The simplest way to think about kinematic structures is this Comau Tricept HP1 robot with 6 deg of freedom, here fitted out for an automotive assembly operation.

It was easy to get one's head into hexapods and linear motors at EMO 97. A few hexapods, in fact, are commercially available, but as many as 15 kinematic devices were shown at EMO 97 in varying stages of development, i.e. prototype, CAD drawing, or longed-for concept. Ingersoll Milling Machine, Rockford, IL, making a first appearance at EMO in many years, delivered its big horizontal show machine to Aachen University in Germany after the show. Another has reportedly been sold to Lockheed. The British firm Geodetic Technology introduced a smaller (500mm) and improved version of its Evolution machine, the G500. Seven of its Evolution machines reportedly have been sold.

Interest in advanced kinematic devices like hexapods goes hand in hand with the desire for high speed cutting (HSC) technology. The simplest way to visualize the hexapod is to think of a robot with its 6 deg of freedom and a cutting spindle attached to it. Each movement has to be coordinated (the job of a powerful CNC control) and driven in six axes to deliver five-axis machining capability. Most hexapods depend in some way on parallel kinematics, usually requiring six struts to move and position cutting spindles for 3D contouring or cutting. In this way the massive column and bed designs of traditional machines are replaced with a lighter weight spindle delivery system. The machining head assembly (struts and spindle) of the Geodetic Technology machines weighs about 400 lb, for example.

Linear motor technology made a big splash, simply because it is further along down the road toward commercialization. A number of major machine tool builders showed linear motors including DMG (Deckel Maho), Ingersoll, Ex-Cell-O, Heller, Danobat, Saimp, Grob, MCM, and Jung. Linear motors are able to convert electromagnetic force directly into linear motion without using a ballscrew, the traditional means of converting rotary motion to linear motion. They have the additional advantage of delivering motion without the backlash of conventional drive trains and doing it at high acceleration and deceleration rates, making them ideal for high speed and high precision machining.

A prototype hexapod was shown by Mikromat, the Dresden, Germany-manufacturer of precision jig boring and grinding machines, developed in conjunction with the Fraunhofer Institute.

Rapid prototyping continued to work its magic on showgoers who watched in fascination as layer upon layer of material was deposited to build up a one-off prototype part out of plastics, wood, ceramic, and even metal parts. A new entrant into the metal prototyping sweepstakes was displayed by Albrecht Röders GmbH & Co, Soltau, Germany, which displayed its combination high speed milling/laser machine. Metal buildup is controlled by laying down a layer of metal with its laser and then milling it flat, and laying down another layer of metal and repeating the milling/lasing cycle until the part is formed or repaired. The company envisions the process as an inexpensive way to repair or modify molds and dies without machining the whole workpiece, as well as producing prototype parts. Any weldable metal can be handled by the 1kW laser, which is mounted in front of the milling spindle and which retracts during the milling cycle. Röders, which is represented by Hansco Technologies, Montvale, NJ, specializes in high speed milling machines for the mold and die industry. Its milling machines feature high speed spindles from 30,000 to 75,000 rpm with tools that are held by shrink fitting into toolholders available in sizes from HSK E25 to HSK E63. A rotary table with turning and swiveling axes makes the machines suitable for HSC milling in five axes simultaneously.

Mikron AG, the Swiss builder of high production rotary and in-line transfer machines as well as high speed milling machines, introduced a new modular concept machine called the Futura (VCP 710). The machine introduced a common platform (machine base, three-axis unit, tool changer, and chip conveyor) and standardized components. The machine tables can be changed quickly and easily from choices that include a standard rigid clamping table, an NC tilting rotary table, a rotary clamping device, an NC dividing head, and a rotary pallet table. Users will be able to select either of two vector-controlled spindles, a 10,000 rpm or an 18,000 rpm version, as well as either Heidenhain or Siemens controls. Mikron has formed a new Machining Technology division to include its high production rotary and in-line transfer machine and its milling machine divisions. The company will introduce the Futura and its HSM 700 high speed milling machine for moldmaking with a 42,000-rpm spindle to the US market in 1998.

Synova, Lausanne, Switzerland, demonstrated a patented technology called Laser-Microjet, a water-guided laser that can be used to process material over a distance up to 100mm with a focused beam. The waterjet and laser beam have a typical diameter of 0.1mm. The laser beam is guided inside a thin waterjet up to the workpiece. The waterjet acts as a wave guide since the liquid jet contains the laser beam because of the total reflection at the water-air interface, similar to an optical fiber. The waterjet produces a very efficient cooling in effect allowing cold laser cutting of the materials. As a result a quasi-parallel laser beam with high power density of more than 10 MW/cm² can be used to process nearly all metals and their alloys, certain plastics, ceramics, and composites in thicknesses up to 5mm. The cutting speed amounts to between 50 and 4500 mm/min with a laser power of 100 W depending on the material and thickness. The laser source is an Nd:YAG laser, a solid state laser emitting infrared light. The water pressure of between 20 and 500 bars presents no danger to humans. The process is controlled by sensor signals allowing the automatic adaptation of the cutting speed to the workpiece. The Laser-Microjet can be used for cutting, drilling, and surface treatment for applications like solid materials or to cut honeycombs, laminates, and sandwich structures in industries as diverse as micro-electronics, medical, energy, automotive, aerospace, metals, and tooling.