Automated grinding

Leland G. Atkinson III

Automated manufacturing processes have been the dream of production engineers for many years. In some fields—such as metal fabrication and automated assembly— the dream has become not just a reality, but a way of life. The optical sciences were quick to make use of computer technology when it was first available to perform the laborious ray trace calculations required in lens design. Only recently, however, have there been serious attempts to harness the computer aided manufacturing technologies for use in production optics shops to improve the American optical fabrication industry.