyde to the researchers working for the EPSRC project. This seminar has help our researcher knowing state of the art microfluidics design and requirement on manufacturing capacity. This is an multi-disciplinary collaboration which involves biomedical, optical, mechanical, electronics disciplines.
Start Year 2014
 
Description Ultra precision diamond turning diffractive optics for 3D holographic system 
Organisation Holoxica
Country United Kingdom 
Sector Private 
PI Contribution Consultancy service to support the company's product development.
Collaborator Contribution Research team at Strathclyde has diamond turned two diffractive optics to support the company to develop the 3D holographic system. The team also help characterise the surface roughness, form accuracy of the machine diffractive optics.
Impact The company is satisfied with the quality of the machined optics after optical testing. We will continue to support the company to machine larger optics. The collaboration also help us to find new potential international collaborations with Fraunhofer Heinrich-Hertz-Institutfrom and KIT, both in Germany.
Start Year 2016
 
Description Ultra precision machining micro resonator 
Organisation Fraunhofer Society
Department Fraunhofer Centre for Applied Photonics (CAP)
Country United Kingdom 
Sector Academic/University 
PI Contribution machining micro resonator
Collaborator Contribution Design of micro resonator which is chosen as the project demonstrator
Impact Fraunhofer team designed the resonator. Prof. Xichun Luo's (PI of the project) team has designed the fixture for machining the resonator on the machine developed under the EPSRC project. Fraunhofer researcher will test it. One joint journal publication is planned.
Start Year 2015
 
Description Visiting researchers from Harbin Institute of Technology 
Organisation Harbin Institute of Technology
Country China 
Sector Academic/University 
PI Contribution Host : Hosting academic visitors
Collaborator Contribution They have contributed to the conceptual design of the machine tools and bearing design in this EPSRC project
Impact We have published five journal papers and 2 conference papers (One paper got Best Paper Award on IEEE 20th ICAC conference) : 1 W Chen, Y Liang, X Luo, Y Sun and H Wang, Multi-scale surface simulation of the KDP crystal fly cutting machining, International Journal of Advanced Manufacturing Technology, 2014, doi:10.1007/s00170-014-5748-0 2 Y Liang, W Chen, C An, X Luo, G Chen and Q Zhang, Investigation of the tool-tip vibration and its influence upon surface generation in flycutting, Proceedings of IMechE Part C: Journal of Mechanical Engineering Science, 2014, doi: 10.1177/0954406213516440 3 Y Liang, W Chen, Y Sun, X Luo, L Lu and H Liu, A mechanical structure-based design method and its implementation on a fly-cutting machine tool design, International Journal of Advanced Manufacturing Technology, 2014, 70(9-12), pp. 1915-1921. 4 W. Chen, X. Luo, H. Su and F. Wardle, An integrated system for ultra precision machine tool design in conceptual and design stage, International Journal of Advanced Manufacturing Technology, 2015, DOI: 10.1007/s00170-015-7780-0 5 D. Wu, B. Wang, X. Luo and Z. Qiao, Design and analysis of aerostatic spindle with high load characteristics for large ultra-precision drum lathe, Proc. IMechE, Part J: Journal of Engineering Tribology, 2015, DOI: 10.1177/1350650115579678. 6 77. D. Wu, B. Wang and X. Luo, Research on load characteristics of aerostatic journal bearing with pocketed orifice-type restrictor, Proceedings of the IEEE 20th International Conference on Automation & Computing, Cranfield Bedfordshire UK, 12-13 September 2014, pp. 92-95. (Best Paper Award) 7. W. Chen, Y. Liang, X. Luo and W. Xie, An integrated dynamic design system for aerostatic spindle development, Proceedings of the IEEE 20th International Conference on Automation & Computing, Cranfield Bedfordshire UK, 12-13 September 2014, pp. 96-99. Also Prof. Yingchun Liang, Prof. Yazhou Sun and Prof. Shen Dong have delivered seminar talks at the University of Strathclyde. These talks allow the researchers working in the EPSRC project knowing the recent ultra precision machine tool development in China.
Start Year 2013
 
Title An Improved Gripper 
Description A gripper for handling objects is provided. The gripper comprises a body (12) containing a drive mechanism, and a pair of arms (18,20). Each arm (18,20) comprises a proximal arm member (22) rotatably connected to the body (12), and a distal arm member (24) rotatably connected to the proximal arm member about a first axis of rotation. Each arm (18,20) also has a link drive member (68) rotatably connected to the body (12), and a proximal link (84) arranged within each proximal arm member (22). The proximal link (84) has a first end connected to the link drive member (68), and a second end connected to the distal arm member (24) at a location offset from the first axis of rotation. For each arm (18,20) the drive mechanism rotates both the proximal arm member (22) and the link drive member (68) relative to the body (12). 
IP Reference  
Protection Patent application published
Year Protection Granted 2016
Licensed No
Impact N/A
 
Title Demonstration application for the real-time interpolator for parametric curves Ver1.1 
Description The authors have developed two applications for readers to test the Real-time Interpolator algorithms. Those algorithms are implemented in the RTIPC.exe Windows application. It can interpret the specified G-code and generate the interpolated points, which can be sent to servo system to control axes motions. The IntDataVisu.m is a Matlab program, it is used to visualize the output file from RTIPC.exe. It helps readers to analyze the characteristics of the Real-time Interpolator with user-friendly figures. Full documentation is available in the PDF file provided in the zip file. Please note that this is the updated version 1.1 dataset. 
Type Of Technology Software 
Year Produced 2017 
Impact this algorithm, for the first time, utilizes the original toolpath as the control polygon, and the approximation deviation is controlled by inserting and moving new control points on this control polygon. Furthermore, this algorithm guarantees the minimum average deviation between the original toolpath and the approximation curve without evaluating the Hausdorff distance between them. Therefore, this algorithm can significantly reduce the computation load and achieve much better approximation accuracy compared with existing global curve approximation methods. 
URL http://dx.doi.org/10.15129/a07cf57a-d18c-4764-b6cb-64052b184538
 
Title Linear toolpath smoothing demonstration application 
Description The authors have developed two applications for readers to test the real-time global linear toolpath smoothing algorithm. The algorithm is implemented in the SmoothingDemoApp.exe Windows application. It can read linear toolpath points from a file and save the smoothing results to a file for the following applications. The ToolpathVisu.m is a Matlab program, it is used to visualize the smoothing process. It helps readers to analyze the characteristics of the smoothing algorithm with user-friendly figures. Full documentation is available in the PDF file provided in the zip file. 
Type Of Technology Software 
Year Produced 2018 
Impact The experiments have shown that it can achieve the real-time feature. Moreover, it can not only simplify the coding significantly, but also achieve ten times productivity increase compared with the linear interpolator. The proposed interpolator can also achieve much smoother motion profiles than the state-of-the-art PVT interpolator and has the advantage in limiting contour error. 
URL http://dx.doi.org/10.15129/75c22cfe-2cee-4527-9c77-9611658876d1
 
Description 1st International Conference on Cutting Simulation Technology 
Form Of Engagement Activity A talk or presentation
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach Local
Primary Audience Other audiences
Results and Impact 1st International Conference on Cutting Simulation Technology
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2017
 
Description 4th International Conference on New Forming Technology 
Form Of Engagement Activity Participation in an activity, workshop or similar
Part Of Official Scheme? Yes
Type Of Presentation paper presentation
Geographic Reach International
Primary Audience Professional Practitioners
Results and Impact The conference was held in August 2015, in Glasgow.

A high impact is expected to be achieved due to many high-level international players being involved in preparing this conference.
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2015
URL http://www.icnft2015.com/
 
Description A keynote talk on IEEE 25th International Conference on Automation & Computing 
Form Of Engagement Activity A formal working group, expert panel or dialogue
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach International
Primary Audience Postgraduate students
Results and Impact 150 delegated attended this opening keynote talk on the cocnference . The talk sparked question and interested on hybrid ultra-precision machining appraoch. The autdiens showed great interest in the research and development of integration of automation, control with ultra-precision machining technology.
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2019
 
Description An inivited talk on 2nd Symposium on Smart and ACSM Manufacturing 
Form Of Engagement Activity A formal working group, expert panel or dialogue
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach International
Primary Audience Industry/Business
Results and Impact Around 100 delegates attend the talk, mostly are industiralists. The talk sparked good discussions on applications of laser technology to the medical sector. After the symposium this discuss is followed by further communication in research collaborations in this subject area.
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2019
URL https://www.ucd.ie/mecheng/newsandevents/the2ndaetsymposiumonsmartandacsmmanufacturingaet2019/
 
Description Conference organiser for 21st IEEE International Conference on Automation and Computing 
Form Of Engagement Activity Participation in an activity, workshop or similar
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach International
Primary Audience Professional Practitioners
Results and Impact Conference chair, oversee and manage the organisation of the conference, micromachining exhibition
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2015
URL http://csee.essex.ac.uk/ICAC2015/
 
Description Conference organiser for the 20th IEEE International Conference on Automation and Computing 
Form Of Engagement Activity Participation in an activity, workshop or similar
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Type Of Presentation paper presentation
Geographic Reach International
Primary Audience Professional Practitioners
Results and Impact Programme Chair for this international conference, organising review, conference programme

Researchers from Liverpool, Nottingham Universities have expressed interests on further exploitation of the new air bearing and prepare for joint EPSRC grant application.
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2014
URL http://ieeexplore.ieee.org/xpl/mostRecentIssue.jsp?punumber=6924028
 
Description Hybrid Mamanufacturing Workshop 
Form Of Engagement Activity A formal working group, expert panel or dialogue
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach National
Primary Audience Postgraduate students
Results and Impact We held a workshop on Hybrid Micro-manufacturing on 28 June 2019. The purpose of the workshop is disseminate the key research findings of the project to industry, PG student and policy makers. 43 delegates attended this workshop including 4 industrialists, 1 research manager of Scottish Enterprise and 38 researchers (PhDs, PDRA and academics).
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2016
 
Description Innovate UK AUTOMAN Project Briefing 
Form Of Engagement Activity A talk or presentation
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach International
Primary Audience Professional Practitioners
Results and Impact An invited briefing on the project at the 4th International Conference on New Forming Technology, held in August 2015, in Glasgow.
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2015
 
Description Innovate UK-Industrial Strategy Challenge Fund (ISCF): Manufacturing & Materials of the Future 
Form Of Engagement Activity Participation in an activity, workshop or similar
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach National
Primary Audience Professional Practitioners
Results and Impact Innovate UK workshop. Participate and provide advice to Innovate UK and EPSRC
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2017
 
Description Invited Forum speaker at The Fourteenth International Federation for the Promotion of Mechanism and Machine Science World Congress 
Form Of Engagement Activity A talk or presentation
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach International
Primary Audience Professional Practitioners
Results and Impact To present recent advances in reconfiguration robots and to debate with speakers from both industries and academia about the future trend in intelligent machine tool.
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2015
 
Description Invited lecture on Micro-Manufacturing Technology and Applications to the Manufacture of High-Value Added Products 
Form Of Engagement Activity A talk or presentation
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach National
Primary Audience Other audiences
Results and Impact Delivered a lecture on on Micro-Manufacturing Technology and Applications to the Manufacture of High-Value Added Products; to share information with other academic audiences (collaborators, peers etc.).
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2014
 
Description Invited lecture: Deterministic manufacturing of ultra precision and freeform surfaces 
Form Of Engagement Activity A talk or presentation
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach National
Primary Audience Professional Practitioners
Results and Impact Delivered a presentation on deterministic manufacturing of ultra precision and freeform surfaces, in order to share information with other academic audiences (collaborators, peers etc).
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2013
 
Description Invited talk at The 27th IFToMM PC, A Working Meeting on Standardization of Terminology in Mechanism and Machine Science, Fuzhou, China, 26-31 October, 2018 
Form Of Engagement Activity A talk or presentation
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach International
Primary Audience Postgraduate students
Results and Impact 140 people, including about 70 postgraduates, attended the presentation, which sparked discussions on future potential collaborations/visits with researchers from China and Australia.
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2018
 
Description Invited talk at the NEC industrial exhbition 
Form Of Engagement Activity A talk or presentation
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach International
Primary Audience Industry/Business
Results and Impact The talk was given to the audience who were in the stands involving industrial exhibitors as well as general visitors, and it introduced the research activities in Strathclyde, including that conducted in the AUTOMAN project and Micro-3D project. The talk helped to raise the profile of the research and created awareness on those projects.
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2017
 
Description Invited talk on 7th International Conference on Nanomanufacturing 
Form Of Engagement Activity A talk or presentation
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach International
Primary Audience Postgraduate students
Results and Impact Give an invited talk on new nanomanufacturing approach. over 200 postgraduates listened to the talk. The talk has encouraged more applications to PhD student at Xi'an Jiaotong University.
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2021
 
Description Invited talk on IEEE International Conference of Optical Imaging and Measurement 
Form Of Engagement Activity A talk or presentation
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach International
Primary Audience Professional Practitioners
Results and Impact Give talk on manufacturing of precision moulds and dies by nanosecond laser. It sparked discussion on application of laser to generated functional surface in the field of aerospace industry.
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2021
 
Description Invited talk on IMCC2017 Conference 
Form Of Engagement Activity A talk or presentation
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach Local
Primary Audience Other audiences
Results and Impact Invited talk on IMCC2017 Conference
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2017
 
Description Invited talk on materials forming research and applications in aerospace industry 
Form Of Engagement Activity A talk or presentation
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach National
Primary Audience Industry/Business
Results and Impact Invited talk on materials forming research and applications in aerospace industry in the "Formed in the UK" conference.
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2015
 
Description Keynote talk on 7th Asia Pacific International Conference on Optics Manufacturing 
Form Of Engagement Activity A talk or presentation
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach International
Primary Audience Professional Practitioners
Results and Impact Keynote talk on ultra precision machining nanooptics. Over 100 Pupils from Shanghai Middle School listen the talk and encourage more applications to Fudan University (Shanghai) in the subject of optics manufacturing.
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2021
 
Description Keynote talk to EPSRC Early Career Forum Workshop 
Form Of Engagement Activity A formal working group, expert panel or dialogue
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach National
Primary Audience Other audiences
Results and Impact Over 10 EPSRC Engineering Early Career Researchers attended the work. It sparked discussion multiscale digital twin driven smart manufacturing system.
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2023
 
Description Manufacturing In a Changing World 
Form Of Engagement Activity A formal working group, expert panel or dialogue
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach National
Primary Audience Professional Practitioners
Results and Impact Panel meeting to discuss emerging structures for UK research & Innovation, workshop discussion on emerging manufacturing research challenge.
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2016
 
Description Medcity 
Form Of Engagement Activity A formal working group, expert panel or dialogue
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach National
Primary Audience Professional Practitioners
Results and Impact Develop-Entreprenuer training
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2016
 
Description Scientific committee member for European Society of Precision Engineering and Nanotechnology 
Form Of Engagement Activity A formal working group, expert panel or dialogue
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Type Of Presentation poster presentation
Geographic Reach International
Primary Audience Professional Practitioners
Results and Impact Member of programme committee, review papers, recommendation,selection best paper award and studentship

After the talk researchers from Leuven University, Frauhofer IPT, Bremen University have visited my lab and discussed potential joint EU Horizon 2020 grant applications.
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2014,2015,2016
URL http://www.euspen.eu/OurEvents.aspx
 
Description Session chair on EPSRC Manufacturing the future conference 
Form Of Engagement Activity Participation in an activity, workshop or similar
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach National
Primary Audience Professional Practitioners
Results and Impact Chair session on EPSPC Manufacturing the future conference; to share information with other academic audiences (collaborators, peers etc.).
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2015
URL http://ukmanufacturing2015.eng.cam.ac.uk/
 
Description University Research Day 
Form Of Engagement Activity Participation in an open day or visit at my research institution
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach Regional
Primary Audience Other academic audiences (collaborators, peers etc.)
Results and Impact Gained the feedback from industry participants and other researchers on the project direction and application

Gained more information on the practical application of the technology being developed.
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2014