This sounds lilke a project that I would love to get involved in. Maybe a joint project to overcome the large R&D side? Anyone interested?
I have a disc from Okuma showing their product line-up. It shows a Hexapod milling machine in it, with a small description. I have never seen any other information from them on it.
A few years ago, there was a company marketing three different sizes of Hexapods with tool changing. I haven't heard anything since. They did claim accuracy that was within the expected range of your average machining centre. Their design used six ball screws, mounted in pairs to a single milling head platform. Each pair had one in tension and one in compression for increased rigidity. I will take a look through all my old stuff to see if I still have any brochures. If you want, I can send you the info on the Okuma version from their CD.
Adam |