Mechanical information storage by use of an excited turning tool

The Collaborative Research Centre “Gentelligent Components in their Lifecycle” deals with the development of techniques for the creation and usage of innovative mechanical components. One essential aspect is to be able to store data on the component itself. Here a method for using microstructures to carry the coded information on the surface of the components is presented. The microstructures are created in a turning process by a piezo-electric driven tool. The data is to be read out by optical methods like stereo, focus or shape-from-shading. First results of the micro structuring are shown and the results from the different approaches for reading, depending on the possible shapes of the surface structure, are compared.