Engineering TV : Lasers

EOS Laser Sintering Technology

CurtisEllzey — Mon, 12 Oct 2009 12:00:00 GMT

Laser sintering is a generative layer manufacturing technology. Any three-dimensional geometry can be built effectively and flexibly, without any tools or laborious milling path programming. During production, the 3D CAD model is sliced into layers. EOS's innovative laser-sintering technology then builds the required geometry layer by layer. The energy of a laser solidifies powder-based materials, for example plastic, metal or foundry sand. The laser-sintering process allows for the production of several different parts in one single build job. For more information, visit EOS Electro Optical Systems.

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WKU Architectural and Manufacturing Sciences

CurtisEllzey — Thu, 17 Sep 2009 14:10:00 GMT
Students of WKU's Department of Architectural and Manufacturing Sciences are training to work in management in the manufacturing business, and for their senior project are asked to come up with a simple task - design a product and build it. Working like a business, the students have to order the parts within a budget and divide into task-driven teams. One student, Joshua Ferriell, the project manager, said one of the greatest challenges was learning the lathe, laser and mill, then programming everything to operate with a push of one button. Students are learning the unique skill of integrating some of the most advanced manufacturing tools in the industry, making the young engineers highly marketable in the job field. Also watch this episode: WKU Advanced Manufacturing Lab. For more information, visit Ogden College of Science & Engineering and FESTO Didactic.

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Integration with FESTO

CurtisEllzey — Wed, 16 Sep 2009 13:57:00 GMT
When WKU decided to upgrade its manufacturing lab, they turned to FESTO, who had the combination of technical knowledge and experience they were looking for to complete their project, the primary hurdle being integration of newer mechatronic and computer systems with their current batch of machine tools. Dan Blanck, regional manager with FESTO, said the system is one of the most progressive manufacturing labs in the nation at the college level. “At other schools, (mills, lathes and lasers) are not used together,” Blanck said. “I’ve seen stuff in corners, they’re using it, but not integrating it. And integrating it is the hardest part - it’s a tremendous reflection on this program.” Also watch this episode: WKU Architectural and Manufacturing Sciences. For more information, visit Ogden College of Science & Engineering and FESTO Didactic.

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Designing WKU's Advanced Manufacturing Lab

CurtisEllzey — Tue, 15 Sep 2009 14:05:00 GMT
Ever wonder what goes into setting up a mechatronics lab at a university these days? This episode reveals the process that faculty and students at WKU's advanced manufacturing lab used to set up their system, from choosing the robotics to integrate with their older systems, to the grant process that helped pay for the $1 million computer integrated manufacturing cell. Greg Arbuckle, assistant professor of architectural and manufacturing sciences at WKU, said the lab’s robotics arrived in January and have slowly been installed to consume much of the basement of the Environmental Sciences and Technology Hall. Also watch this episode: Integration with FESTO. For more information, visit Ogden College of Science & Engineering and FESTO Didactic.

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WKU Advanced Manufacturing Lab

CurtisEllzey — Mon, 14 Sep 2009 14:08:00 GMT
Engineering TV takes a look at Western Kentucky University's advanced manufacturing lab, recently integrated with new automation systems from FESTO. Once programmed, a robotic arm system from FESTO can transport material to a Haas mill, lathe and a 120 watt Epilog Legend 36EXT laser, independent of human interaction. The lab is the capstone of the Architectural and Manufacturing sciences curriculum at WKU's Ogden College of Science and Engineering, and allows the students access to automation systems and tools they would find in industry after graduation. Also watch this episode: Designing WKU's Advanced Manufacturing Lab. For more information, visit Ogden College of Science & Engineering and FESTO Didactic.

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Inertial Instruments for Space Navigation

CurtisEllzey — Thu, 07 May 2009 14:00:00 GMT
Paul Manley, of L-3 Space & Navigation, discusses some of the most accurate gyros in the world that L-3 manufactures for use in satellite navigation: Fiber Optic Gyros (FOGs), Ring Laser Gyros (RLGs), and Star Sensors. In addition, the RIFCA (Redundant Inertial Flight Control Assembly), comprised of a six ring laser gyro and six accelerometer system, provides guidance, flight control and mission sequencing functions and has flown over 100 missions to date with 100% success without ever having tripped redundancy. L-3 Space & Navigation is a major supplier of inertial systems, guidance, control and positioning equipment for satellites, artillery and launch vehicles. For more information, go to: L-3 Space & Navigation.

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Inside HERCULES - Part 2

CurtisEllzey — Thu, 19 Feb 2009 15:00:00 GMT
Engineering TV concludes our inside look at the University of Michigan's HERCULES Petawatt laser. Dr. Victor Yanovsky elaborates on their amplification process, the compression of the output pulse using a 4-grating compressor, and the interaction chamber where the super-intense beam is focused by a parabolic mirror. Through projects like HERCULES, the goal of the NSF funded Physics Frontier Center FOCUS is to explore the ultra-relativistic intensity regime of laser-matter interaction, and ultimately reach 1023 W/cm2, by focusing about 15 J at 30 fsec (500 TW) to a diffraction limited focal spot of about 1 micron. Also watch these episodes: HERCULES Petawatt Laser and Inside HERCULES - Part 1. For more information, go to: Center for Ultrafast Optical Science.

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Inside HERCULES - Part 1

CurtisEllzey — Wed, 18 Feb 2009 15:00:00 GMT
Dr. Victor Yanovsky takes us on an in-depth walk-through of the HERCULES Petawatt laser, starting with the short pulse oscillator on through the stretching of the energy pulse using their modified mirror-in-grating design. Ultrashort laser pulses are the shortest controlled bursts of energy ever developed. Optical pulses of a few femtoseconds (10-15 s) duration can be used to probe the fastest events in atomic, molecular, biochemical, and solid state systems. When amplified to even modest energies, such short pulses can achieve the highest peak powers. Also watch these episodes: HERCULES Petawatt Laser and Inside HERCULES - Part 2. For more information, go to: Center for Ultrafast Optical Science.

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HERCULES Petawatt Laser

CurtisEllzey — Tue, 17 Feb 2009 15:00:00 GMT
Engineering TV visited The Center for Ultrafast Optical Science at the University of Michigan to take a closer look at HERCULES, a high-field petawatt class laser. The beam measures 20 billion trillion watts per square centimeter, contains 300 terawatts of power (300 times the capacity of the entire U.S. electricity grid), and is capable of producing this intense beam once every 10 seconds. Applications include optical communications at the terabit level, studies involving the behavior of electrons in quantum structures, and biomedical fields such as eye surgery , subcellular "nanomachining", and in vivo sensing (for example in vivo cytometry of circulating cancer cells). The National Science Foundation through the Physics Frontier Center FOCUS supports the development and construction of this laser. Also watch these episodes: Inside HERCULES - Part 1 and Inside HERCULES - Part 2. For more information, go to: Center for Ultrafast Optical Science.

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Velodyne LIDAR

CurtisEllzey — Tue, 23 Dec 2008 15:00:00 GMT
The idea and deployment of TOF (time of flight) systems is not new - if you've ever been caught in a LIDAR speed trap this same technology was in use. Velodyne's unique contribution to the state-of-the art in sensing comes from its approach of using multiple emitter/detector pairs and rotating the entire unit. The first member of Velodyne's LIDAR product line is the HDL-64E, a 64-element LIDAR sensor that delivers a 360-degree HFOV and a 26.8-degree VFOV. The HDL-64E was used by five out of six of the finishing teams at the 2007 DARPA Urban Challenge, including the winning and second place teams. It was also used by Radiohead for their recent "House of Cards" music video that was shot entirely without cameras. Velodyne's unique LIDAR technology can be used wherever sophisticated 3-D environment understanding is required: robotics, map capture, surveying, autonomous navigation, automotive safety systems, and industrial applications. For more info, go to: Velodyne LIDAR.

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CMU Photonics

CurtisEllzey — Wed, 18 Jun 2008 15:23:00 GMT
At Carnegie Mellon University, Professor Elias Towe's group pursues research in basic optical and quantum phenomena in materials for applications in novel photonic devices that enable a new generation of information processing systems for communication, computation, and sensing. The group is also interested in understanding new pathways and fundamental mechanisms for solar energy conversion devices. Current focus is on the use of phenomena (such as three-dimensional quantum-confinement effects in nanometer-scale structures) in the study of novel devices. Examples include: quantum-dot infrared detectors and imaging sensors, electrically-pumped photonic crystal micro-cavity lasers with quantum-dot active regions, multi-spectral solar energy conversion devices, plasmonic bio-sensors, and fluorescence bio-sensing devices.

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MIRTHE

CurtisEllzey — Tue, 25 Mar 2008 14:48:00 GMT
MIRTHE is a National Science Foundation Engineering Research Center headquartered at Princeton University, with partners City College New York, Johns Hopkins University, Rice, Texas A&M, and the University of Maryland Baltimore County. The center encompasses a world-class team of engineers, chemists, physicists, environmental and bio-engineers, and clinicians. MIRTHE's goal is to develop Mid-Infrared (l - 3-30 mm) optical trace gas sensing systems based on new technologies such as quantum cascade lasers or quartz enhanced photo-acoustic spectroscopy, with the ability to detect minute amounts of chemicals found in the environment or atmosphere, emitted from spills, combustion, or natural sources, or exhaled.

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Quantum Cascade Lasers

CurtisEllzey — Mon, 24 Mar 2008 14:20:00 GMT
QC lasers are a rapidly evolving class of high-performamce, mid-infrared, semiconductor light sources. They offer considerable wavelength tunability, high output power, high-speed modulation capabilities and may be fabricated in several different materials systems. At Princeton, Dr. Claire Gmachl's designs have applications in environmental monitoring, clinical diagnoses, spectroscopy, and chemical process control.

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