APPOLO | APPOLO - Hub of Application Laboratories for Equipment Assessment in Laser Based Manufacturing

The APPOLO project is establishing and coordinates connections between the end-users, which have demand on laser technologies for (micro)fabrication, knowledge accumulated in the laser application laboratories of research institutes and universities and the laser equipment manufacturers to facilitate faster validation of the process feasibility and adaptation or customization of the technology (equipment) for manufacturing conditions. The core of the consortium consists of laser application laboratories around Europe which are connected to a virtual APPOLO HUB, accumulates their knowledge and infrastructure and promotes the easy-to-access environment for development and validation of laser-based technologies. The APPOLO project cover activities on technical, technological and economical assessment of new equipment supplied by project partners in 8 complex assessment value chains and preparation of standardised procedures for the assessment service which can be provided for new project partners and customers beyond. During the first half of the APPOLO project implementation, the consortium has established clear outlines for assessment procedures and templates. Using these procedures, partners validate new equipment by assessing them according to APPOLO HUB specified parameters. These assessments allowed partners to present their finding to customers and, therefore, gained feedback how to implement assessment procedures for the desired application successfully. The dissemination activities include training on assessment procedures, exchange of knowledge of successful assessment experiments. RTD work in the last year of the project was concentrated on seven new experiments selected after an open call. Some activities from the initial part of the project were also continued to finalise assessment procedures delayed due to late delivery of equipment. The new laser, advanced galvoscanners, fibre delivery for ultrashort pulse lasers were validated for applications in machinery, tooling, nanoimprint lithography, precise processing of metals and polymers. Core partners of APPOLO project have prepared and tested routes for sustainable operation of APPOLO HUB after end of the project, providing service in validation and development of laser-based technologies for new customers.

Goal of APPOLO to exploit distributed knowledge, existing at

• academic application labs,
• equipment manufacturers,
• system integrators,
• end-users

and to enable the development of industrial laser processing for innovative products, technologies and machinery.

APPOLO Objectives

Establish and coordinate connections between

• the end-users, which have demand on laser technologies for (micro)fabrication;
• knowledge accumulated in the application laboratories of research institutes and universities;
• the laser equipment manufacturers (preferable SMEs: for integration, lasers, beam control and guiding, software, etc.)

Facilitate faster validation of the process feasibility, adaptation or customisation of the technology & equipment for manufacturing conditions, including:

• reliability of the components;
• their interaction;
• assessment of the dedicated production processes;
• process speed, quality and repeatability;
• socio-economic issues.

APPOLO HUB (www.appolohub.eu) is a network of laser application laboratories providing laser micromachining assessment services for industry partners. HUB is performing the testing activities at one of 4 laser application laboratories, located in Switzerland, Spain, Germany, and Lithuania.

APPOLO HUB offers service to assess and verify novel laser manufacturing technologies for industrial use.

• Assessment of laser equipment: We assess new lasers, scanners, beam guiding equipment and laser workstations to verify how they meet customer requirements.
• Laser processing verification: We offer service to define the optimal laser equipment for your samples and products with ns, ps and fs lasers.
• Laser micromachining Ownership Costs & Benefits: Information about costs and alternatives for ultra-short pulse laser processing: analysis and limits of laser processing parameters; process flow analysis; cost-of-ownership estimations including maintenance requirements & lifetime.