SBIR Phase II: 3-D Surface Profilometry using Standing Wave Technology

This Small Business Innovation Research Phase II research project will address the continued development of a novel sensor to enable form and finish of complex microscale structures as well as extend the technology to larger parts requiring three dimensional surface profilometry. The company is partnering with a global leader in the metrology industry to adapt this sensor and the corresponding gauging technology to their coordinate measuring machine. The culmination of this work will be a capstone industry specific demonstration on a new three dimensional surface profiler. The broader impact of this research is the ability to provide a measurement capability not currently possible in one tool. Form and surface finish are inseparable in manufacturing and significantly impact functionality of a component in industries ranging from medical implant (for orthopedic bearing surfaces) to automotive (crank shafts or injector spray holes). Product reliability in these applications depends on the quality of the subcomponents and mating parts which is defined by the capability of the measurement technology. This measurement tool will provide a new measurement capability that will ultimately give better understanding of the manufacturing process and therefore the ability to make a higher quality and safer product.