A mechanical engineering associate professor at the National Chin Yi University of Technology recently made a breakthrough in the country’s machine tool industry by manufacturing the first Taiwan-made hydrostatic guideway for a submicron-precision lathe.
The component plays an integral part in the production of a prototype submicron precision lathe unveiled by the school on Wednesday, with other major constituents also produced by Taiwanese firms.
Tsai Kuo-ming (蔡國銘), an associate professor at the Taichung school’s department of mechanical engineering who led the effort to built the hydrostatic guideway, said submicron-precision lathes are commonly used to produce parts of high-precision electronic devises, such as optical lenses.
Hsieh Chung-yu (謝忠祐), director at the school’s Advancement Center of Precision Manufacturing and Material Application, said the reason for their determination to construct a submicron precision lathe assembled from domestically made components, was the high maintenance costs and price of ultra-precision lathes imported from the US or Japan.
“The school had spent more than NT$8 million [US$275,000] purchasing an ultra-precision lathe from a US-based firm. However, because most of its major parts, such as the spindle, are restricted items in Taiwan, repairing the machine could cost as much as NT$1 million and take up to three months,” Hsieh said.
In an effort to address the country’s component supply challenges, Tsai decided to plunge into research on the manufacturing of hydrostatic guideways and pledged to build one in Taiwan, a goal he achieved after five years, Hsieh said, adding that Tsai has already received a patent on his manufacturing technology.
Tsai said that as Taiwan has had the ability to produce controllers and positioning measurement systems, the first Taiwan-made submicron precision lathe could hit the market next year for only NT$1.8 million.
Taiwan is to receive the first batch of Lockheed Martin F-16 Block 70 jets from the US late this month, a defense official said yesterday, after a year-long delay due to a logjam in US arms deliveries. Completing the NT$247.2 billion (US$7.69 billion) arms deal for 66 jets would make Taiwan the third nation in the world to receive factory-fresh advanced fighter jets of the same make and model, following Bahrain and Slovakia, the official said on condition of anonymity. F-16 Block 70/72 are newly manufactured F-16 jets built by Lockheed Martin to the standards of the F-16V upgrade package. Republic of China
Taiwan-Japan Travel Passes are available for use on public transit networks in the two countries, Taoyuan Metro Corp said yesterday, adding that discounts of up to 7 percent are available. Taoyuan Metro, the Taipei MRT and Japan’s Keisei Electric Railway teamed up to develop the pass. Taoyuan Metro operates the Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport MRT Line, while Keisei Electric Railway offers express services between Tokyo’s Narita Airport, and the Keisei Ueno and Nippori stations in the Japanese capital, as well as between Narita and Haneda airports. The basic package comprises one one-way ticket on the Taoyuan MRT Line and one Skyliner ticket on
Starlux Airlines, Taiwan’s newest international carrier, has announced it would apply to join the Oneworld global airline alliance before the end of next year. In an investor conference on Monday, Starlux Airlines chief executive officer Glenn Chai (翟健華) said joining the alliance would help it access Taiwan. Chai said that if accepted, Starlux would work with other airlines in the alliance on flight schedules, passenger transits and frequent flyer programs. The Oneworld alliance has 13 members, including American Airlines, British Airways, Cathay Pacific and Qantas, and serves more than 900 destinations in 170 territories. Joining Oneworld would also help boost
A new tropical storm formed late yesterday near Guam and is to approach closest to Taiwan on Thursday, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. Tropical Storm Pulasan became the 14th named storm of the year at 9:25pm yesterday, the agency said. As of 8am today, it was near Guam traveling northwest at 21kph, it said. The storm’s structure is relatively loose and conditions for strengthening are limited, WeatherRisk analyst Wu Sheng-yu (吳聖宇) said on Facebook. Its path is likely to be similar to Typhoon Bebinca, which passed north of Taiwan over Japan’s Ryukyu Islands and made landfall in Shanghai this morning, he said. However, it