World leaders combine with Huddersfield researchers to develop ne
Tue, 28 Jun 2011 16:02:00 BST
Scientists at the University of Huddersfield have supplied their expertise to many major companies. But sometimes it is the world-class technical facilities installed at the University that are of invaluable help to a firm developing a new product.
Renishaw, a company whose HQ is in Gloucestershire, is globally renowned for its innovations and skills in the fields of measurement, motion control, spectroscopy and precision machining.
Co-founded in 1973 by Sir David McMurtry – who is a visiting professor at the University of Huddersfield – one of Renishaw’s latest products is a software system named Productivity +. And its development was greatly assisted by access to a £200,000 machine at the University.
It is a Geiss 5-axis machine tool, used for research by the Engineering Control and Machine Performance, which is part of the University of Huddersfield Centre for Precision Technologies. The equipment is also used teaching purposes, industrial training by leading companies such as Rolls Royce and BAE Systems and to produce parts for the Formula Student car that is designed, made and raced each year by students at the University’s School of Computing and Engineering.
But 5-axis machines that are used exclusively for industry are often in continual use for manufacturing and therefore less likely to be available as a test bed for research and innovation.
Therefore it was a great arrangement to be able to use the Geiss machine at Huddersfield, says Mike Bond, who is a senior application engineer at Renishaw and who has been working on the development of Productivity + , a product which is now achieving high sales across the world.
It is a software package that improves the performance and utility of probes that are attached to machines in order to increase the accuracy with which they manufacture parts. Productivity + enables a probe to be programmed graphically, cutting out the need for an operator to master complex computer language.
Also, the package is an aid to “lights out” manufacturing, when machines are used more productively by running round the clock.
Now a promotional video for Productivity + has been made at the University of Huddersfield. Allan Kennedy – who is Senior Applications Engineer for the
Centre for Precision Technologies – was filmed operating the Geiss 5-axis machine, equipped with a probe and the software package.
Part of the arrangement between Renishaw and the University is that Productivity + can be used for teaching and research purposes.
“We have a very good partnership with the firm,” says Professor Alan Myers, who heads the Engineering Control and Machine Performance Group at the University.
And Renishaw’s Mike Bond added that the firm was very grateful for the chance to use the Geiss machine.
“It’s a great situation for us because we get to introduce the software to people who are already familiar with probing and can see what we are doing. And not only can we do some testing on the machine, if students gain knowledge of it and can see its benefits, then that is a fantastic opportunity too”.
