Yesterday they, the class that is, took me on a really long ride to in Howell. I got to see some neat stuff there including the robots that make car fenders and stuff like that out of steel plates. Unfortunately for me, I did not get to see the presses in action actually stamping the metal into shape. I think that would be like the only "good" part of the workaround because those things are so heavy, that once they come down you can feel the ground beneath you vibrating. And, interestingly enough, they have this machine for measuring, which is made by the famous German company Zeiss. This machine measures how accurate the dimensions of a part are. It really is something. How does it work? It has a round tip, and it contacts the metal at various points, after which some software analyzes this data. This is likely the most accurate machine for measuring dimensional accuracy. It can measure down to approx. one millionth of an inch. To measure so accurately demands a high level of precision on the machine as well. The machine has temperature and humidity sensors built into it so that it can compensate for those changes, even if the temp. varies by only a few degrees. In addition to this the room in which the machine is housed rests on a spring floor, which compensates for the vibrations from the massive presses, some of which may weigh tens of tons. This machine costs a LOT, in the millions that is. Another method used by them to measure precision is to use what's known as a light machine. This is a method which employs the use of various points on a part, and each one gets it's own light signature, which is then interpreted by a computer. For this process, three high quality cameras are used to do the job. The points of light are even shown on the display, from which the person can analyze the image for various distortions. Besides the light points, another thing that they use are magnets. They create magnetic fields in order to help, however I'm not sure how. I would guess that it helps the computer analyze the locations of the points.
Anoteh thing that I found neat was how they welded parts together. That is, when they weld plates together. They do this by using a type of welding which I've never even heard before. It's laser welding. Yeah. It's crazy what types of welding people come up with. This one in particular uses an extremely powerful laser which is able to weld steel plates extremely efficiently, with each weld taking only about a second or so. Although it may have been much quicker than that. I actually got to see the laser welder in action. It shoots a laser from roughly five feet away from the steel plate.
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