Schaumburg, IL, Sept. 22, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Twelve NUMERIK JENA LIKgo encoders from HEIDENHAIN have been donated to support the current ASPE Student Challenge. With six university teams competing, these encoders will be of use in the six critical XY stages being provided to the student teams for use in the competitions being held this year and next.
“The ASPE Student Challenge is an annual precision engineering student competition inviting students from engineering and technical disciplines to participate in designing and building a precision mechanical system and showcase their precision engineering efforts/skills during the competition at an annual conference,” explained ASPE Student Challenge committeeman Luis Aguirre of 3M. “We are very thankful to HEIDENHAIN for their donation enabling these students to utilize exacting tools to conduct their research and complete their projects for the competition.”
Since this year’s annual October ASPE meeting has gone to a virtual setting due to the global pandemic, the parameters of the original 2020 Student Challenge have been changed to two parts. The goal of the 2020 Challenge is to build a scribe tool controller and Z-axis mechanism that can be integrated with an XY scanning platform to produce a mechanical ruling system. Their work can be completed in a safe school setting or at their homes, with reports, videos and online Q&As required for submission. Awards will be presented for this Part A section on Oct. 21, 2020.
Then the in-person October 2021 Student Challenge (if possible) will require the teams to demonstrate the scribe tool controller mounted into an XY stage at the conference to generate a grating pattern with 50 lines per millimeter over a minimum 5 mm x 3 mm substrate area (a total of 150 to 250 lines). A winner for Part B will be selected at that time.
“As supporters of ASPE, we believe it is important to encourage R&D and our students anytime we can, especially during these current difficult times,” said HEIDENHAIN’s Director of Communications Tom Wyatt. “The gift of the NUMERIK JENA LIKgo exposed optical encoders with their unique two-field scanning technology and very high signal quality promise to meet the needs of this ASPE Student Challenge.” These lightweight LIKgo encoders can be used in a wide range of applications, are easy to install and offer users a 20 µm grating period and measuring steps up to 78.125 nm.
The universities competing in the current ASPE Student Challenge include:
- The University of Texas at Austin
- North Carolina State University
- University of Michigan
- University of Michigan – Dearborn
- The Chinese University of Hong Kong
- Navajo Technical University
More information about the ASPE Student Challenge is available here:
https://aspe.net/35th-annual-meeting/35th-annual-meeting-student-challenge/
#
Downloadable high-resolution digital image at:
https://www.heidenhain.us/wp-content/uploads/LIKgo_new_02.55-1.jpg
About HEIDENHAIN
DR. JOHANNES HEIDENHAIN GmbH, headquartered in Traunreut, Germany, develops and supports motion control feedback solutions for the machine tool, semiconductor, electronics assembly and test, metrology, automation, medical, energy, biotechnology and other global markets. HEIDENHAIN employs approximately 6,000 people worldwide in its core business activities. The North American subsidiary is HEIDENHAIN CORPORATION, headquartered in Schaumburg, IL, and San Jose, CA, and has been serving the U.S. industry for over 50 years. Here nine company brands are represented. More information at: www.heidenhain.us/about-us
About ASPE
The American Society for Precision Engineering (ASPE) strives to advance the arts, sciences, and technology of precision engineering – a discipline that encompasses the design, development, and manufacturing of and for high-accuracy components, instruments, and machines. www.aspe.net
Attachment