Actually, the type of automated manufacturing under discussion is along
the lines of what the Advanced Manufacturing Lab here at the U of U is working
towards. You design things using the Alpha 1 system, and they get built
in the machine shop downstairs. Of course, there is a lot of work yet to
be done to automate all the steps involved in making fixtures, tooling,
and correct process steps. But such a system, especially when coupled
with automatic reverse engineering would be quite nice. It would be great
to stick a part on the coordinate measuring platform, and then just click
the "Duplicate" button on the screen.
Maybe someday.
mjb.
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