Cranfield Precision's main business is the design and manufacture of state of the art Special Purpose Machines in many cases designed to produce large, high precision optics. Some of these machines use the Zygo ZMI-4000 displacement interferometer systems for high speed, high accuracy closed-loop feedback over long distances. They currently use a state of the art controller system that can utilize the full capabilities of the ZMI-4004 4 axis measurement boards.
These are generally one-off special purpose machines developed to their full potential at Cranfield Precision with the manufacturing facility at Landis Lund capable of Batch Production.
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Below is a list of machines that Cranfield Precision can tell us about, that it has designed and manufactured using the Zygo Displacement Interferometer systems:
- 3 axis CNC machine for grinding complex surfaces of large mirrors over an area of 2.5m x 2.5m (100in x 100in)
- The OAGM 2500 Large segmented mirror arrays are built in jigsaw fashion from many non-rotationally symmetric parts. These glass structures, figured on the off-axis grinding machine, are shaped asymmetrically up to 2.5m square by 800mm deep. The machine weighs 130 tonnes and incorporates 9 axes of laser interferometry at 2.5nm linear resolution. A metrology frame based on three Zerodur straight edges eliminates errors caused by heavy moving carriages. The OAGM 2500, the largest ultra-precision grinding machine ever built, remains in full production at Kodak Federal Systems Division, Rochester, NY, USA.
- The Nanocentre was, in its time, the most accurate machine tool of its size ever built: Major features are: Granitan structure, hydrostatic linear and rotary axes bearings, laser interferometry resolving position to 1.25nm, built in refractometry, multi-axis synchronised moves using the older CNC3200, 32 bit microprocessor controller, friction driven X and Z axes, automatic CNC tool setting to 5nm repeatability with an optical tool setting system; temperature control to all liquid systems to within ±0.01°C. The machine can be changed from diamond turning to state of the art shear mode grinding of optical components in a few hours.
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For more information on the Cranfield Precision Special Purpose Machines visit their website.