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Mar/Apr 2013  

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Inspection/ Measurement/ Quality Control

Top Features

‘Honey, I shrunk the microscope’

There are smaller microscopes—if you include the endoscopic variety—but a miniature fluorescence microscope recently developed at Stanford University is a standout at just under an inch tall and weighing less than 2g. Though it can easily rest on your fingertip, the device grabs more attention for its technological prowess and, possibly, for looking as though actor Rick Moranis created the device by shrinking its larger cousin.

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Desktop digital comparators proving popular

While not everyone agrees that digital technology is better than analog, digital is the way most technology is trending—and optical comparators are no exception.

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Data-rich inspection tool has a light touch

Though they may not be throwing away their conventional probing tools in droves, micromanufacturers are showing increased interest in an inspection alternative that yields large amounts of data and goes easy on small, fragile parts.

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Checking the checker

Inspecting parts is an important element of the manufacturing process, but equally important is calibrating the metrology equipment performing that work. Parts makers and metrology labs need to ensure the devices they’re using to measure parts are as accurate as possible.

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Parts inspection: in-house or outsource?

Inspecting microparts is an important part of the manufacturing process, but not all shops can handle this role themselves. So they send their parts to a parts-inspection service provider. But, would they be better off doing it themselves?

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Smart manufacturing drives new standards

Being able to measure what you make is critical to successful manufacturing. And as manufacturing evolves, so too must the science of measurement.

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Top Videos

New meaning for roach control

Cyborg CockroachIf only exterminators could control cockroaches with the same precision demonstrated by North Carolina State University researchers who steer a Madagascar Hissing cockroach along an S-shaped line in the video below.

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Microscopic mouse hat

mouse hat thumbA miniature fluorescence microscope originally developed at Stanford University and used for neuroscienctific research on mice in 2011, was able to record neurons firing simultaneously in bands of up to 30 neurons while the mice were moving. The neuron pattern—something never before observed because it only appears when mice are actively moving—is shown in the video below.

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Radio spindle probing from Blum

Yesenia Salcedo, senior editor with Cutting Tool Engineering and MICROmanufacturing magazines, interviews Blum LMT Inc. President Jon C. Kulikowski about the company's origins and its new radio spindle probing technology.

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Measuring surface roughness

Drew Griffin, sales applications scientist at Bruker AXS Inc., Madison, Wis., demonstrates how the company's ContourGT-K1 3-D Optical Microscope is used to measure surface roughness at the micro scale. The video was shot at the Bruker AXS booth during IMTS 2012 in Chicago.

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Fraunhofer IPA's ultra cleanroom featured

The Ultraclean Technology and Micromanufacturing department with the Fraunhofer Institute of Production and Automation (Fraunhofer IPA), Stuttgart, Germany, develops integrated, innovative and results-oriented solutions for micromanufacturing tasks involving processes, equipment and production technology, according to the Fraunhofer IPA Web site.

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Top Products

Printed circuit board drill analyzer

Titan Tool Supply Inc.

Titan printed circuitTitan Tool Supply’s printed circuit drill analyzing microscope (PCBM) was designed so that two different views, in two different planes of the drill to be inspected, are possible without changing the setup.

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Zygo Mini for production metrology

Zygo Corporation

Zygo MiniThe Zygo Mini from Zygo Corp. is a compact self-contained interferometer system used for production metrology.

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North Star Imaging debuts system for submicron resolution imaging

North Star Imaging, Inc.

X25North Star Imaging’s new X25 is a compact digital X-ray and computed tomography (CT) system designed for submicron resolution imaging and ultra-high-accuracy scanning.The system can inspect small- to medium-sized objects in electronics, medical devices and other products.

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Test, measurement, inspection

Aerotech Inc.

Aerotech catalogA catalog from Aerotech Inc. on motion and automation for test, measurement and inspection covers the company’s motion capabilities in applications such as sensor testing, surface profiling, nondestructive testing, and semiconductor inspection and metrology.

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Measurement and inspection

Hexagon Metrology

Hexagon classicThe Optiv Classic 321GL tp from Hexagon Metrology Inc. is a benchtop, visionbased measuring machine with an accuracy approaching 0.002mm.

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