Heavyweight helper for software project

Huddersfield Daily Examiner (Huddersfield, England), August 16, 2008

PRECISION engineers at Huddersfield University have taken delivery of a huge pounds 200,000 metalworking machine.

The state-of-the-art, computerised Geiss milling machine weighs in at six-and-a-half tons and the front doors of the university's Centre for Precision Technologies had to be moved to fit it inside.

The machine mills steel, aluminium, cast iron and plastics.

It will help engineers to develop a pioneering software system, which will improve the accuracy of metalworking machines tenfold.

The system is being developed by the university's Engineering Control and Machine Performance Research Group, led by Alan Myers.

The group is working with high-profile aerospace companies, including Rolls Royce, BAE Systems, Lockheed Martin and Northrop Grumman.

Mr Myers said the software they are developing will cost around pounds 1,000 and link up with companies' existing machines - saving them frominvesting in new machines costing around pounds 20,000.

He said: "Plans are underway tomarket our software system against the vast majority of computer-controlled milling machines already on shop floors. Companies simply cannot afford to outlay half the cost of a new machine to increase their accuracy and productivity.

"We're confident our new control box will retail for less than pounds 1,000. It seems like an almostmagical solution to be able to say to a customer: 'Buy this control box, link it up with your existing machines and improve your accuracy'."

CAPTION(S):

CONFIDENT: Alan Myers, of the University's Centre for Precision Technologies, with the milling machine (S)