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Abstract:
THE University of Huddersfield has confirmed its place at the global heart of precision engineering and the science of metrology. It was the venue for a two-day international conference in the field that attracted experts from around the world and featured presentations by seven researchers based at the University.

LAMDAMAP 2015 hosted by the University

Queensgate, UK | Posted on March 26th, 2015

The event was the Laser Metrology, Co-ordinate Measuring Machine and Machine Tool Performance conference and exhibition, known as LAMDAMAP. It was organised by euspen -the European Society for Precision Engineering and Nanotechnology - and the bi-annual event is established as a major showcase for cutting-edge research and new technological developments.

The University of Huddersfield's Professor Liam Blunt - who is a research director of the EPSRC Centre for Innovative Manufacturing in Advanced Metrology - is a member of the Scientific Committee of euspen. He offered the University as a venue for the 2015 LAMDAMAP and he chaired the conference.

The two days saw a sequence of sessions covering topics such as new developments in measurement techniques, metrology in new fabrication techniques, and performance evaluation for machine tools and coordinate measuring techniques.

The sessions featured contributions from 17 universities, research institutes and advanced manufacturers from the UK and countries that included Germany, Switzerland, Italy, Poland, Japan, Holland, Denmark and Sweden.

Host contribution

There were five contributions from Britain's National Physical Laboratory - which has a lab in the University of Huddersfield's 3M Buckley Innovation Centre - and seven from researchers at the host university.

Professor Paul Scott delivered a paper entitled Fundaments of measurement for testing software in computationally-intensive metrology. He reported on the outcome of a project for which he received a Researcher Excellence Grant of 130,000 euros from the EU-funded European Association of National Metrology Institutes (EURAMET). It is a large-scale project designed to demonstrate that metrology software is fit for purpose.

PhD researcher Mothana Hussein delivered a session keynote address in which he showed how advanced online metrology systems would provide better characterisation of processes and tools, leading to higher throughput and reduced cost of manufacturing.

Hamza Alzarok - also a PhD researcher based in the University's EPSRC Centre - presented findings from an investigation of a new technique that improves the tracking accuracy for the motion of robots while performing machining tasks. The proposed technique would enhance the visual information extracted from cameras in order to detect the position of the robot. It is simple and cost effective compared with the existing tracking techniques.

Mohamed Elrawemi - a PhD researcher working on the EU-funded NanoMend project at the University - delivered a paper that provided details of in-process optical defect detection and repair of thin film barrier layers of flexible roll-to-roll photo-voltaic modules. Such micro and nanoscale defects are detrimental to PV unit efficiency and longevity.

Dr Hussam Muhamedsalih, a research fellow in the EPSRC Centre, is also a member of the NanoMend team. He told the conference how nano-manufacturing technologies face the challenges of micro and nanoscale defects appearing at any stage of their production system. He reported on the recent work carried out as part of NanoMend to develop and implement a high precision on-line optical measurement system with the aim of providing defect detection and characterisation for thin films produced by a roll-to-roll process.

On the second day of the conference, during a session titled Performance evaluation for machine tools and CMMs, PhD researcher Moschos Papananias, delivered a paper in which he described how CNC machine tools are mechatronic systems incorporating non-linearities. He therefore proposed a multibody mechatronic model that would represent accurately the dynamic behaviour of the actual machine by using only one simulation environment. "Our approach provides a test environment offering modelling support for dynamic environments that may reduce significant cost within the NC controller design and trainings," he stated.

The final University of Huddersfield contribution came from PhD researcher Ayman Abuaniza, during a session titled Novel manufacturing technologies and machine tools. He told how continuous usage of machine tools during manufacturing processes causes heat generation in the moving elements, resulting in distortion of the machine structure. Simulation of this thermal behaviour can be a powerful tool for supporting design processes and predicting errors. A novel optimisation technique based on thermal imaging was used to calibrate the calculated thermal parameters.
The LAMDAMAP conference also included poster sessions that outlined new research and the event's main sponsor was the company Renishaw, a global leader in fields that include metrology and precision machining, which also has considerable links with the University.