Getting leading-edge products to market faster than one's competition, is a key concern of the Nation's manufacturing enterprises. Correspondingly, many designers "out there on the Interned" quickly want "one-of-a-kind" mechanical prototypes or small batches of parts, to visualize and experiment with during the early conceptual stages of a new "high-tech" product. This grant will be used to build "an experimental fabrication testbed" for an Internet-accessible, computerized machining service called "CyberCut". Client- designers will be able to create mechanical components, beginning with a CAD system of their choice, and submit appropriate files to the server at Berkeley for process planning. "CyberCut" will utilize an existing open-architecture, computerized machining tool at Berkeley for fabrication. Rapid tool-path planning, novel fixturing techniques, and sensor-based precision machining techniques will allow the original designer to take delivery of a component with a high-strength and tight-tolerance {e.g., +/- 0.00 inch (0.05mm)}. "CyberCut" will first be used by University collaborators at Carnegie Mellon, Stanford and the MTAMRI at Illinois. There will also be some instances where the design has a complex shape that cannot be prototyped by machining. Other "Solid Free Form" technologies will then need to be evaluated for the downstream prototype realization. A "Manufacturing Analysis Service" will be developed that will evaluate the design for fabrication by Stereolithography or Selective Laser Sintering. Industrial collaborators, Metalcast Engineering and Plynetics will be used for these extended services.
