The Air Force's Airborne Laser System needs technology to rapidly produce high-quality 170-micron diameter contoured holes in quantities of millions. At a target rate of one hole per minute, a single production workstation running 24/7 would take 46 years to produce the number of holes required for a fully operational system consisting of seven aircraft. E. M. Optomechanical, Inc. is proposing a unique combination of laser micromachining, machine vision, and robotics technologies into a cost effective workstation capable, with multiple workstations, of meeting the Air Force's quality and throughput requirements. The most critical feasibility issues are how fast can holes be produced, with the techniques necessary to produce high quality contoured holes, and how can the quality of the holes be assessed. The objective of this Phase I technical proposal is to experimentally produce high-quality contoured holes in one minute or less per hole and to determine a means to ensure the quality of the holes that are produced. E. M. Optomechanical has assembled a highly qualified team experienced in producing systems that incorporate laser micromachining, machine vision, and robotics technologies as well as the successful commercialization of work funded through the SBIR program. The Air Force's application is to produce holes in the injector heads of singlet oxygen generators that are used in chemical oxygen iodine lasers. In addition to drilling holes, the system proposed would be versatile enough to be used for many other laser micromachining applications. Commercial micromachining applications include microelectronics packaging, semiconductor manufacturing, medical devices and diagnostics, data storage devices, telecommunications devices, and computer peripherals.
Keywords: Laser, Drilling, Micromachining, Machine Vision
