ESA’s technology broker MST Aerospace in Germany put Mr Schütze in touch with Trumpf Sachsen, a German machine tool manufacturer.

“Probably the cooperation would not have taken place without MST making the connection,” explained Mr Schütze.

Trumpf was looking for ways to improve laser cutting machines that make extremely precise, extremely complex shapes out of large sheets of metal. One common use is for electric motors, which can stack hundreds of thin metal sheets together.

Rather than building a stamping die for the specified shape, Trumpf’s laser machine can precisely cut each panel to fit, then start immediately on an entirely new shape.

“When you do it right, it’s a very, very smooth cut,” said Christian Koerber, Head of New Business Development at Trumpf.

The flexible nature of laser cutting opens up the possibility of offering customised solutions – prohibitively difficult, time-consuming and costly with the previous stamping methods.

Inside the machine, two laser cutting heads are fixed to a crossbar that together weigh 620 kg but move extremely quickly. To make the precision cuts needed, the laser beams are required to stop and turn in less than the blink of an eye. There’s no room for error.

“We need to have a precision of a few micrometres,” Mr Koerber added – a micrometre is smaller than a typical bacterium. “If the machine stops, it needs to stop exactly where we programmed it to.”

Once ESA brought the two companies together, Schütze’s carbon fibre sandwich rods proved an ideal added ingredient to Trumpf laser machines.

By mounting the laser cutting heads on the light but stiff rods, their machines are able to make the exact cuts needed, while accelerating and decelerating quickly.

With ESA’s help, Trumpf should have as much success landing new contracts as the Rosetta mission promises to have landing on a speeding comet deep in space.

Source: ESA

ESA’s technology broker MST Aerospace in Germany put Mr Schütze in touch with Trumpf Sachsen, a German machine tool manufacturer.

“Probably the cooperation would not have taken place without MST making the connection,” explained Mr Schütze.

Trumpf was looking for ways to improve laser cutting machines that make extremely precise, extremely complex shapes out of large sheets of metal. One common use is for electric motors, which can stack hundreds of thin metal sheets together.

Rather than building a stamping die for the specified shape, Trumpf’s laser machine can precisely cut each panel to fit, then start immediately on an entirely new shape.

“When you do it right, it’s a very, very smooth cut,” said Christian Koerber, Head of New Business Development at Trumpf.

The flexible nature of laser cutting opens up the possibility of offering customised solutions – prohibitively difficult, time-consuming and costly with the previous stamping methods.

Inside the machine, two laser cutting heads are fixed to a crossbar that together weigh 620 kg but move extremely quickly. To make the precision cuts needed, the laser beams are required to stop and turn in less than the blink of an eye. There’s no room for error.

“We need to have a precision of a few micrometres,” Mr Koerber added – a micrometre is smaller than a typical bacterium. “If the machine stops, it needs to stop exactly where we programmed it to.”

Once ESA brought the two companies together, Schütze’s carbon fibre sandwich rods proved an ideal added ingredient to Trumpf laser machines.

By mounting the laser cutting heads on the light but stiff rods, their machines are able to make the exact cuts needed, while accelerating and decelerating quickly.

With ESA’s help, Trumpf should have as much success landing new contracts as the Rosetta mission promises to have landing on a speeding comet deep in space.

Source: ESA