The sensor specialist Micro-Epsilon recently opened the new production center for micromechatronics at its headquarters in Germany. Miniature mechatronic systems for semiconductor machine design and aerospace applications are manufactured there. This allows the growing demand for high-tech products from these key industries to be further served.
The Competence Center for Micromechatronics has been built on an area of 36×30 m at the Micro-Epsilon headquarters in Ortenburg, Germany. The new building offers optimal conditions for the sophisticated production of miniature mechatronic systems used in the semiconductor and aerospace industries.
Production includes, among other things, sensors and systems for the latest generation of semiconductor lithography machines as well as sensors for use in aircraft and in space. In this way, Micro-Epsilon sensors contribute to the highest accuracy in the production of future chip generations. In order to manufacture such high-tech sensors, a clean room is required that offers optimum environmental conditions. In addition to the high requirements for cleanliness, humidity and temperature values must be maintained. Furthermore, sensor-actuator solutions for laser-based satellite communication are manufactured in the new production center. Fast tilting mirrors enable the exact positioning of the laser beam to the nearest satellite at a distance of several hundred kilometers, thus enabling a global satellite-based Internet of the future. Another application is high-precision sensors for the world’s largest reflecting telescope. This major project involves several thousand inductive displacement measuring systems. In the telescope, these sensors are used for the exact positioning of the 798 individual mirror segments.
»The new manufacturing area increases our production capacity and enables us to manufacture sophisticated products of the highest quality and precision. The products are used in high-tech applications and make a significant contribution to more innovation and technological progress for the world of tomorrow. For example, precise measurement in ongoing production can save material, reduce waste and increase quality and performance. More than 50 years of continuous investment in the development, production and support of innovative sensor and system solutions from Micro-Epsilon offer our customers more precision for their applications,« says Managing Director Dr. Thomas Wisspeintner, who heads the company together with Managing Directors Dr. Alexander Wisspeintner and Prof. Dr. Martin Sellen. They also see the Competence Center as an important milestone for the sustainable safeguarding and expansion of the company’s business development. Micro-Epsilon focuses on the four business areas of industrial sensor technology, 3D sensor technology, micromechatronics, and measurement and inspection systems.
Once the construction work has been completed, a total of 3,800 additional square meters will be available on three levels. The investment in the building, technology and equipment totals €10 million. The company’s floor space at the headquarters in Ortenburg, Germany, will therefore increase to around 15,000 m². The Competence Center for Micromechatronics alone provides space for over 100 employees. Micro-Epsilon currently employs around 450 people at its headquarters and more than 1400 people worldwide at 24 locations within the group of companies.