NISTIR 7218

January 2005

Revised April 2005
Abstract

The National Institute of Standards and Technology’s

Manufacturing Engineering Laboratory (MEL)

strengthens the U.S. economy and improves the

quality of life by working with the U.S. manufacturing industry to develop and apply infrastructural

technology, measurements, and standards to meet

their needs. This report contains summaries of MEL

programs that support the needs of the U.S. manufacturing industry. Each program summarizes the

resources, objectives, customer needs that are

addressed, accomplishments, current year plans, lifetime objectives, and related measurement and standards work.

Keywords

Manufacturing, manufacturing engineering, 

technology, measurements, metrology, 

standards

Disclaimer

Certain commercial equipment, instruments, or

materials are identified in this report in order to

specify the experimental procedure adequately.

Such identification is not intended to imply 

recommendations or endorsement by the National

Institute of Standards and Technology, nor is it

intended to imply that the materials or equipment

identified are necessarily the best available for the

purpose.

For More Information

Manufacturing Engineering Laboratory 

Stop 8200

Gaithersburg, MD 20899-8200

Phone 301-975-3400

www.mel.nist.gov
Table of Contents

Director’s Message 1

Introduction / User’s Guide 3

MEL Capabilities 7

MEL Facilities 11

Program Descriptions At a Glance Full Write-up

Program-Division Cross-Reference Chart 28

Introduction to Programs 29

Dimensional Metrology 19 31

Homeland and Industrial

Control Security 20 44

Intelligent Control of Mobility Systems 21 54

Manufacturing Interoperability 22 66

Manufacturing Metrology and Standards 

for the Health Care Enterprise 23 79

Mechanical Metrology 24 86

Nanomanufacturing 25 98

Smart Machining Systems 26 111

i

Table of Contents
Special Activities

Introduction to Special Activities 124

Competence Projects 126

Exploratory Projects 134

Recently Completed Exploratory Projects 149

The National Science and Technology Council 

Interagency Working Group on Manufacturing 

Research and Development 159

Intelligent Manufacturing Systems (IMS) 162

Systems Integration for Manufacturing 

Applications (SIMA) 166

ii
Director’s Message

Dale Hall, 301 975 3400, dale.hall@nist.gov

I

am proud to present the technical work of the Manufacturing

Engineering Laboratory (MEL). The work described in this book

shows how MEL addresses critical measurements, standards, and

advanced technology needs of our manufacturing customers. It also

describes how MEL work contributes to the development of the

measurements and standards infrastructure needed for the emerging

technology areas of the future. Our new FY 2005 programs are

described, as well as the many significant accomplishments of 

FY 2004. Again this year, we incorporated suggestions from our

customers to make this book a more useful source of information on

our laboratory and its programs.

Many of our most demanding metrology projects and services moved into the new NIST Advanced

Measurements Laboratory in 2004. This new $235 million facility gives us an unparalleled environment for

state-of-the-art dimensional and mechanical metrology and ensures that we will continue to provide our

customers with the best available measurement technology. 

The needs of our customers are embedded in our programs from their onset; we remain committed to

providing customer value as well as the highest technical quality.

In 2004, MEL carried out an intensive strategic planning exercise to ensure the future vitality, quality, and

productivity of the laboratory’s technical programs. Our new portfolio of eight technical programs uses our

resources more effectively and focuses our work on the critical technologies and measurement services our

customers need. I also believe that our technical priorities and objectives are now sharper and easier for our

customers and stakeholders to understand. 

In 2004, we assessed our current and projected resource needs and resource projections and developed an

MEL resource acquisition strategy. In 2005, we intend to use this strategy to pursue resources that will support

work that is well aligned with our mission, technical capabilities, and interests. As part of that effort, we are

working hard to improve our marketing skills and practices. 

1

Director’s Message
I am excited about the new role that we play in the newly formed Interagency Working Group (IWG) on

Manufacturing Research and Development (R&D). This group, of which I am vice-chair, will continue the

work of the Government Agencies Technology Exchange in Manufacturing (GATE-M) to improve cooperation

and coordination among federal agencies involved in manufacturing R&D. This year, the IWG for

Manufacturing R&D identified three technical priority areas: Intelligent and Integrated Manufacturing

Systems; Manufacturing for the Hydrogen Economy; and Nanomanufacturing. In each of these areas, the

IWG commissioned white papers to outline the challenges and technical progress needed as a basis for future

federal R&D efforts. A public forum for comment on the IWG technical priorities is planned for early 2005. 

In April 2005, the Intelligent Manufacturing Systems (IMS) program, an international effort to address 

manufacturing challenges and sustainable production systems in the 21st century, will complete a ten-year

Phase I effort. For most of that time, the U.S. Secretariat of IMS has been located in MEL. The IMS

International Steering Committee is now planning Phase II. I am looking forward to working with the new

head of the U.S. Delegation, who intends to increase U.S. corporate participation to enhance the value of 

this program to U.S. manufacturing.

In its current strategic plan, NIST identified four areas for future technical focus: Nanotechnology,

Information/Knowledge Management, Homeland Security, and Biosystems and Health. NIST has created or 

is forming Strategic Working Groups in each of these areas. A superbly qualified MEL staff member leads the

Nanotechnology Strategic Working Group; MEL staff members serve on the other strategic working groups as

well. MEL also continues to promote manufacturing as a high priority at NIST and is working proactively to

improve the coordination of NIST’s manufacturing effort and to promote a more assertive external presence in

manufacturing technology. NIST has a broad array of programs to help manufacturers, and other federal

agencies look to NIST to take a leadership role. 

I’m very proud of the value we provide to our customers, the superb technical quality of MEL’s work, and

especially the creativity and dedication of our staff. MEL is a vital asset for the future of US manufacturing.

All of us in MEL look forward to working with and serving you – our customer. We’re always pleased to

receive your comments and your questions.

2

Programs of the Manufacturing Engineering Laboratory
introduction Introduction/

User’s Guide

3

Programs of the Manufacturing Engineering Laboratory
Introduction/ User’s Guide

The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) Manufacturing Engineering Laboratory (MEL) is

pleased to present a summary of its technical programs for fiscal year (FY) 2005. MEL’s mission is to satisfy

the measurements and standards needs of U.S. manufacturers in mechanical and dimensional metrology and

advanced manufacturing technology. We do this by performing research and development (R&D), providing

services, and participating in standards activities. Our long-term goal is best summed up by the Laboratory’s

core purpose — to promote a healthy U.S. manufacturing economy by solving tomorrow’s measurement and

standards problems today.

With a value-added contribution of $1.4 trillion, U.S. manufacturing — our customer base — directly

accounts for approximately 13 percent of the U.S. gross domestic product (GDP). Manufacturing plays a

central role to our Nation’s economy. Innovation seen in the manufacturing industry is vital to all the other

sectors of the economy. 

We serve the manufacturing sector of the U.S. economy in a broad sense, working with partners from industry

as well as other government agencies and academia to develop the measurement tools and infrastructure that

enable higher productivity, new products, and improved processes. Our work primarily supports the manufacture of durable goods, including discrete, mechanical, and electromechanical products. We also exploit

opportunities to apply our technology to support other key industrial sectors, including the manufacture of

non-durable goods and non-discrete products. Our customers span the full range from established to

emerging-technology industries, including automotive, aerospace, construction equipment, electronics, optics,

telecommunications, and nanotechnology. MEL also provides design and fabrication services to other NIST

operating units through its Fabrication Technology Division.

MEL actively develops and maintains strong relationships with its customers and stakeholders. In fact, many of

the nation’s leading manufacturers rely on MEL; therefore, we develop and operate programs in direct

response to their needs. Working collaboratively with our partners, our staff members solve measurement and

standards problems that allow our industrial customers to take full advantage of technology such as advanced

manufacturing techniques and on-line quality assurance processes. Our customers depend on MEL for calibration services that are the best in the world. These services, for example, ensure dimensional compatibility

of items manufactured at different sites and satisfy requirements for traceability to national standards. MEL

maintains an active program of technology transfer through cooperative research, industrial research associates who come to our laboratories, publications, conferences, seminars, workshops, and customer visits. MEL’s

interactions extend from the bench researcher to senior management. 

4

Programs of the Manufacturing Engineering Laboratory

Introduction
MEL staff continued to serve our customers in other

important ways. The measurement methods, calibration services, software interface standards, and

leading-edge manufacturing techniques all support

U.S. industries’ efforts to improve performance and

provide quality products in the laboratory, the design

shop, the factory, and ultimately, in the marketplace. 

Our technical work is carried out through strategic

programs as well as division or special projects. This

document summarizes those efforts and is organized

as follows.

MEL Capabilities and Facilities 

(starting on page 7) 

MEL’s staff expertise is diverse, a reflection of the

multi-disciplinary manufacturing measurement and

standards problems that MEL addresses. The staff’s

individual expertise, coupled with MEL’s outstanding

and often unique facilities result in a rich array of

technical capabilities that can address manufacturing

problems spanning the entire manufacturing enterprise, both virtual and physical, from design to the

factory floor and beyond.

Program-at-a-Glance 

(starting on page 17) 

These one-page, high-level descriptions provide a

quick overview of each technical program, including

the goal, a problem statement, technical approach,

and typical customers and collaborators.

MEL Program-Division 

Cross-Reference Chart 

(page 28)

MEL is comprised of five divisions that are responsible for specific mission areas that address the

complexity and demands of the manufacturing

community:

• Precision Engineering Division provides the foundation for dimensional measurements over 12

orders of magnitude (hundreds of meter to

nanometers);

• Manufacturing Metrology Division fulfills the

measurements and standards needs in mechanical metrology and advanced manufacturing; 

• Intelligent Systems Division focuses on the measurement, standards, development and application

of intelligent control, open-architecture standards,

and intelligent systems manufacturing;

• Manufacturing Systems Integration Division

promotes U.S. economic growth by working with

industry to develop and apply measurements and

standards that advance information-based manufacturing technology; and

• Fabrication Technology Division provides worldclass instrument and specialized fabrication

support for NIST researchers and serves as a

testbed for many NIST and MEL programs.

The divisions are organizational units that are ultimately responsible for long-term responsibilities

(e.g., maintaining specialized equipment, meeting

staffing needs, and developing and maintaining core

technical competencies.) While each division has its

own focus, collaborations between divisions are

used to achieve MEL strategic program goals. 

5

Programs of the Manufacturing Engineering Laboratory

Introduction
Program Descriptions 

(starting on page 29) 

Traditionally, MEL’s programs focused on measurement and standards for making things traceable,

right, small, and interoperable. This year, in addition

to those areas, two new programs focus on measurement and standards for making things safe and

healthy. Our programs address advanced manufacturing research and measurement services in dimensional and mechanical metrology, manufacturing

processes and equipment, systems integration and

interoperability, and intelligent controls.

Within the program’s 5-year planning horizon, milestones or technical objectives are set to help achieve

the program goal. This section provides comprehensive descriptions of each of MEL’s 8 FY 2005

programs, including its goal, customer needs, 

technical approach, program objectives, technical

outputs, and significant accomplishments.

Special Activities 

(starting on page 123) 

In addition to their work on MEL strategic programs,

MEL staff work on a variety of other activities such

as competence projects, exploratory projects, 

coordinate manufacturing-related R&D throughout

NIST, participate in manufacturing R&D at the

federal level, and participate in an international

program designed to increase U.S. manufacturing 

competitiveness.

Appendix

(starting on page 171) 

This section provides a list of commonly used

acronyms for quick reference.

6

Programs of the Manufacturing Engineering Laboratory

Introduction
capabilities MEL

Capabilities

7

Manufacturing Engineering Laboratory Capabilities
MEL Capabilities

MEL’s expertise is diverse, a reflection of the multi-disciplinary manufacturing measurement and standards

problems that MEL addresses. MEL’s staff includes experts in electrical and mechanical engineering,

physics, mechanics, materials, acoustics, chemistry, mathematics, computer science, operations research, and

machining. These varied backgrounds, coupled with MEL’s outstanding and often unique facilities, comprise a

rich array of technical capabilities that can address manufacturing problems spanning the entire manufacturing enterprise, both virtual and physical, from design to the factory floor and beyond.

The diverse problems addressed by MEL also span a variety of manufacturing industries. MEL performs 

dimensional measurements on objects ranging from ship hulls to atomic step heights. MEL measures forces

ranging from that generated by spacecraft to that required to break covalent bonds. MEL’s intelligent system

work has been applied to automated systems ranging from Search and Rescue robots to self-driving Army

vehicles. MEL’s interoperability data work has application in both manufacturing design and in patient 

records for the health care industry. These are but a few examples.

MEL’s capabilities can be grouped into six different areas:

In precision engineering, MEL realizes and disseminates the SI (Système International d’unités, or International

System of units) unit of length, thus providing the foundation of dimensional measurement that meets the

needs of the U.S. industrial and scientific communities. MEL delivers to industry important length-related

measurements, standards, and technology services that support U.S. manufacturing’s products and processes.

MEL is capable of measuring feature dimensions spanning over 12 orders of magnitude, from hundreds of

meters down to less than a nanometer. MEL can also measure form and surface roughness using a variety of

instruments and devices, including coordinate measuring machines; frameless coordinate length-metrology

systems involving mechanical-probe, laser-ranging, theodolite, and related interferometric systems; tunneling

microscopes; mechanical profilers; phase-measuring interferometers; and tunneling, atomic-force, electron,

and visible- and ultraviolet-light microscopes.

8

Manufacturing Engineering Laboratory Capabilities

MEL Capabilities
In mechanical metrology, MEL provides a similar

foundation for meeting the needs of the U.S. industrial and scientific communities by realizing and

disseminating the SI mechanical units of mass, force,

acceleration, and sound pressure. MEL activities

include realizing, maintaining, and improving the

primary standards for these quantities; conducting

intercomparisons to coordinate and establish

comparability of these standards to those of other

countries; developing suitable mechanisms to enable

the transfer of accurate measurement capabilities to

our customers; and providing efficient test and calibration services of the highest quality. MEL also

works to extend and improve the mechanical measurements, standards, and technology services by

conducting on-going research and development that

can lead to new measurement services, new ranges

of measurements (e.g., micro-Newton forces), or

new realizations of units (e.g., Watt-based kilogram).

Several specialized instruments and facilities

contribute to the unique MEL mechanical metrology

capabilities, including the large acoustic anechoic

chamber, force metrology 4.44 MN deadweight

machine, and U.S. National Prototype Kilogram

mass metrology laboratory.

In manufacturing metrology MEL develops methods,

models, sensors, and data to improve metrology,

machines, and processes to meet the needs of U.S.

manufacturers. To provide the knowledge base

needed for efficient development of manufacturing

methods MEL explores advanced manufacturing

processes and machines to support U.S. industry’s

need to improve productivity, tighten tolerances, and

machine new materials. Areas of work include highspeed machining, high strain rate materials properties, machining process metrology and optimization,

advanced optical fabrication and metrology,

metrology for machining meso-scale parts, smart

sensors for machine/process monitoring and control,

and machine tool and subsystem performance 

characterization.

MEL also develops the measurements and standards

infrastructure needed for the application of intelligent systems by manufacturing industries. MEL

conducts research to develop a basic understanding

of the theoretical issues of intelligent systems,

including architecture frameworks, sensory perception, and knowledge representation. MEL develops

tools and engineering methodologies for building

real-time controls for intelligent systems. MEL

applies this research and these tools and methodologies to assist industry in the development, implementation, and testing of standards and performance

measurement techniques to enable the effective, 

efficient, safe, and secure use and diffusion of 

intelligent systems.

9

Manufacturing Engineering Laboratory Capabilities

MEL Capabilities
MEL provides high-quality, reliable, and cost-effective fabrication and technical support services to

NIST staff. This work includes assisting in the design

and construction of instruments and devices needed

to maintain the national and international standards

of measurement and measurement services for

which NIST has stewardship. MEL provides the engineering and manufacturing expertise and equipment

needed to produce specialized parts and subassemblies for one-of-a-kind instruments conceived by

NIST scientists and engineers.

In manufacturing systems integration MEL works

with industry to develop and apply measurements

and standards that advance the use of informationbased manufacturing technology. MEL engages in

work at several levels of abstraction in system integration capabilities: measurements and standards,

process representation, integration, modeling capabilities, and the use of software to enhance manufacturing performance. The work supports the foundational areas of interoperability and metrology.

10

Manufacturing Engineering Laboratory Capabilities

MEL Capabilities
11

Manufacturing Engineering Laboratory Facilities

facilities MEL Facilities
MEL Facilities

MEL has a number of specialized facilities, 

many of which are unique in the world, support

our programmatic work and enable our high-precision 

measurement services. These facilities allow MEL to realize technical 

accomplishments that are not obtainable at other facilities. They also

allow for the provision of measurements to a level of accuracy and precision

unrealizable by other providers. Collaborators and customers come to NIST 

to take advantage of such facilities.

MEL’s specialized facilities include:

Acoustic Anechoic Chamber

This vibration-isolated, shell-within-shell structure is one of the quietest and best acoustically 

characterized rooms in the world. Typical expanded uncertainties for pressure calibrations of customer

microphones in this chamber are less than 0.25 dB over a frequency range of 50 Hz to 17 kHz.

Force 4.44 MN Deadweight machine

The MEL 4.44 Mega-Newton (MN) deadweight machine is the largest in the world, and has an impressive expanded measurement uncertainty of five-parts-per-million. All other large deadweight machines

in the world are traceable to this one.

Mass Standards Facility

This is a class 1000 clean room with 0.1 °C temperature control and 2 % relative humidity control,

with mass comparators that enable kilogram comparisons to the national prototype kilogram to a

combined standard uncertainty of less than 20 μg and ten-kilogram comparisons to a combined standard uncertainty of less than 200 μg.

12

Manufacturing Engineering Laboratory Facilities

Facilities

Force 4.44 MN

Deadweight

machine
Microforce Realization and 

Measurement Laboratory

This world-class facility provides a force measurement capability traceable to the SI system of units

for forces as small as 10-8 N – a force roughly

equivalent to that necessary to break three covalent bonds. Using a null-force electromechanical

balance, traceable measurement of small forces

can be performed, eventually on the scale of 

10-12 N (molecular scale forces), based on 

precision measurements of capacitance, 

voltage, and length.

Pulse-Heated Kolsky Bar Facility

This facility provides a unique capability to

measure stress-strain relationships of materials

under high heating-rate, high strain-rate conditions. This one-of-a-kind measurement system can

produce mechanical strain rates of 104 s

-1 to

106

s

-1, and heating rates of 104 °C s-1 within test

materials. The resulting material properties 

enable improved predictive simulations for such

applications as high-speed machining and armor

protection.

Smart and Wireless Sensors (SAWS)

Laboratory

This facility is used to develop, evaluate, and

demonstrate sensor networking and sensor interoperability technologies and standards used for

applications ranging from machine tool condition

monitoring, military command and control, first

responder communications, and on-board monitoring of ship drive systems. 

Reference

Test Arenas

for

USAR/EOD

Robots

MEL developed and built this portable 400 m2

test course to evaluate and promote the development of sensing, navigation, and mapping capabilities of mobile robots, particularly those used

in urban search and rescue (USAR) and explosive

ordinance disposal (EOD).

Large Scale Coordinate Metrology

Laboratory

This facility is used to characterize measurement

systems and evaluate metrology techniques

needed to measure large-scale objects accurately.

Molecular Measuring Machine (M3)

The M3 is an experimental two-dimensional

measuring machine capable of measuring the

placement of sub-nanometer features with subnanometer resolution within a 50 mm- by 50

mm-sized scanning area.

13

Manufacturing Engineering Laboratory Facilities

Facilities

Molecular

Measuring

Machine

(M3

)
Precision Machining Research Facility

This facility is used for developing and validating

improved metrology instrumentation and procedures for characterizing machine tools, metal

cutting, and other advanced manufacturing

processes.

XCALIBIR – eXtremely accurate optics

CALIBration InterferometeR

XCALIBIR is a world-class instrument for measuring the surface figure errors of precision optics

with a measurement uncertainty of 0.25 nm for

flats, spheres, and mild aspheres with a nominal

aperture of 300 mm.

Intelligent Mobility Testbed

This testbed consists of autonomous off-road

vehicles (i.e., two specially instrumented

passenger vehicles and a chase vehicle) and characterized terrain and test courses to advance the

state-of-the-art for intelligent vehicles.

Industrial Control System Networking and

Security Testbed

This testbed includes a representative array of

industrial process automation and advanced

networking equipment used to 1) validate standards, and 2) develop and evaluate test methods.

M48

Coordinate

Measuring

Machine (CMM)

The M48 CMM is a three-dimensional mechanical-contact and vision-based measuring machine

for the calibration of 1-, 2-, and 3-D reference

standards, with dimensions up to 1 meter, at 

sub-micrometer accuracies.

The NIST Shops (MEL Fabrication

Technology Division) 

The Shops provide specialized fabrication 

and technical support services to NIST

researchers, including:

– Optical fabrication

– Glassblowing and glass fabrication

– CNC machining

– Manual milling, turning, and grinding

– High-speed machining

– Precision diamond turning

– Precision welding and soldering

– Electrical discharge machining

– Precision diamond turning

14

Manufacturing Engineering Laboratory Facilities

Facilities

XCALIBIR –

eXtremely

accurate optics

CALIBration

InterferometeR
The Advanced Manufacturing Systems and

Networking Testbed (AMSANT) 

This testbed is a distributed, multi-node facility

that enables collaborative development and

testing of manufacturing systems integration 

specifications intended to support distributed and

virtual manufacturing enterprises.

Manufacturing Software 

Interoperability Support:

This support is provided through an integration

test bed that contains commercial off-the-shelf

(COTS) manufacturing and engineering software

applications for simulation and visualization.

I

n FY2004, MEL

began moving into the

new NIST Advanced

Measurement Laboratory (AML). The AML features

unique, world-leading laboratory facilities in air

quality and temperature, vibration, and humidity

control that are critical for MEL’s precision measurement capabilities. Once the move is completed, 27

out of 41 MEL measurement service areas and 57

major equipment items will be housed in the AML.

The AML offers an unprecedented combination of

features designed to virtually eliminate environmental interferences that undermine research at the

frontiers of measurement science and technology.

The 49,843 square-meter (536,507 square-feet) AML

houses 338 reconfigurable laboratory modules and a

Class 100 cleanroom - the 8,520 square-meter

Nanofabrication Facility. No other facility of this

size has so successfully achieved the combined

features of strict temperature and humidity control,

vibration isolation, air cleanliness, and quality of

electric power, some metrics for which are listed on

the next page.

M48 Coordinate

Measuring

Machine

(CMM)

15

Manufacturing Engineering Laboratory Facilities

Facilities
• Air quality – Class 1000 or better to Class 

100 or better

• Temperature – Baseline temperature control

within ±0.25 ° C to within ±0.1 ° C or ±0.01 ° C

for 48 precision temperature-controlled laboratories

• Vibration – Baseline velocity amplitude of 

3 mm/s, down to 0.5 mm/s or less in 27 lowvibration modules – 15 to 100 times better than

in NIST’s general purpose laboratories

• Humidity – From a baseline control of ±5 %

down to ±1 % in special laboratory sections –

compared to ±20 % in NIST’s general purpose

laboratories

• Electrical power – AML-wide uninterruptible

power supply prevents outages and counters

voltage spikes, drop-outs, and other “dirty power”

problems that limit accuracy and precision,

reduce analytical sensitivity, and cause longrunning experiments to crash.

MEL takes great

pride in its facilities and

the results that are possible

because of them. MEL welcomes collaborators who

would like to partner with us and take advantage of

these facilities.

16

Manufacturing Engineering Laboratory Facilities

Facilities

NIST Advanced

Measurement

Laboratory

(AML)
17

MEL Programs at a Glance

programs at 

a glance Programs

at a 

Glance
MEL Programs at a Glance

18

Programs-at-a-Glance 

I

n FY2004 the MEL Management Council worked to ensure the future vitality, quality, and productivity

of the laboratory’s portfolio of technical programs. The MEL Management Council assessed the technical direction and goals, the structure, and the operation of the entire MEL technical program portfolio

and made changes as warranted by that assessment. The result is a refreshed portfolio that addresses the

needs of our customers, is aligned with NIST strategic directions, makes maximum use of our technical

capability, and is managed effectively and efficiently. 

This section is designed to give you a quick overview of MEL’s eight technical programs. It contains onepage, high-level descriptions for each programs. These descriptions include contact information for the

program manager, the program goal, a problem statement, technical approach, and a listing of typical

customers and collaborators. A detailed description of each program can be found later in this book and

on our website at www.mel.nist.gov/proj.
MEL Programs at a Glance

Dimensional

Metrology 

Program Manager: Steven D. Phillips

Phone: 301-975-3565

Email: steven.phillips@nist.gov

Program Funding: $4 M 

FTEs 19

Program Goal 

Develop and deliver timely dimensional measurements and standards to address critical U.S. industry

needs for traceable dimensional metrology, particularly for the support of trade and innovation, process

control, and quality in manufacturing from the

micro- to the macro-scale. 

Problem

Dimensional metrology spans a vast array of products and industries, from large scale manufacturing

of ships and aircraft, to miniaturized mechanical

components, to precision optics. The globalization

of manufacturing has resulted in complex products

with components produced all over the world that

must assemble and function seamlessly. Accurate

dimensional metrology is essential to meeting this

goal. New manufacturing technology is entering

industry continuously and often has little or no

supporting metrology. NIST, positioned at the top of

the traceability pyramid, is challenged to support

this broad network of industrial and laboratory

dimensional measurements.

Approach 

The dimensional metrology program seeks to 

realize and disseminate the SI (Système International

d’unités) unit of length across a wide range of calibration services and artifacts, and to support industrial dimensional metrology through national and

international measurement standards. The program

funds calibration services and standard reference

materials, along with their associated quality 

assurance programs. The program also identifies 

and supports research and development (R&D) for

new and emerging measurement needs including: 

(1) precision optics with emphasis on aspheric and

free form optics; (2) 3D coordinate measurement of

miniaturized features; and, (3) complex 3D surfaces

including large scale optical metrology, scanning

probe evaluations, and data fitting.

Typical Customers and

Collaborators

Department of Defense (DOD), Department of

Energy, aerospace industry, automotive industry,

heavy equipment and machinery industry, state

weights and measures labs, and metrology 

instrumentation manufacturers.

Three dimensional

representation

of the form

error of a 

100 mm 

diameter

silicon sphere 

measured

by XCALIBIR

For more information see page 31 19
MEL Programs at a Glance

20 For more information see page 44

Homeland and

Industrial

Control Security

Program Manager: Al Wavering

Phone: 301 975 3461

Email: albert.wavering@nist.gov

Program Funding: $3.5 M

FTEs: 8.8

Program Goal 

Develop and apply MEL capabilities, tools, and

methods to enhance: Preparation for, prevention 

of, defense against, and response to threats and

aggressions against the domestic population and

infrastructure of the United States; and Effectiveness

of domestic emergency response and law. 

Problem

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and

federal, state, and local emergency response agencies

and personnel need an integrated infrastructure of

performance metrics, test methods and standards to 

1) enable specification, evaluation, and integration of

homeland security and public safety equipment and

systems, and 2) encourage investment in homeland

security science and technology efforts. The lack of

consensus in national requirements and standards

slows development and leads to confusion among

both suppliers and users of homeland security technologies. In coordination with related efforts internal

and external to NIST, the MEL Homeland and

Industrial Control Security (H&ICS) Program helps

build this standards infrastructure, primarily in areas

that cut across multiple vulnerability, threat, and

response mode categories. 

Approach

In general, projects in

this program follow the

approach used for all DHS standards development

and implementation projects. For each component

or system under consideration, guidelines will be

developed as a collaborative effort among tool

developers, users/subject matter experts, and standards experts. Requirements and guidelines will be

defined using information related to the capabilities

– and the limitations - of the components, and on

the conditions in which the component and system

are expected to operate. The guidelines will be 

the foundation for constructing performance 

measures and testing and evaluation protocols that

will provide a reproducible method for assessing

and comparing the effectiveness of each system 

component and of the systems supporting 

homeland security. Performance measures will

encompass: basic functionality, adequacy and

appropriateness for the task, interoperability, 

efficiency, and sustainability. 

Typical Customers and

Collaborators

Department of Homeland Security Science &

Technology and Emergency Preparedness and

Response Directorates, National Institute of Justice,

ISA: the Society for Instrumentation, Systems, and

Automation, Institute of Electrical and Electronics

Engineers (IEEE), Critical Infrastructure owner-operators and suppliers, and the Department of Defense.

Securing critical

industries,

including water, 

electrical power,

and chemical is 

a top priority
MEL Programs at a Glance

21

Intelligent

Control of

Mobility Systems

Program Manager: Maris Juberts

Phone: 301 975 3424

Email: juberts@cme.nist.gov

Program Funding: $4.1 M

FTEs: 13.5

Program Goal

Provide architectures and interface standards,

performance test methods and data, and infrastructure technology needed by U.S. manufacturing

industry and government agencies in developing and

applying intelligent control technology to mobility

systems to reduce operational costs, improve

performance and safety, and save lives.

Problem

As mobile systems become more intelligent, their

use in the field increases. Material handling systems

could be used for loading and unloading of trucks,

autonomous vehicles can provide an unmanned

ground force for the Army, and on-vehicle crash

avoidance systems may become more effective.

However, to develop and use intelligent mobile

systems, industry and government agencies need

architectures and interface standards to insure interoperability, real-time sensing technologies for measurement and control, and metrics for evaluating the

performance of components and systems

Approach

This program will provide industry with standards,

performance metrics, and infrastructure technology

to broaden the

use of

advanced

perception

and

autonomous

navigation

techniques;

provide defense

agencies with the

control system architectures,

advanced sensor systems, research services and 

standards to achieve efficient use of unmanned

ground vehicles in the battlefield; provide the evaluation and measurement methods, testing procedures,

standard reference data needed to support the

deployment of advanced technology in transportation and industrial safety systems. The program will

use the NIST-developed reference model architecture

for intelligent unmanned ground vehicle - 4D/RCS -

architecture as an example of an open system 

architecture for building complex autonomous

robotic systems for other government agency

programs. Relevant advanced robotics technology

will be transferred to industrial applications.

Typical Customers and

Collaborators

• Army Research Lab

• Applanix

• Robotics Technology Inc.

• University of Maryland

• DARPA

• National Highway

Traffic Safety

Administration (NHTSA)

• The Boeing Company 

• Transbotics

• Drexel University

• Visteon & Assistware

• Bremen Univ./Germany

• DOT

• ATR

• TACOM/TARDEC

• EarthData Inc.

• University of Delaware

• OSD/JRP

• General Dynamics 

Robotic Systems 

For more information see page 54
MEL Programs at a Glance

22 For more information see page 66

Manufacturing

Interoperability

Program Manager: Steven Ray

Phone: 301 975 3508

Email: steve.ray@nist.gov

Program Funding: $3.9 M

FTEs: 26

Program Goal

Equip U.S. manufacturers with the technical guidance and testing support needed to interoperate in

today’s global, heterogeneous manufacturing world.

Problem

Globalization is the major trend in manufacturing

today — globalization of markets and globalization

of partners. Both have led to an explosion in the

amount of information sharing that must take place.

Nevertheless, humans still provide the bulk of the

understanding needed to determine what the information means and the majority of the tacit knowledge needed to make decisions based on that understanding. It is absolutely critical to the success of

companies and their suppliers that this sharing is

done correctly, efficiently, and inexpensively.

Changes in technology are positively impacting the

way in which this information sharing takes place. 

Approach

We work with industrial partners to overcome the

barriers that arise from the increased reliance on

electronic information exchange, using a virtual

manufacturing environment where vendors and

manufacturers can test conformance to existing 

standards; and researchers can validate the next

generation of standards 

incorporating

semantic web

technologies.

This program

focuses on

three major

thrusts: an

interoperability

testing and demonstration infrastructure;

testing of key integration standards for today’s manufacturers; 

and developing semantic technologies for

tomorrow’s integration needs.

Typical Customers and

Collaborators

Industry: 

Accordare, Drake Certivo, Lockheed Martin,

Nyamekye Research and Consulting Firm, Covisint,

General Motors (GM), Ford, Lear, Lesker

Corporation, The Boeing Company, Deere &

Company, LK Metrology, Mitutoyo, Pratt & Whitney,

DaimlerChrysler, GE, LK, Zeis, Nihon Unisys

Consortium:

Automotive Industry Action Group (AIAG), 

PDES, Inc., Metrology Automation Association (MAA)

Software Vendor:

AutoSimulation, Inc., EDS, Promodel Corporation,

Micro Analysis & Design Incorporated, Softimage,

Proplanner, Flexsim Software, Emergis, Fujitsu, QAD,

SAP, Sterling Commerce, iConnect, Wolverine

Software, Simul8 Corp., Delmia Corporation,

Rockwell Software, Sewickley, Knowledge Based

Systems, Inc., Technomatix, Delmia, Wilcox,

Theorem Solutions
MEL Programs at a Glance

Manufacturing

Metrology and

Standards for the

Health Care

Enterprise

Program Manager: Ram D. Sriram

Phone: 301 975 3507

Email: sriram@nist.gov

Program Funding: $595K

FTEs: 2.4 

Program Goal

Apply proven MEL manufacturing technology and

expertise to healthcare systems, biomedical devices

and equipment, and biomedical data management.

Problem

Spending on healthcare in the United States was

about 13.2 % of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP)

in 2000 and continues to grow at the rate of 7.3 %

per year. Typically U.S. employers offer health insurance benefits to their staff and retirees, making the

issue of escalating healthcare costs a major concern.

As these costs increase, they raise the cost of doing

business and impede our ability to compete globally. 

Healthcare and manufacturing share many similar

organizational and informational issues. Thus, the

healthcare industry as a whole is a customer for the

metrology, standard-setting support and technology

approaches and solutions that MEL has developed

for the manufacturing sector. The healthcare industry 

needs an 

infrastructure

that will

accelerate

and enrich

development

of methodologies to improve

organizational and

informational support

for all aspects of health 

care delivery. 

Approach

There are two dimensions to the program: (1)

Healthcare informatics; and (2) Medical devices.

Healthcare informatics deals with all the processes

or “software” of the healthcare enterprise. Medical

devices deal with all the products or “hardware” of

the enterprise. The program deals with the following

objectives within the above two dimensions:

Healthcare informatics

Enterprise modeling and simulation, Design and

production of pharmaceuticals, Biosurveillance,

Manufacturing and value chain management

Clinical informatics

Bioinformatics, Medical devices, Mobility devices,

Hearing devices, Intelligent assistive surgical devices

(medical robots), Surface characterization of biomedical devices, Meso-micro-biodevices, Nano-biodevices

Typical Customers and

Collaborators

Healthcare providers and organizations; Process

modeling vendors; Healthcare informatics vendors

and consultants; Medical device industry; Academic

institutions; Government organizations; Various 

associations and standard bodies.

For more information see page 79 23
MEL Programs at a Glance

24 For more information see page 86

Mechanical

Metrology 

Program Manager: Zeina J. Jabbour

Phone: 301 975 4468

Email: zeina.jabbour@nist.gov

Program Funding: $2.3 M

FTEs: 9.3

Program Goal 

Develop and deliver timely measurements and 

standards to address identified critical U.S. industry

needs for traceable mechanical metrology in the

areas of acoustics, force, mass, and vibration, 

particularly for the support of trade and innovation,

process-control, and quality in manufacturing.

Problem

The Mechanical Metrology Program maintains, 

realizes, and disseminates the SI units of sound 

pressure, force, mass, and acceleration to a broad

customer base that covers numerous industries and

impacts nearly every sector of the U.S. economy.

The program staff must maintain and continuously

enhance the high-quality, state-of-the-art measurement capabilities, and develop new research areas

and measurement services to advance the state-ofthe-art in mechanical metrology, provide new 

opportunities, and boost the competitiveness 

of the U.S. industry. 

Approach 

The program will

draw upon the internationally recognized skills and expertise of MEL staff

in the mechanical metrology areas to develop new

and improved measurement capabilities, provide

high-quality measurement services, and guarantee

open worldwide markets to U.S. industry by participation in international comparisons and standards

committees. By increasing the emphasis on

Research and Development (R&D), the program will

respond to the customer needs for future measurement capabilities and increase the interactions with

mechanical metrology R&D organizations and the

“end-users” of devices and artifacts calibrated by

MEL measurement services. 

Typical Customers and

Collaborators

Aerospace industry, automotive industry, construction industry, nuclear power industry, pharmaceutical industry, instrument manufacturers, university

research labs, state weights and measures labs,

federal agencies (Departments of Agriculture,

Commerce, Defense, Energy, Labor, Veterans Affairs,

and Justice, and the Food and Drug Administration).

U.S. National

Prototype

Kilogram

housed at

NIST
MEL Programs at a Glance

Nanomanufacturing

Program Manager: Michael T. Postek

Phone number: 301-975-2299 

Email: postek@nist.gov

Program Funding: $5.0 M

FTEs: 25

Program Goal 

Develop and deliver timely measurements, 

standards, and infrastructural technologies that

address identified critical U.S. industry and other

government agency needs for innovation and 

traceable metrology, process-control and quality 

in manufacturing at the nanoscale.

Problem

Advanced nanomanufacturing is key to the strength

and future growth of the U.S. manufacturing sector

and a strong measurements and standards infrastructure is vital for its success. It has been predicted 

that within the next 10 years, at least half of the

newly designed advanced materials and manufacturing processes will be built at the nanoscale.

Measurement science (metrology) and advanced

instrumentation are essential for nanomanufacturing.

Metrology is a key enabler for all manufacturing. If

you cannot measure it, you cannot make it and that

statement is even more accurate in the regime of

nanotechnology. Successful metrology infrastructure

is essential for manufacturers to achieve the real

promise of developing and manufacturing new 

nanomaterials, devices, and products. Advanced

instrumentation provides the necessary data upon

which sound scientific conclusions can be based and

correct metrology provides the ability to interpret

those data properly and accurately. Together, a

successful

metrology

infrastructure

and advanced

instrumentation facilitate nanomanufacturing. As

pointed out in the National Nanotechnology Initiative

(NNI) Instrumentation Grand Challenge workshop

final report, some of these metrology techniques will

be evolutionary and some will be revolutionary. With

that in mind, it is imperative that this program remain

agile and evolve with the nanomanufacturing industry

and adapt as new applications develop. 

Approach 

The main theme of this research is “Developing the

Nanometrology Infrastructure for Nanomanufacturing.”

The three fundamental thrust areas are: 1) Imaging

and Metrology, 2) Nano-Fabrication, and 3) Control

and Assembly Each of these areas addresses unique

aspects regarding nanometrology infrastructure. The

unique integration of these thrust areas into this

program facilitate knowledge exchange to maximize

the outcomes of the program.

Typical Customers and

Collaborators

• University of Maryland

• Advanced Micro Devices

• Soluris

• International SEMATECH

• Hitachi High Technologies

• FEI Company

• E. Fjeld Company

• NASA

For more information see page 98 25

Scanned probe 

oxidation of

hydrogen

terminated

silicon

• Spectel Research

• INTEL

• IKLA Tencor

• Semiconductor

Research Corp.

• Photronics and Dupont

Photomask

• Nova Metrology tools

• Zyvex Corporation
MEL Programs at a Glance

26 For more information see page 111

Smart

Machining

Systems

Program Manager: M. Alkan Donmez

Phone number: 301-975-6618 

Email: alkan.donmez@nist.gov

Program Funding: $2.8 M

FTEs: 9

Program Goal 

Develop metrology methods and standards that

enable U.S. industry to characterize, monitor, and

improve the accuracy, reliability and productivity of

machining operations, leading to the realization of

autonomous smart machining systems.

Problem

Coalition on Manufacturing Technology

Infrastructure (CTMI) identified an urgent need for

“enabling dramatic improvements in the productivity

and cost of designing,planning, producing, and

delivering high-quality products within short cycle

times.” CTMI identified thrust areas in process definition and design, smart equipment/process control,

fundamental understanding of process and equipment, health monitoring/assurance and integration

framework. It also stated that metrology and

standards are key enablers of these thrust areas.

This program aims to facilitate the development and

validation of such measurement methods and standards. A successful program will enable the smart

machining systems to cost effective manufacture the

first and every part to specification and on schedule. 

Approach 

The program focuses on developing a methodology

for seamlessly integrating all science-based understanding or representation of material removal

processes and machining system performance to

carry out dynamic and global optimization. There

are three programmatic focus areas: (1) performance

characterization and representation; (2) process optimization and control; and (3) condition monitoring. 

Typical Customers and

Collaborators

Boeing, Caterpillar, Pratt& Whitney, Cincinnati

Lamb, Hardinge Brothers, Bosch-Rexroth, Ford,

Northrop Grumman, Optodyne, Roy-G-Biv, Third

Wave Systems, VulcanCraft, American Petroleum

Institute, Lion Precision, Heidenhain, Renishaw,

Gibbs Associates, IQL, Association for

Manufacturing Technology (AMT), The Integrated

Manufacturing Technology Initiative (IMTI), U.S.

Army, National Nuclear Security Administration

(NNSA), National Aeronautics and Space

Administration (NASA), University of Massachusetts,

University of North Carolina Charlotte, 

University of Auckland, University of Aachen, 

University of Maryland. 

Modern

metrology

instruments

allow

development

of new

machine tool

performance

characterization

techniques
programs

Programs of the Manufacturing Engineering Laboratory

Programs

27
28

Programs of the Manufacturing Engineering Laboratory

Programs

Programs

PED MMD MSID ISD FTD PL EEEL MSEL ITL CSTL BFRL TS MEP ATP

MEL NIST 

MEL Program-Division Cross-Reference Chart

DimensionalMetrologyManufacturing Metrology and Standards for the Healthcare EnterpriseMechanicalMetrologyNanomanufacturingSmart Machining Systems

PrimarySecondary

Homeland and Industrial Control SecurityIntelligent Control of Mobility SystemsManufacturingInteroperability
programs Programs

Manufacturing is a complex profession and all U.S. companies, both large and small, are in a furious

global competition to survive. U.S. companies face several challenges. Access to global markets

depends increasingly on their ability to comply with international standards. Engineers must consider a

product’s entire lifecycle, that is, taking a concept from design to production to verification and consider the

product’s eventual disposal. Thousands of different measurements are needed from the time the product is on

the drawing board until it is retired from service. No longer does one manufacturer produce every component

of a product. Rather, they contract out services and buy components from around the world as needed to

manufacture a product. Computers and software applications are now an integral part of the whole process. 

A global economy brings challenges, and U.S. companies must seek ways to improve processes, reduce

production time, and comply with measurement traceability standards. MEL programs give U.S. companies

and manufacturers the tools they need to enhance their competitiveness in the global market. MEL researchers

work on measurement, integration, process, and interoperability problems so that manufacturers can spend

their time on manufacturing. MEL staff help U.S. manufacturers become more productive and meet the

demands for superior quality products by solving tomorrow’s manufacturing measurement and standards

problems today.

Technology-based innovation remains one of the U.S.’s most important competitive advantages. Today, more

than at any other time in history, technological innovation and progress depend on NIST’s unique skills and

capabilities. For example, nanotechnology is poised to revolutionize industries such as the healthcare, manufacturing, computers, and even telecommunication. Just as they do on the macro-scale, consumers of

nanotechnology products must have reliable ways to evaluate, compare, and verify products. MEL researchers

work with industry to achieve greater efficiency and productivity with improved measurements and standards,

both dimensional and mechanical.

In FY2004, the MEL Management Council and staff conducted a comprehensive strategic planning exercise to

ensure the future vitality, quality, and productivity of the laboratory’s technical programs. The group assessed

the technical direction and goals, the structure, and the operation of the entire MEL technical program portfolio and made substantial changes based on that assessment. This effort resulted in eight strategic programs

that are highly focused, strongly connected with industry’s needs, well aligned with and supportive of NIST’s

strategic directions, and funded for success. A transition from an original portfolio of 17 programs was not

simply a reorganizing of work, but a true transformation to a well-balanced program portfolio that is intended

to result in greater impact and higher efficiency. The new program portfolio is designed to make maximum

use of MEL staff’s technical capability. 

29

Programs of the Manufacturing Engineering Laboratory

Programs
The programs that officially began in FY2005 are:

• Dimensional Metrology

• Homeland and Industrial Control Security

• Intelligent Control of Mobility Systems

• Manufacturing Interoperability

• Manufacturing Metrology and Standards for the

Health Care Enterprise

• Mechanical Metrology

• Nanomanufacturing

• Smart Machining Systems

Further information on these programs is given in

this section. Program descriptions include program

goals, objectives, projects, customer need and

intended impact, technical approach, accomplishments, typical customers and collaborators, and both

standards activities and measurement services (if

appropriate). Under “customer need and intended

impact” – you will find answers to questions such

as: Who are your customers? What problems do

they have? What do they need from NIST? What is

MEL’s unique contribution to this problem? How will

a successful program help U.S. customers develop a

competitive advantage? A tactical description of how

the program goal and objectives will be met is given

in the “technical approach & program objectives”

area. A brief discussion of the objectives and how

they support the program’s ultimate goal is also

found here. To provide continuity if appropriate,

work from a previous program may appear in the

major accomplishments section of the newly

designed program. Program descriptions also include

a list of FY2005 projects, a brief description of each

project, and the relationship between the projects

and the program objective(s).

Following each program description, you will find a

program timeline. These show programmatic themes,

principal activities, deliverables, and impacts for the

years leading up to the current year, for the current

year, and for future years. Within each timeline,

different program themes are differentiated by color

and are intended to convey the change in program

emphasis over time. Activities, deliverables, and

impacts are mapped to the appropriate theme by

color. Deliverables are actual outputs while the

“impact” section describes beneficial effects of the

work. If an activity, deliverable, or impact maps on

to multiple themes, this will be shown with a

blending of theme colors. Items listed on the timeline for future years are intended activities, deliverables, or impacts of the future work. Detailed information about the items listed (both past and future)

are given in the program description that precedes

the timeline. 

You are encouraged to contact the appropriate

Program Manager (contact information is given at

the top of each program description) if you would

like to find out more detailed information on a

particular program or any of its projects. Another

source for information is the MEL website

http://www.mel.nist.gov/ and then click on

“programs.”

30

Programs of the Manufacturing Engineering Laboratory

Programs
dimensional metrology Dimensional Metrology 

Program Goal

Develop and deliver timely dimensional measurements and standards to address identified critical 

U.S. industry needs for traceable dimensional metrology, particularly for the support of trade and 

innovation, process control and quality in manufacturing from the micro- to the macro-scale.

Customer Need & Intended Impact

Dimensional metrology spans a vast array of products and industries, from

large scale manufacturing of ships and aircraft to miniaturized mechanical

components to precision optics. The Dimensional Metrology Program, as part of

a national measurement institute, plays a crucial rule in providing metrology

infrastructure and calibrates approximately 5,000 master gauges, instruments,

and artifacts per year. Although the calibrations performed by the program 

represent a minuscule fraction of the total number of dimensional measurements

performed in the U.S. annually, they typically represent the highest level of

measurement accuracy and provide a cost effective way to achieve traceability

to the SI (International System of units) units.

Under cost cutting pressures, U.S. industry is frequently unable to maintain 

in-house metrology expertise and increasingly relies on documentary standards

to select and maintain metrology equipment. Accordingly, the program actively

participates in the development of national standards and represents the U.S. in

the development of international standards. At the national standards level, these

documents provide tutorial information and enable cost savings for both

suppliers and customers of metrology equipment by providing standardized

practices and specifications. At the international standards level, the program

supplies a high level of metrological expertise, providing a strong voice to

address specific U.S. metrology needs in the ISO standardization process, and

ensures that non-tariff trade barriers are not erected.

Industrial manufacturing is continually evolving and creating new measurement

challenges for NIST. The Dimensional Metrology Program identifies and supports

research and development (R&D) to meet these new measurement needs.

Competitive pressures on U.S. manufacturing arising from globalization guide

this selection process. As developing economies enter a product field they 

31

Programs of the Manufacturing Engineering Laboratory

Dimensional Metrology

Program Manager:

Steven D. Phillips

Total FTEs: 

19

Annual Program Funds:

$4 M 
typically displace domestic suppliers. Domestic

manufacturing must continually move up the manufacturing food chain out of reach of commoditybased products. Such an effort requires more sophisticated product designs that frequently involve

components that have complex geometries or are

miniaturized, or both. In optics, this means aspheric

and free form surfaces. In discrete parts, this involves

complex surface shape. In these cases conventional

measurement methods are either not possible or

poorly suited for the task.

Precision Metrology 

for Complex Optics

Precise optical figure metrology is a leading edge

technology, enabling multiple industries. The drive

for ever-finer integrated circuit (IC) features demands

diffraction-limited imaging; leading-edge steppers

seek a wavefront better than 2 nm root mean square

(RMS) for adequate imaging. This net wavefront error

must be shared between the surface errors of as

many as 20 lenses, including aspheric lenses. Wafers

on the chuck of the stepper or other tool also need

ever-improved flatness to address the depth of field

issue. No U.S. SI-traceable metrology system is in

place for measuring optical figure, wavefront distortions, or wafer flatness; few industry standards exist,

and those that do are often outdated.

Complex surfaces in optics are exploding in their

applications. Consumer products such as digital

cameras and DVDs are driving the optics industry to

use small, fast aspheric optics. Several attendees at

the American Society for Precision Engineering

(ASPE) meeting on Precision Interferometry in May

2000 identified traceable measurement of aspheric

optics as a key need. Traceability involves valid 

uncertainty statements that are rare in the U.S. optics

industry. Only a small number of very specialized

optical companies practice the metrology of

aspheric and free form optics. The barrier to entry to

this field is high in both capital equipment and

expertise. The Dimensional Metrology Program seeks

to lower this barrier by making this form of optical

metrology available to a wide array of smaller manufacturers. The program also seeks to establish a

traceability path for optical metrology.

Micro-features

Metrology for micro-features is one of the most

active areas in dimensional metrology. The National

Measurement Institutes (NMIs) of NPL (UK) and PTB

(Germany) are both building custom coordinate

measuring machines (CMMs) designed solely for

very small parts. Machined micro-features represent

a rapidly expanding array of products produced by

such techniques as micro-machines and LIGA

(a German acronym for Lithography, Electroplating,

and Molding). Small features in optical lenses,

optical fibers and their connectors, DNA processing

chips, drug delivery systems, and a myriad of 

other applications are increasingly common. 

32

Programs of the Manufacturing Engineering Laboratory

Dimensional Metrology

Three dimensional

representation of

the form error

of a 100 mm 

diameter

silicon sphere 

measured

by XCALIBIR
These components are too delicate to inspect with

conventional contact probing techniques, including

the program’s Moore M48 CMM.

New probe technology for microfeatures will

provide the measurement infrastructure needed to

characterize micro-scale devices entering the

marketplace. For example, fuel injectors with holes

as small as 60 μm in diameter would benefit from

precision measurement so as to standardize dimensions, thus increasing fuel economy and reducing

pollution; even a 0.4 % increase in fuel efficiency

would represent $1 billion annual savings to the U.S.

As another example, the $3 billion telecommunication connector market

would benefit from the

ability to measure the

geometry of fiber

ferrules or similar fiber

alignment devices used

in optical switches.

Sub-micron alignment

is needed to minimize

connection losses, and consequently very small

measurement uncertainties are desirable. Previously

MEL supplied a Standard Reference Material (SRM)

for the external diameter of an optical fiber and 

the program now seeks to provide an SRM for the

internal diameter of an optical ferrule. More 

generally, whereas the $1 billion American micro 

electro-mechanical systems (MEMS) industry relies

on image-based measurements at modest accuracy,

we can expect that a maturing MEMS industry will

face the same needs for progressive precision as

seen in manufactured products on a larger scale;

NIST should be in a position to meet this 

emerging need.

Complex Surface Metrology

Complex surfaces are increasingly employed in

manufacturing, especially for large components. 

Not surprisingly a boom in instruments and methodologies to measure these structures is underway. 

A wide range of technologies such as multilateration, photogrammetry, LADAR (Laser Detection &

Ranging), and structured light are rapidly advancing

due to the availability of high-speed electronics and

inexpensive computer power. The U.S. is a major

supplier of frameless metrology systems used in

scanning large structures, however, demonstrating

their metrological capability is problematic. In a

2003 workshop chaired by NPL, PTB, and NIST on

large-scale measurement systems, one of the

summary findings stated “So far, no common

procedures for the evaluation of measurement

uncertainty or for performing an interim check are 

in existence for large-scale measurement systems. 

In the near future, the rigorous implementation of

quality systems, not just in the aircraft and automotive industries, but in a wide context will generate a

huge need for action in this area.”

The problem is typified by NIST’s Building and

Construction Research Division (BCRD) that plans to

use a three-dimensional (3D) LADAR measurement

system to establish the “true value” of a construction

measurement test course against which other measurement systems are evaluated. Unfortunately, they

have no means to evaluate the accuracy of the

LADAR system and, hence, its contribution to calibration errors in the test course. BCRD is very interested in having the LADAR system evaluated in a

metrologically rigorous manner.

33

Programs of the Manufacturing Engineering Laboratory

Dimensional Metrology

Metallic LIGA component from

Axsun Technologies
Complex mechanical surfaces often act as the interface with their environments in dynamic structures

such as airframes, turbine blades, and ship hulls.

Small deviations in manufacturing or assembly

prevent optimal function and cause inefficiencies

that can consume large quantities of energy. It is

often said that aircraft are actually “powered

corkscrews” indicating that small deviations from the

designed form create drag that degrades performance. Accurate metrology can minimize these

effects. Major manufacturers such as Boeing,

Caterpillar, and Pratt & Whitney increasingly rely on

measurements of complex surfaces by frameless

measurement systems. Traditional methods such as

large fixed CMMs represent large fixed capital

investments and are not reconfigurable as required

in a flexible manufacturing environment.

The program seeks to focus on metrology instruments that are used in advanced manufacturing of

complex surfaces. We anticipate providing rigorous

calibrations of a wide class of instruments that will

facilitate better instrument selection by metrology

practitioners, improved designs by instrument manufacturers, and traceability of these measurement

systems. The program is also researching conventional CMM probing systems and associated data

fitting for complex surfaces.

Technical Approach &

Program Objectives

Objective #1: NMI Services

Provide practical access to the SI unit of length and

angle through calibrations and standard reference

materials, and to support industrial metrology

through national and international standards.

The program takes a broad approach to improving

all aspects of measurement services and standardization. High quality measurement services are ensured

by a program wide quality assurance plan and audits

based on ISO 17025. Measurement services include

active participation in the BIPM (International

Bureau of Weights and Measures, France) sponsored

Working Group (WG) for Dimensional Metrology

and the international measurement intercomparisons

required by the NIST participation in the CIPM

(International Committee for Weights and Measures)

Mutual Recognition Arrangement. Funding is

focused on calibrations with a wide customer base,

and less important measurement services are terminated. Program goals include lowering measurement

uncertainty, expanding measurement range, and

improving on-time delivery. Program staff with

specific metrology expertise are involved in both

national (ASME - American Society of Mechanical

Engineers) and international (ISO TC213 – Technical

Committee on Dimensional and geometrical product

specifications and verification) metrology standards

development. Participation also includes the Joint

Committee for Guides to Metrology (JCGM WG1),

an international effort that produced the ISO Guide

to the Expression of Uncertainty in Measurement.

Program staff also provide metrology tutorials to

industrial audiences.

34

Programs of the Manufacturing Engineering Laboratory

Dimensional Metrology
35

Programs of the Manufacturing Engineering Laboratory

Objective #2: Optical Metrology for

Complex Surfaces

Develop the instrumentation, methodologies, and

expertise to calibrate complex geometry optics -

aspherics and free-forms - with sub-nanometer figure

uncertainty, for size capacities up to 300 mm diameter for XCALIBIR and 100 mm for GEMM.

Optics is a pervasive enabling technology, and is

critical to microelectronics fabrication, consumer

electro-optics, remote sensing, defense, medical

imaging, and other areas. Worldwide interest in

applying aspheric and free form optics is strong, and

the need for better metrology in these areas is critical. A key challenge for the measurement of

aspheres and free form optics is the necessity to

generate a reference wavefront that matches the

optical surface under test. The optics used to

generate reference wavefronts are called “null

lenses.” They are costly to make and use, are not

reconfigurable, and increase the measurement

uncertainty. This objective researches alternative

approaches that do not require null lenses: subaperture stitching using both the phase measuring and

displacement measuring interferometers of X-Ray

Calibration Interferometer (XCALIBIR), the Geometry

Measuring Machine (GEMM), and computer generated holograms (CGH). The combination of the three

approaches will yield a unique facility for aspheric

measurements and provide a means for detecting

unknown systematic errors within each method.

Additionally, reversal methods that are used to determine the wavefront errors in the interferometer as

well as the test optic (and hence are also important

to aspheric measurements) are known to have

discrepancies between different techniques. XCALIBIR will examine self-calibrating methods and

determine their relative uncertainties resulting in

improved optical figure accuracy.

Objective #3: Micro-feature 

Dimensional Metrology

Develop and characterize advanced CMM probing

technologies to bring micro-feature (size range: 

100 μm – 500 μm) measurement capacity to a level

suitable for NIST SP-250 (a publication that lists calibration services) calibrations.

New fabrication technologies are rapidly expanding

the array of products with microfeatures. This objective seeks to develop the capability to extend 3D

coordinate metrology to the 100 μm feature size,

with the added complication of feature aspect ratios

of over 50:1. First, several new probe technologies

that may be suitable for micro-feature use on the

Moore M48 CMM will be investigated. Current work

based on a PTB design of a fiber optic probe, in a

very rudimentary prototype constructed at NIST, has

shown promising results. Alternatively, a MEMSbased probe design (also under development by

PTB) will be investigated as a longer-term solution.

Different sensor-based technologies will be examined, in particular, for the ability to measure deep

holes having aspect ratios approaching 100:1.

Secondly, commercial instruments that are pushing

this feature size domain, such as Mitutoyo’s Ultra

UMAP CMM will be investigated under a

Cooperative Research And Development Agreement

(CRADA) agreement. Thirdly, the program anticipates

a CRADA with United Technologies Pratt & Whitney

and Oak Ridge Y-12 for the development of measurement methods, reference artifacts, and uncertainty budgets for inspection of small (250 μm to

500 μm) holes in turbine blades. Finally, 2D surface

topography will be investigated by both white light

interferometry and by phase shifting interferometry

microscopy. Some algorithms for stitching interferograms developed under Objective #2 may be used

in this effort.

Dimensional Metrology
Objective #4: Complex Geometry

Dimensional Metrology

Develop metrological capabilities and facilities to

calibrate instruments and probing technology

capable of collecting large data sets on complex

geometry surfaces.

Complex geometry surfaces are among the most

challenging areas of dimensional metrology. Some of

the difficulties include the complexity of scanning

probes, the optical and mechanical metrology in the

measuring instruments, huge data files, and fitting

algorithms for these surfaces. Most of these instruments are sufficiently transportable (unlike conventional CMMs) that testing at NIST is a reasonable

procedure. The program seeks to develop a calibrated test range traceable to the SI unit of length for

frameless coordinate measurement systems. Use of

the test range by instrument manufacturers may lead

to improved accuracy through the discovery of

unknown systematic errors.

Scanning probes for conventional CMMs are gaining

widespread use for inspecting complex workpieces.

These probes are, in effect, miniature three axis

CMMs with a very short thermal time constant. All

of the thermally induced errors normally associated

with CMM structures can also appear in the probe

and are accentuated due to the short time constraint.

The program will test CMM scanning probes in the

NIST Advanced Measurement Laboratory’s (AML)

thermally controllable lab to simulate conditions on

the shop floor.

Finally, the program seeks to develop an E-metrology

effort where coordinate metrology information, and

in particular, data sets and their associated algorithm

fits can be readily accessed by industry. This is an

expansion of the current Algorithm Testing System

(ATS) into the domain of complex surfaces and large

data sets.

36

Programs of the Manufacturing Engineering Laboratory

Dimensional Metrology
Major Accomplishments 

Objective 1: NMI Services

• Completed final draft of ASME 89.7.4

“Measurement Uncertainty and Risk Analysis”;

this provides the link between measurement

uncertainty and the consequences of workpiece

acceptance or rejection (FY2004)

• Improved measurement services for ball diameter

and roundness, 10 % reduction in uncertainty

with no increase in calibration prices (FY2004)

• Publication of ASME B89.7.3.3 “Guidelines for

Assessing the Reliability of Dimensional

Measurement Uncertainty Statements”; resolves

conflicts between supplier and customer

concerning the evaluation of measurement 

uncertainty (FY2003)

Objective 2: Optical Metrology for

Complex Surfaces

• Produced and published “Measuring Form and

Radius of Spheres with Interferometry” in

International Institution for Production

Engineering Research (CIRP); one of the first

reconciliations of figure measurements with

displacement of radius measurements 

• Completed design of the Geometrical Measuring

Machine (GEMM) world’s first 2D interferometer

with null free optic for free from optics (FY2004)

• Completed 300 mm diameter 3-flat tests with 

0.5 nm repeatability using XCALIBIR, establishing

it as an NMI class instrument (FY2003)

Objective 3: Micro-features metrology

• Constructed and tested a 2D optical fiber probe

with 15 nm one sigma repeatability; establishes

that a 2D probe with U(k=2) < 0.1 μm is feasible

(FY2004)

• Obtained Mitutoyo Ultra UMAP CMM with

micro probe on a CRADA (FY2004)

Objective 4: Complex Geometry

Dimensional Metrology

• Completed final draft of ASME 89.4.19 “Laser

Tracker Performance Evaluation”; world’s first

metrology standard for spherically based coordinate measurement systems (FY2004)

• Organized Coordinate Measurement Systems

Committee (CMSC) session on Large Scale

Metrology Systems; including PTB and NPL 

coordinating international activities (FY2004)

• Keynote address and paper on large scale

metrology to CIRP establishing NIST as a 

significant contributor to this field (FY2003)

37

Programs of the Manufacturing Engineering Laboratory

Dimensional Metrology
FY2005 Projects 

Calibration Services, 

SRMs, and Intercomparisons

(Objective #1)

The Dimensional Metrology Program produces a

large number of calibrations and Standard Reference

Materials in support of industrial measurement

needs. These services are supplied under ISO 17025-

based Quality System.

Deliverables for FY2005:

1. A 10 % increase in the percentage of on-time

delivery of calibration services.

2. The performance of the Moore M48 CMM for

one, two and three dimensional measurements

remapped and verified.

3. Calibration service for coefficient of thermal

expansion calibration submitted to Measurement

Services Advisory Group (MSAG) for approval.

4. Working Group for Dimensional Metrology

(WGDM) Drafts for Key Comparison K-6,

Diameter.

5. Report of internal audit on MEL’s Precision

Engineering Division (PED) Quality System. PED

Quality System modified to bring SRM development into conformance with the NIST Quality

Manual.

National and International

Standards (Objective #1)

This project is directed to the development of

national and international standards. The list of standards in the section below are standards that

program staff either chair or are the primary authors.

Deliverables for FY2005:

1. Publication of ASME B89.7.4 on uncertainty and

risk analysis.

2. Final Draft of ASME B89.4.19 for laser trackers

3. Final Draft of ASME B89.7.3.2 regarding 

measurement uncertainty.

4. Draft International Standard status - ISO 10360-2

on CMMs for measuring linear dimensions. 

5. Draft International Standard status - ISO 10360-5

on CMM Probing Systems. 

6. Corrigendum to TC 213 regarding U.S. concerns

on ISO 14253-1 Decision Rules submitted.

7. Working Draft for ASME B89.4.1 CMM

Performance Evaluation compatible with ISO

10360 series.

38

Programs of the Manufacturing Engineering Laboratory

Dimensional Metrology
Optical Metrology of Spheres,

Flats, Mild Aspheres (Objective #2)

This project focuses on the characterization of measurement methods and absolute error separation techniques to determine and reduce the uncertainties of

measurements made with commercially available

Phase Measurement Interferometers. 

Deliverables for FY2005:

1. Archival publication demonstrating the capability

of XCALIBIR to measure flats and spherical

optics with standard uncertainties of 0.2 nm for

figure and 20 nm for radius of curvature.

2. Ray-trace model of XCALIBIR to quantify retrace

errors that occur during the measurement of

aspheres.

3. Figure measurement of near-cylindrical aspheric

mirror mandrels for the NASA Constellation-X

project.

4. Prepare for move of XCALIBIR to the AML.

Project: Optical Metrology of

Aspheres (Objective #2)

This project develops a complementary set of techniques: interferogram stitching, GEMM, and CGH,

for the absolute measurement of aspheric optics with

uncertainties at the nanometer level. 

Deliverables for FY2005:

1. A prototype GEMM instrument useful for 1-D

profiling of free form optics.

2. Demonstration of asphere measurement with

XCALIBIR stitching algorithms.

3. A set of test aspheres.

Wafer Metrology (Objective #2)

This project will develop an inferred interferometer

(IR2) measuring thickness variation in silicon wafers.

Deliverables for FY2005:

1. IR2 instrument operational.

2. Demonstration of IR2 measurement of thickness

of 300 mm wafers to less than 5 nm uncertainty.

The sample population will include certified 

300 mm wafers from several suppliers and 

single side polished wafers provided by

WaveFront Sciences Inc.

Micro-Feature Probe R&D

(Objective #3)

The focus of this project is to develop new probe

technology for the Moore M48 that can measure

feature sizes of 100 μm. The probe requires an

uncertainty of Uk=2 ) 100 nm and a probing 

force ) 20 mN.

Deliverables for FY2005:

1. Paper on 2D fiber optic probe performance

published at American Society for Precision

Engineering (ASPE).

2. Paper published at National Conference of

Standards Laboratories (NCSL) on small hole

metrology. 

39

Programs of the Manufacturing Engineering Laboratory

Dimensional Metrology
UMAP CMM and Surface

Interferometry (Objective #3)

This project focuses on the Mitutoyo UMAP CMM, a

state of the art commercial instrument to measure

micro-features. This instrument immediately gives

the program the ability to measure features as small

as 100 μm with Uk=2 = 300 nm. The instrument 

will be characterized and serve as a cross reference

for ongoing probe development work. Surface 

interferograms using white light and phase shifting

interferometry will also be characterized for surface

reconstruction.

Deliverables for FY2005:

1. A paper on the observations and analysis of

methods divergence between white light and

phase shifting interferometry for surface roughness measurements.

2. A report on the intercomparison of 0.5 mm

diameter holes measurements with Moore 

M48 CMM.

3. Error map and detailed uncertainty budget for

micro-feature measurements on the UMAP.

Complex Geometry Metrology Test

Range (Objective #4)

This project seeks to develop a calibration test range

applicable to a wide range of different measurement

technologies including systems that require either

optically cooperative or uncooperative targets. 

Deliverables for FY2005:

1. Report from a NIST-lead workshop at the CMSC

on the calibration needs of large-scale coordinate metrology community.

2. Large Scale Lab refurbished for floor and 

ceiling work.

3. Report on targets and target mounting. 

4. Report on calibration strategies for test range.

High Data Density Probe

Performance (Objective #4)

This project seeks to test scanning probes in a simulated industrial thermal environment. 

Deliverables for FY05:

1. Integration of UCC1 controller into 

the REI CMM.

2. Report on performance of integrated probing

system when tested with the entire ISO suite of

probe performance tests. 

40

Programs of the Manufacturing Engineering Laboratory

Dimensional Metrology
41

Programs of the Manufacturing Engineering Laboratory

E-Metrology of Complex Surfaces

(Objective #4)

This project involves construction of the program

website, posting as much MEL dimensional

metrology information as possible, and the development of downloadable data sets to test metrology

software. Data sets will include Algorithm Testing

Service (ATS) data, surface metrology data, complex

surface data, and Geometric Dimensioning and

Tolerancing (GD&T) features with respect to datum

reference frames.

Deliverables for FY2005:

1. Surface roughness algorithm database and

analysis available on website.

2. Dimensional Metrology Program available for

Internal NIST website.

Typical Customers and

Collaborators

Customers:

Department of Defense, Department of Energy, 

aerospace industry, automotive industry, heavy 

equipment and machinery industry, state weights

and measures labs, and metrology instrumentation

manufacturers.

Collaborators: 

Argonne National Laboratory’s Advanced Photon

Source; WaveFront Sciences Inc.; Mitutoyo of

America; United Technologies Pratt & Whitney; 

Oak Ridge Y-12; The Boeing Company; Automated

Precision Inc.; Renishaw Inc. , and NIST Building

Construction and Research Division. 

Dimensional Metrology
FY2005 Standards

Participation

• ASME B89.1.8Laser Interferometers

• ASME B89.1.9 Gage Blocks

• ASME B89.4.1 U.S. CMM standard including 

scanning probe technology

• ASME B89.4.19 Optical CMMs including 

laser trackers

• ASME B89.4.20 Traceability of CMM

calibrations

• ASME B89.4.22 Articulating Arm CMMs

• ASME B89.7.3Measurement Uncertainty: 

Decision Rules

• ASME B89.7.4 Measurement Uncertainty: 

Risk Analysis

• ASME B89.7.8 Traceability of Dimensional 

Measurements

• ASME B46 Surface Texture

• ISO TC213 WG4 International standards on 

measurement uncertainty

• ISO TC213 WG10 International standard on 

Coordinate Metrology

• ISO TC213 planetary Dimensional and

Geometrical Product Specifications 

and Verification

• OSA Optical Society of America, 

“Optical Design and 

Instrumentation Group”

FY2005 Measurement

Services 

The Dimensional Metrology Program offers calibration services, including: gauge blocks, tapes

and scales, length standards, sieves, algorithm

testing, diameter measurements, American

Petroleum Institute (API) gauges, optical reference

planes, roundness standards, angular measurements,

laser measurements, and surface texture.

42

Programs of the Manufacturing Engineering Laboratory

Dimensional Metrology
43

Programs of the Manufacturing Engineering Laboratory

Dimensional Metrology

Themes

2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008

Principal

Activities

Deliverables

Impacts

Dimensional Metrology 

Improved flats and sphere 

metrology to industry 

NMI services

Optical metrology for complex surfaces

Micro-features metrology

Complex geometry dimensional metrology

Calibration & measurement services

Wafer metrology 

Developing national and international standards

Optical metrology of spheres, flats, mild aspheres 

E Metrology of complex surfaces

Optical metrology of aspheres 

Complex geometry test range

UMAP CMM and surface interferometry 

CMM scanning probes for complex surfaces

Micro-feature probe R&D 

Pub. ASME B89.7.3.3

Measurement uncertainty & traceability simplified and available to industry

Reduced calibration time and cost for laser trackers

Low cost quality assurance for measurement 

algorithms available from web

Aspheric metrology available to industry 

Fewer customer complaints due to on time Cal delivery

Pub. ASME B89.7.4

2D fiber probe Pub. white light and phase shift Int. Pub. ASME B89.7.8

REI CMM operational GEMM Operational Large Scale Test Range GEMM proven or not

Pub. Stylus and AFM on surfaces

Pub. measuring form & radius of Increased on time Cal delivery Pub. ASME B89.4.1060 based on ISO

spheres with XCALINBIR 

Pub. ASME B89.4.19 Move XCALIBER to AML

Pub. ISO 10360 –2&5

Program web site on line

Improved micro-feature metrology 

Scanning CMM 

probe performance

Surface roughness 

algorithms on web

Optical ferrule 

SRM

Aspheric optics on

XCALIBIR

Silicon wafer thickness 

variation improved

US large scale 

metrology instrument 

traceable and improve

US coordinate 

metrology industry on

ISO standards – 

reduced costs

Improved Optical 

Surface Metrology

Improved fiber 

optic connectors

UMAP vs M48 @ 0.5 mm

Wafer certification Pub. ASME B89.7.3.2 Self Calibration of

XCALIBIR

M48 @ 100 μm

feature size

Pub. ISO surface 

roughness std. 
homeland security Homeland and Industrial

Control Security

Program Goal

Develop and apply MEL capabilities, tools, 

and methods to enhance: 

• Preparation for, prevention of, defense against, and response to threats and aggressions against the

domestic population and infrastructure of the United States

• Effectiveness of domestic emergency response and law enforcement

Customer Need and Intended Impact

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and federal, state, and local

emergency response agencies and personnel need an integrated infrastructure of performance metrics, test methods and standards to 1) enable specification, evaluation, and integration of homeland security and public safety equipment and systems, and 2) encourage investment in homeland security science

and technology efforts.1 The lack of consensus national requirements and standards slows development and leads to confusion in the private sector (e.g.,

equipment manufacturers, software developers, and shippers) and the government sector (e.g., Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), and state and

local emergency planners). In coordination with related efforts internal and

external to NIST, the MEL Homeland and Industrial Control Security (H&ICS)

Program helps build this standards infrastructure, primarily in areas that cut

across multiple vulnerability, threat, and response mode categories. 

In addition to federal agency needs, U.S. manufacturers have measurement and

standards needs related to securing their own operations and to ensuring that

their entire network of supporting services and distributed means of production

are able to continue unimpeded. Uninterrupted national and international transportation of parts, subassemblies, and finished goods, continuous flow of power,

oil and gas, and chemicals, and robust, secure communication of supply chain

information are of paramount importance to manufacturers.2

44

Programs of the Manufacturing Engineering Laboratory

Homeland and Industrial Control Security

Program Manager: 

Al Wavering

Total FTEs:

8.8

Annual Program Funds

$3.5 M

1 National Strategy for Homeland Security, Office of Homeland Security, July 2002,

http://www.dhs.gov/dhspublic/display?theme=85&content=285.

2 Manufacturing in America: A Comprehensive Strategy to Address the Challenges to US Manufacturers, US Department of Commerce,

Washington, DC, January 2004, available at http://www.manufacturing.gov/.
The ultimate outcome of this program is for federal,

state, emergency response, and law enforcement

agencies to obtain the best value for their investment

in homeland security technologies, to save lives and

property through broader deployment of the technologies, and to enable technology developers to

accelerate development of advanced capabilities. In

addition, many H&ICS projects may result in dualuse benefits. For example, improved knowledge of

shipping container contents and location improves

security and also improves production scheduling.

The H&ICS program responsively addresses new and

changing needs of our customers that have arisen

post September 11, 2001.

Technical Approach &

Program Objectives

I

n general, projects in this program will follow the

same approach used for DHS standards development and implementation projects, illustrated in

Figure 1 below. For each component or system

under consideration, guidelines will be developed as

a collaborative effort among tool developers,

users/subject matter experts, and standards experts.

Requirements and guidelines will be defined using

information related to the capabilities – and the limitations - of the components, and on the conditions

in which the component and system are expected to

operate. The guidelines will be the foundation for

constructing performance measures, and testing and

45

Programs of the Manufacturing Engineering Laboratory

Homeland and Industrial Control Security

System

Training

Information

Equipment

Mission Elements

Modeling/

Analysis

Certification

Testing Protocols

Guidelines

Performance Standards

Reassessment

Users

Developers

Threat/

Vulnerability

Analysts

Standards

Experts

Includes concept of

operations and environment

and technology

capabilities/possibilities

Reliability of

technologies, people,

and/or testing labs

Measurable

specifications

Templates for 

lab and field 

testing

Address dynamic threat,

changing technologies,

evolving operations, and

lessons learned

Figure 1. Process for managing DHS standards for all elements of the mission.3

3 Source: Bert Coursey, Standards Program Manager, DHS Science and Technology Directorate.
46

Programs of the Manufacturing Engineering Laboratory

evaluation protocols that will provide a reproducible

method for assessing and comparing the effectiveness of each system component and of the systems

supporting homeland security. Performance measures will encompass basic functionality, adequacy

and appropriateness for the task, interoperability,

efficiency, and sustainability. 

One of the key parts of the national measurements

and standards infrastructure for homeland security

hardware, software and processes is the 

development of consensus performance standards.

Standards Development Organizations (SDOs) 

with relevant interest and expertise are identified 

for each technical area to be addressed. 

This program leverages this existing expertise by

establishing a working relationship between these

SDOs and other federal agencies to develop

consensus requirements and performance standards

for system products and processes. 

Objectives

Objective #1: 

Define and apply performance metrics and standards

for homeland security robots,

Objective #2: 

Define and apply information security requirements,

standards, and test methods for industrial control

systems,

Objective #3: 

Develop standards for integrating simulation systems

and databases for advanced planning, training, and

event decision support,

Objective #4: 

Lay the groundwork for development of a standardsbased framework for homeland security smart sensor

networks, 

Objective #5: 

Demonstrate the benefits of Bullet and Casing

Reference Materials for verification of equipment in

law enforcement laboratories performing ballistics

signature comparisons,

Objective #6: 

Evaluate the feasibility of extending the concept of

“firearms identification” to develop a national ballistics database for all firearms sold in the U.S., 

Objective #7: 

Provide an in-depth understanding of bullet and

armor materials leading to predictive models and

computer simulations of bullet/armor interactions, 

Objective #8: 

Complete revisions of standards and guides for

emergency vehicle sirens.

Homeland and Industrial Control Security
Major Accomplishments

• Conducted three urban search and rescue (US&R)

Robot Competitions to help accelerate the development of US&R robot technologies:

RoboCup2004 U.S. Open Rescue Robot

Competition (New Orleans, LA), RoboCup2004

Rescue Robot Competition (Lisbon, Portugal),

AAAI2004 Rescue Robot Competition 

(San Jose, CA)

• Launched DHS-funded multi-year program to

develop comprehensive standards and performance metrics for US&R robots

• Released for public comment draft System

Protection Profile for Industrial Control Systems,

which outlines security requirements to help utilities and other critical infrastructure industries

secure their industrial control systems

• Tested compatibility of antivirus software with

control system operator interfaces in the

Industrial Control System Security Testbed. The

test results help industry understand how to select

the most appropriate antivirus software configuration settings in an operational control system

environment

• Developed Industrial Ethernet performance tests

and helped conduct industry-wide testing events,

improving the robustness and interoperability of

Industrial Ethernet implementations

• Held Modeling and Simulation for Emergency

Response Workshop at NIST March 2-3, 2004,

resulting in a draft Roadmap for Integrated

Modeling & Simulation for Emergency Response 

FY2005 Projects

Homeland Security Robot

Performance Metrics and

Standards (Objective #1)

DHS and other agencies are actively exploring the

application of ground, air, and underwater robots to

a number of homeland security applications, and

need an infrastructure of standard requirements and

performance metrics for robot systems and components to help them obtain the greatest benefit from

this technology. The requirements will provide

concrete performance targets and drive robot development. Performance metrics will give agencies a

means to evaluate what they are getting for their

money. Without standards and metrics, equipment

purchasers have only supplier claims and demonstrations to rely upon. Furthermore, standards are

needed to enable robotic technology to be developed on a modular component basis, which enables

best-of-breed systems to be assembled. The project

has three current thrusts aimed at addressing these

needs: 1) developing reference test arenas and

conducting competitions for urban search and

rescue (US&R) robots (NIST-funded), 2) developing

performance metrics and standards for US&R robots

(DHS-funded), and 3) defining performance metrics

for bomb disposal robots (National Institute of

Justice (NIJ)-funded).

47

Programs of the Manufacturing Engineering Laboratory

Homeland and Industrial Control Security
48

Programs of the Manufacturing Engineering Laboratory

Industrial Control System Security

(Objective #2)

Foreign adversaries have singled out critical infrastructures as strategic targets for physical and cyber

attack.4 While many security experts agree that

physical attacks are the most immediate threat to

critical infrastructures, they recognize the need to

secure industrial control systems from cyber attack

as well. 5, 6, 7 Two primary categories of standards

are needed for industrial control system security.

Standard security requirements are needed so

owner- operators know what to specify, and so

suppliers know what to build. Standard performance

test methods are needed to evaluate the impact of

security technologies on real-time control system

behavior and to measure the performance of control

system network components. We are working with

other federal agencies and industry representatives

in this project to address both of these needs. 

A broad cross section of industrial control system

users and suppliers participate in this effort through

the NIST-led Process Control Security Requirements

Forum (PCSRF). 

Modeling and Simulation for

Emergency Response (Objective #3)

While there are numerous stand-alone modeling and

simulation tools for specific homeland securityrelated domains, these tools need to be brought

together for studying the impact of disaster events as

a whole. Currently, there are no standards that

define the data interfaces, database structures, or

software architectures for relevant emergency

response simulation and visualization applications.

Interoperability standards for simulation and visualization tools for emergency response could significantly improve the Nation’s capabilities in this area.

An integrated set of simulations could be used for

developing well-coordinated response plans. They

could be used for providing a complete scenario for

training where the results of response actions can be

evaluated immediately allowing rapid learning for

the trainees. The tools could also be used for rapid

evaluation of alternate response plans to a major

incident and assist in a prudent selection of the plan

leading to minimization of impact from the incident.

The needs and a proposed approach to addressing

them have been well documented as a result of two

workshops on Modeling and Simulation for

Emergency Response sponsored by NIST in 2003

and 2004.8,9 This project builds on the results of

these workshops toward establishing a standards

framework for emergency response simulations.

Homeland and Industrial Control Security

4 Unclassified CIA threat briefing at NIST, July 9, 2004.

5 Challenges and Efforts to Secure Control Systems, GAO 04-354, March 2004

6

Manufacturing in America: A Comprehensive Strategy to Address the Challenges to US Manufacturers

7 Making the Nation Safer: The Role of Science and Technology in Countering Terrorism

8 Modeling and Simulation for Emergency Response: Workshop Report, Standards and Tools, Sanjay Jain and Charles McLean, 

NISTIR 7071, December 2003.

9 Roadmap for Integrated Modeling and Simulation for Emergency Response, Sanjay Jain, Charles McLean et al, June 2004 (draft).
Smart Sensor Networks and

Technologies (Objective #4)

The development and use of sensors and sensor

networks will be critical for the detection of chemical, biological, radiological, nuclear, and explosive

weapons and means for their delivery.10 Currently

these systems are being conceived, developed, and

deployed on a local/regional basis. Until a common

overall standards-based architecture is defined for

these systems, it is all but certain that there will be

duplication of effort in the engineering and integration required to set them up. Furthermore, if standards are not adopted relatively early in the development and deployment of these systems, they will

not be interoperable. This will greatly increase longterm costs and compromise capability and performance. In this new-start project, we will begin to

address these issues by identifying user needs and

surveying the standards landscape related to smart

sensor networks for homeland security. We will

identify existing standards that can be applied in the

short term, as well as gaps in standards coverage

that will need to be addressed in the future. We will

also identify where test methods need to be developed for standards validation and conformance. This

project will leverage through collaboration existing

efforts in this area, including the Oak Ridge National

Laboratory’s SensorNet program, the Open

Geospatial Consortium's Critical Infrastructure

Protection Initiative, and Institute of Electrical and

Electronics Engineers (IEEE) 1451 (Standard for a

Smart Transducer Interface for Sensors and Actuators)

working group projects.

Standard Reference Materials for

Bullets and Casings 

(Objective #5)

The National Integrated Ballistics Information

Network (NIBIN) is currently under development by

Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms (ATF) and

the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI). One of the

key steps is to establish measurement unification

and information sharing in ballistics measurements

using the IBIS (Integrated Ballistics Identification

System) and other systems. However, to demonstrate

completely the reliability and measurement control

of these systems, high quality measurement standards for bullets and casings are required. Their key

properties include uniformity, reproducibility and

measurement traceability. These standard bullets and

casings serve as check standards from day to day for

each system and will ensure consistency between

systems. Now that reference materials for bullets are

nearly in place and those for casings will soon

follow, the measurement system must be established

through laboratory comparisons and refinement of

the measurement procedures. In addition, supporting

research to improve the cost, chemical stability, and

mechanical stability of the standards would be vital

to crime labs.

49

Programs of the Manufacturing Engineering Laboratory

Homeland and Industrial Control Security

10 Making the Nation Safer: The Role of Science and Technology in Countering Terrorism
Evaluation of Ballistic Imaging

Technology (Objective #6)

The purpose of this project is to evaluate the feasibility of the creation and maintenance of a ballistic

database, which would consist of digital images and

ballistic signature representations of firearms manufactured and imported for sale in the U.S. The technical approach is designed to examine the two

fundamental premises of ballistic signature for such

a database: 1) the extent to which ballistic markings

are unique to individual firearms; and 2) the extent

to which the signature of an individual firearm

persists over some expected number of repeat firings

and remains differentiable from other individuals.

The study aims to test the theory of the toolmark

signature uniqueness and persistence in the context

of topographic measurement of the markings

impressed upon surfaces of bullets and shell casings.

For that purpose, it will be helpful to use standard

bullets and casings being developed by NIST in a

separate project to check the reproducibility of

different firearm identification and measurement

systems. Once the physical basis of toolmark signatures is verified and their dynamics characterized,

the study will assess the suitability and limitations of

current databases for firearms.

Ballistic Resistant Body Armor and

Bullet Studies (Objective #7)

This work involves developing and conducting tests

and analytical methods to characterize dynamic

properties of bullet and soft body armor materials.

The results of these tests will be used to develop a

dynamic material properties database for bullet and

armor materials, including high rate and heating

effects. Special attention will be directed at frangible

and other special materials/designs that pose a

potential threat to existing armor. Both PBO (Zylon)

and Aramid (Kevlar) fiber based soft body armor will

be included in the studies. The benefits of this work

will be better protective devices for law enforcement

personnel, firefighters and other first responders

relying on protective equipment. The designers of

protective equipment and ammunition will be the

initial users of the results of this project. In the future

the designers will rely more on modeling and simulation, similar to other manufacturing processes, and

accurate material properties will be essential to this

modeling effort. Incorporating accurate properties for

the materials in the modeling will reduce the

number of prototypes that need to be tested and

result in a better design more rapidly developed.

This in turn will shorten the time from initial concept

to equipment in use by law enforcement officers,

and dramatically increase the pace at which

improved protective equipment becomes available

to first responders.

50

Programs of the Manufacturing Engineering Laboratory

Homeland and Industrial Control Security
Emergency Vehicle Sirens

(Objective #8)

The project will result in improved measurement

methods and more comprehensive tests for certifying

siren systems and components that are used on vehicles operated by emergency first responders. These

sirens provide audible warning that the vehicles are

nearby, responding to an emergency, and calling for

the right-of-way. These measurements and tests will

be developed by government and industry representatives with expertise in acoustical measurements,

electrical measurements and/or environmental

testing of aftermarket warning equipment for emergency vehicles. Society of Automotive Engineers

(SAE) standard SAE J1849 is currently used by organizations that need to cite documents or measurement procedures specified in these documents for

certification of equipment used by emergency first

responders. Organizations that use emergency

vehicle sirens certified to SAE J1849 will have a

much higher degree of assurance that these devices

have been subjected to a thorough and comprehensive set of rigorous tests and requirements.

Typical Customers and

Collaborators

Homeland Security Robot Performance

Metrics and Standards

DHS Science and Technology (S&T) Directorate,

DHS Emergency Preparedness and Response

Directorate/ Federal Emergency Management Agency

(FEMA), NIJ, Technical Support Working Group

(TSWG), Department of Defense (DOD), National

Institute for Urban Search and Rescue (NIUSR),

RoboCupRescue League, American Association of

Artificial Intelligence (AAAI), Mitre, University of

Pittsburgh, University of South Florida, University of

Massachusetts, Carnegie Mellon University, National

Aeronautics & Space Administration (NASA) Disaster

Assistance and Rescue Team, and NIST Information

Technology Lab (ITL) and Electrical and Electronics

Engineering Lab (EEEL), and Building and fire

Research Lab (BFRL)

Industrial Control System Security

The over 500 members in the PCSRF include ABB,

Emerson Process Management, Honeywell, Invensys,

Rockwell, Cisco, Microsoft, Sun Microsystems,

American Gas Association, BP, Chevron Texaco,

Exxon Mobil, Association of Metropolitan Water

Agencies, American Chemistry Council, Dow,

Dupont, Eastman Kodak, Schering-Plough, GeorgiaPacific, General Motors, I-4, National Defense

University, Idaho National Engineering &

Environmental Lab, Pacific Northwest National Lab,

Sandia National Lab, DHS Information Analysis and

Infrastructure Protection Directorate and The Society

of Instrumentation, Systems, and Automation (ISA)

51

Programs of the Manufacturing Engineering Laboratory

Homeland and Industrial Control Security
52

Programs of the Manufacturing Engineering Laboratory

Modeling and Simulation for 

Emergency Response 

Sandia National Labs, University of Southern California,

Department of Homeland Security (S&T, Transportation

Security Administration, FEMA), National Training

Systems Association, Lawrence Livermore National

Laboratory, Defense Threat Reduction Agency, Purdue

University, Association for Enterprise Integration,

National Center for Manufacturing Sciences, Battelle

Eastern Science & Technology Center, Defense

Modeling & Simulation Office, Argonne National

Laboratory, Institute for Defense and Homeland Security,

Altarum, University of Southern California, U.S. Air

Force, Naval Research Laboratory, U.S. Joint Fighting

Command, U.S. Army STRICOM (Simulation, Training

& Instrumentation Command), U.S. Army Training -

TRADOC (Training & Doctrine Command) Analysis

Center, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, U.S. Army

RDECOM (Research Development and Engineering

Command), and Institute for Defense Analysis

Smart Sensor Networks and Technologies 

Oak Ridge National Laboratories, IEEE 1451 member

companies, NIST ITL and BFRL

Standard Reference Materials for Bullets

and Casings 

NIJ, and NIST EEEL/Office of Law Enforcement 

Standards (OLES)

Evaluation of Ballistic Imaging Technology 

NIJ, NIST EEEL/OLES, and NIST Materials Science

and Engineering Lab (MSEL)

Ballistic Resistant Body Armor & Bullet Studies 

NIJ, NIST EEEL/OLES, and MSEL

Emergency Vehicle Sirens 

NIJ, and NIST EEEL/OLES

FY2005 Standards

Participation

Homeland Security Robot Performance

Metrics and Standards 

ASTM International, IEEE, NIUSR, Joint Architecture

for Unmanned Systems Working Group, and NIJ

Industrial Control System Security 

ISA SP-99 Industrial Control Security committee,

American Gas Association AGA-12 committee,

International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC)

617842, ISO, ASTM E54 committee on Homeland

Security Applications, and Open DeviceNet Vendors

Association

Modeling and Simulation for Emergency

Response

IEEE High Level Architecture

Smart Sensor Networks and Technologies 

IEEE Technical Committee on Sensor

Technology/P1451 working groups, and Open 

Geospatial Consortium

Standard Reference Materials for Bullets

and Casings 

NIJ

Evaluation of Ballistic Imaging Technology 

NIJ

Ballistic Resistant Body Armor and Bullet

Studies

NIJ

Emergency Vehicle Sirens 

NIJ, SAE

Homeland and Industrial Control Security
53

Programs of the Manufacturing Engineering Laboratory

Homeland and Industrial Control Security

Themes

2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008

Principal

Activities

Deliverables

Impacts

Homeland & Industrial Control Security 

Performance metrics and standards for crosscutting homeland security technologies

Standards for public safety/law enforcement

Homeland security robot performance metrics and standards

Industrial control system security

Interoperability standards for modeling & simulation, and for sensor networks

Ballistics measurements and standards

Verification and accelerated development of advanced technological capabilities

Ability to obtain best value for technology investments

Improved preparation for, prevention of, 

defense against, and response to attacks

Potential savings of lives and property

Emergency vehicle siren standards

US&R robot competitions

Sensor network stds roadmap Standards for US&R and EOD robots

Industrial control protection profile SCADA/sector protection profile

Control system security performance and interoperability tests

SimsER concept prototype MSER information model

Characterized standard bullets Protocol for international comparison 

of standard bullets & casings

Ballistic imaging technology report

Ballistic material properties database

Revised siren stds
Intelligent Control of Mobility Systems

mobility systems

54

Programs of the Manufacturing Engineering Laboratory

Intelligent Control of 

Mobility Systems

Program Goal Provide architectures and interface standards, performance test methods and data, and infrastructure

technology needed by U.S. manufacturing industry and government agencies in developing and applying

intelligent control technology to mobility systems to reduce operational costs, improve performance and

safety, and save lives. This program concentrates its efforts in the following four main areas:

Industrial Material Handling & Other Industrial Applications

Reduce costs and improve efficiency in industrial material handling by providing

to the industrial autonomous guided vehicle (AGV) industry advanced technology and performance tests to support the use of non-contact safety sensors

and appropriate control systems architectures and standards to enable the use of

advanced navigation techniques based on such non-contact sensors; 

Department of Defense (DOD) Unmanned Ground Vehicles

Save lives and improve national defense capabilities by providing agencies of the

Department of Defense (DOD) with control systems architectures, advanced

sensor systems, research services, and standards to achieve autonomous mobility

for unmanned ground vehicles (UGVs); 

Performance Measures for Mobile Robots

Improve vehicle safety, transportation system capacity, and accelerate advancement of mobile robots through the development of advanced sensors and intelligent vehicle control systems on manned and unmanned vehicles by providing

performance metrics (i.e., objective evaluation and measurement methods,

testing procedures, and standard reference data) needed to analyze sensor and

control system effectiveness; and

Knowledge Engineering for Intelligent 

Control of Mobility Systems

Improve interoperability, enable knowledge reuse, and improve functionality and

traceability of knowledge-based mobility systems through the development,

implementation, and dissemination of rigorous knowledge capture methodologies, standardized data structures and common knowledge bases. 

Program Manager:

Maris Juberts

Total FTEs:

13.5

Annual Program Funds:

$4.1 M
Customer Need & 

Intended Impact

To develop and use intelligent mobile systems,

industry and government agencies need architectures and interface standards to ensure interoperability, real-time sensing and measurement for

control systems, and metrics for evaluating performance of components and systems. 

Industrial Material Handling

Discrete part manufacturing customers require material handling systems that can be changed to meet

any handling and movement requirements without

the need for redesign and manual rearrangement.

They also would like a material handling control

system that can seamlessly integrate with multiple

complex handling systems and one that would selfadapt to changes in handling system configuration or

processing requirements. Advanced mobile robot

technology is needed in manufacturing enterprises

for plant physical security, hazard detection, inventory control, and cleaning. Other industries such as

agriculture, construction, postal service and service

robots have similar needs. The Integrated

Manufacturing Technology Roadmap (IMTR),

industry representatives at workshops, conferences,

and personal contacts identified the customer needs

that this program will address. 

Accomplishments from our Intelligent Autonomous

Vehicle (IAV) project and our advanced work in

autonomous vehicles technology for the military,

AGV developers look to us for help in developing

and demonstrating advanced capabilities for

autonomous loading and unloading of trucks for the

warehousing industry. AGVs currently do not

provide this capability and the warehousing industry

sees this as a high-risk area for vendors to address.

There are several strategic advantages of automating

this task: gaining a competitive advantage (i.e.,

performance vs. time); supplementing the workforce

since the industry expects to lose between 50 % to

60 % of their labor in the next five years due to

aging workers; decreasing by as much as 30 % the

warehousing and distribution costs currently

incurred through manual loading and unloading of

trucks. To perform automated material handling tasks

reliably and efficiently with robots, a new generation

of advanced, high performance, but low cost

imaging sensors are needed by the UGV and other

industries. We believe that a new generation of

scannerless Focal Plane Array (FPA) LADARs (Laser

Detection and Ranging or Laser Radar) will be able

to provide this capability.

55

Programs of the Manufacturing Engineering Laboratory

Intelligent Control of Mobility Systems
In addition to advanced technology, the UGV

industry needs changes in safety standards to

include non-contact bumpers and obstacle detection

sensors on their vehicles. Without these changes,

AGV users and vendors will be unsure who is liable

during vehicle collisions. Although steps have been

take to include non-contact bumpers in UGV

vehicle standards, a need remains for developing

standards for the evaluation of safety system object

detection and localization capabilities. Standards

will provide the vendors with metrics to develop and

users to select systems and system components with

certain specified capabilities.

Because of over thirty years of experience in development of technology for intelligent systems, MEL is

well positioned to work with the material handling

industry and other industries to improve performance, competitiveness and standards to help 

expand markets. 

DOD Unmanned Ground Vehicles

Because of the technological progress in the development and demonstration of autonomous mobility

for unmanned ground vehicles in the past decade,

the DOD decided to proceed with plans for the

deployment of intelligent robotic vehicle platforms

in the battlefield by 2010. This program is called the

Future Combat Systems program and is jointly

managed by the U.S. Army and Defense Advanced

Research Projects Agency (DARPA). Standardized

architectures and interfaces encourage the use of

commercially available “plug-and-play” components

and provide reusability and interoperability on a

variety of robotic vehicle platforms.

Autonomous tactical behaviors for UGVs are of

tremendous interest to the military. With the

successful development and demonstration of

autonomous driving in the Army’s Demo III program,

it is now possible to envision the use of these vehicles in tactical situations. However, to implement

autonomous tactical behavior functionality successfully in robots, it requires the development of the

design methodology, architectural framework,

knowledge representation and sensing requirements

that support those behaviors. The Army Research

Laboratory (ARL) requested that NIST/MEL focus its

research to support the need for tactical behaviors

for a multi-vehicle route reconnaissance mission.

It is envisioned that a single manned control vehicle

could control many autonomous ground and air

vehicles to accomplish reconnaissance missions.

Successful development of these technologies would

result in removing soldiers from performing

hazardous missions, multiply the effectiveness of

military personnel, help reduce combat casualties,

and reduce annual operating costs.

56

Programs of the Manufacturing Engineering Laboratory

Intelligent Control of Mobility Systems
Performance Measures

Companies developing advanced components and

system technologies, and government users of such

technologies, need objective metrics to evaluate and

specify technology elements, products, and intelligent behaviors of complete systems. Such performance metrics improve the efficiency of the development efforts, provide the basis for an equitable and

competitive marketplace, and provide the basis of

legal and regulatory decisions. The National

Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA)

asked NIST/MEL to develop next generation realtime measurement methods, testing procedures, and

roadway calibration systems to evaluate the effectiveness of on-vehicle crash avoidance systems for

highways. A NHTSA analysis showed that widespread deployment of integrated advanced driver

assistance systems addressing rear-end, road departure and lane change collisions could reduce motor

vehicle collisions by 17 %. The results from the

performance tests will provide the Department of

Transportation (DOT) with naturalistic-driving data

that will allow them to determine the effectiveness

of these systems in preventing crashes, which could

save lives and reduce cost.

The DOD needs to conduct Technology Readiness

Level (TRL) experiments to determine maturity of

military systems and system components in preparation for deployment. In response to Congressional

guidance, the Joint Robotics Program (JRP) at the

Office of the Under Secretary of Defense (OUSD)

initiated plans for developing and fielding a family

of mobile ground robot systems for insertion into the

military force structure. The JRP organized a collaborative effort to establish a National Unmanned

Systems Experimentation Environment (NUSE2) to

provide developers and acquirers of unmanned

systems with dedicated experimentation facilities,

ranges and airspace that is easily accessible. The JRP

believes that NIST/MEL has the capability and experience to provide the metrology service for this

initiative. If this work is successful, the NUSE2 effort

has the potential to provide military service men and

women with leap-ahead war-fighting capability,

which will also reduce risk levels to military

personnel.

Knowledge Engineering for Intelligent

Control of Mobility Systems (ICMS)

The development of intelligent ground vehicles (IGV)

for the Army objective force requires a thorough

understanding of all of the intelligent behavior that

needs to be exhibited by the system so that designers

can allocate functionality to humans and/or

machines. The Army requested NIST to develop an

intelligent ground vehicle ontology to capture information about tactical behaviors to enable intelligent

behaviors by autonomous systems. The existence of

such an ontology is essential to accomplish the level

of automation that the community is demanding,

which in turn will serve to offload dangerous,

human-performed tasks to autonomous systems, thus

removing them from harms way. In addition, a

fundamental need of mobility systems, in performance of intelligent behaviors, is the ability to have a

thorough understanding of the environment.

Knowledge representation techniques are needed to

capture information that the sensor system perceives,

organize that knowledge in a fashion that makes it

easy to retrieve, and process.

57

Programs of the Manufacturing Engineering Laboratory

Intelligent Control of Mobility Systems
Technical Approach &

Program Objectives

Robotics industry leaders point out that

advances in military, transportation,

medical, and other non-manufacturing

robotics applications, where research and

development investments are justified by

dramatic potential benefits, will provide the

technologies to advance future generations of

robots for applications in manufacturing. Industrial

robots trail in technology development, thus

adopting advanced technology developed under

military projects is proven to be reliable and 

cost effective; autonomous mobile systems for 

military applications represent the forefront of

robotics research.

Thus, to achieve the program objectives, the primary

technical approach is to use the NIST Real-time

Control System (RCS) architecture as an example of

an open system architecture for building complex

autonomous robotic systems for other government

agency programs (i.e., military and transportation),

and then transfer relevant advanced robotic technology to industrial applications. The RCS architecture provides a systematic analysis, design, hierarchical framework, and implementation methodology

for developing real-time sensor-based control

systems. The control system uses sensory information

to guide the intelligent vehicle in the execution of

complex tasks. Planning for task execution, coordinated activities between vehicles, and for adaptation

to changes in the environment are also parts of the

total hierarchy.

As intelligent vehicle

technology matures

and our other

agency customers

consider deploying

intelligent robots for

their program tasks

and missions, they

will want to evaluate the

performance and effectiveness of this technology as it

applies to their requirements and expectations.

Based on our history, NIST is in a unique position to

fulfill this need for them. However since this is a

new emerging metrology field, NIST/MEL will need

to put more emphasis on establishing technical

strength in performance measures, reference/standards and test facilities that support evaluating the

performance of intelligent vehicle systems. Many of

the potential sponsors and customers view that

measurements and standards are part of NIST’s

mission. Therefore, some cost sharing for metrology

sensors and equipment may increase the likelihood

of attracting other agency funds and in

establishing long term collaborative relationships.

The reference/standard test facilities and 

measurement equipment are expected to remain 

at NIST, but could be duplicated at customer 

experimentation sites.

58

Programs of the Manufacturing Engineering Laboratory

Intelligent Control of Mobility Systems
Objective #1: Industrial Material Handling

Provide industries with the necessary standards,

performance metrics, and infrastructure technology

to support the use of non-contact safety sensors and

control system architectures that enable broader use

of advanced perception and autonomous navigation

techniques in the AGV, and other industries.

Objective #2: DOD Unmanned 

Ground Vehicles

Provide DOD agencies with the control system

architectures, advanced sensor systems, research

services, and standards to achieve next generation

autonomous mobility and tactical behaviors for

unmanned ground vehicles.

Objective #3: Performance Measures for

Mobile Robots

Provide the evaluation and measurement methods,

testing procedures and standard reference data for

performance analysis and deployment of advanced

sensors, and intelligent vehicle control systems on

manned and unmanned vehicles used in next generation transportation safety/driver assist systems and

in UGVs for the military.

Objective #4: Knowledge Engineering for

Intelligent Control of Mobility Systems

Provide rigorous knowledge capture methodologies,

standard data structures and common knowledge

bases to mobility system researchers and developers

to enable improved interoperability, greater knowledge reuse, and increased functionality and traceability of knowledge-based mobility systems.

Major Accomplishments

Advanced Sensing and Control Applied for

Industrial AGVs

• We work with a Cooperative Research and

Development Agreement (CRADA) partner to

develop and demonstrate an autonomous AGV,

which uses a LADAR sensor, to locate pallets,

pick them up and deliver them into a truck. NIST

tested several commercially available LADARs for

this application and generated algorithms for

detection and localization of pallets.

• We evaluated the performance of prototype 

next generation FPA LADAR. Developers of 

these systems project a factor of 10 drop in cost

for a LADAR. 

• Together with the NIST Building and Fire

Research Laboratory, we published a NIST

Internal Report (NISTIR 7117) titled “Performance

Analysis of Next-Generation LADAR for

Manufacturing, Construction and Mobility.”. The

construction industry recognized the value of this

report by announcing its release in a SparView

article and in a FIATECH (non-profit consortium

focused on development and deployment of technologies in the construction industry) newsletter.

59

Programs of the Manufacturing Engineering Laboratory

Intelligent Control of Mobility Systems
Unmanned Ground Vehicles

NIST Completes Technology Readiness

Level Assessment of UGV Performance for

the Army Research Laboratory

In the spring of 2003, personnel from the NIST MEL,

BFRL and the Information Technology Laboratory

(ITL) completed a Technology Readiness Level (TRL)

6 assessment for the ARL autonomous UGV

program. The effort used Experimental Unmanned

Vehicles (XUVs) developed by General Dynamics

Robotic Systems (GDRS). Three similar assessment

exercises were conducted in arid, rolling/vegetated,

and urban environments. The test vehicles successfully completed over 500 km of autonomous driving.

The results show the DOD that the UGV technology

developed under the ARL Demo III program is 

sufficiently mature and reliable to be considered 

for a variety of tactical missions. The Future 

Combat Systems (FCS) program considered this

when they decided to proceed with the 

development of an Autonomous Navigation 

Systems for robotic vehicles.

Adjusted Research and Upgraded Test

Vehicles and Mobility Lab Facilities to

Support the Next Phase of ARL and Other

Agency Mobility Work

Autonomous tactical behaviors for UGVs are of

tremendous interest to the military. With the success

of the autonomous mobility technology, which was

evaluated in the TRL 6 experiments, it is now

possible to consider the use of robotic vehicles in

tactical situations. Therefore, adjustments and

improvements have been made by this program to

better support this very demanding new initiative.

• Emphasis has been placed on conducting

research to implement autonomous tactical

behavior functionalities successfully into robots

• The NIST HMMWV (High Mobility Multipurpose

Wheeled Vehicle) testbed vehicle has been

upgraded to support research, testing and evaluation of advanced sensors, world modeling, planning and control technology that is needed to

demonstrate autonomous performance in tactical

behaviors.

• The Mobility Lab has been expanded to accommodate test vehicles for the new DOD and DOT

(Intelligent Transportation) research and testing

requirements. The lab now accommodates the

NIST HMMWV, the GDRS Experimental UGV,

and the DOT/NHTSA instrumented test vehicle.

60

Programs of the Manufacturing Engineering Laboratory

Intelligent Control of Mobility Systems
Autonomy Levels for Unmanned Systems

(ALFUS) Terminology Document Published

A document defining basic terminology pertaining to

autonomous unmanned systems was published by

NIST: “Federal Agencies Ad Hoc Autonomy Levels

for Unmanned Systems Working Group,

Terminology for Specifying the Autonomy Levels for

Unmanned Systems, Version 1.0.” External groups

and committees, including the American Institute of

Aeronautics and Astronautics, NASA, NATO and the

Canadian Forces requested copies of the report. The

seventh autonomy level workshop took place in

mid-October 2004.

Performance Measures for 

Mobile Robots 

Road Departure Crash Warning System

(RDCWS) Metrics Project Drives On

The DOT/NHTSA funded NIST to provide continued

independent measurement and data collection

support for the RDCWS Field Operational Tests and

to provide planning support for a new four-year

initiative in Integrated Vehicle-Based Safety System

(IVBSS) program. The IVBSS is a new program to

develop and evaluate a multi-function warning

system (i.e., road departure, rear-end and lanechange) on multiple vehicle classes (i.e., cars, trucks,

and buses).

FY2005 Projects

Industrial Autonomous Vehicles

(IAV) Technology Transfer

(Objective #1)

This project team will work with key industry AGV

developers and user partners to advance the state of

autonomous robotic technology. 

Deliverable for FY2005:

Demonstration of the autonomous truck loading

and unloading with NIST CRADA partner,

applying advanced range imaging sensors technology and perception algorithms transferred

from DOD and DOT projects.

Deliverable for FY2006:

Collection of data, advance processing 

algorithms, and design implementation toward

integration of advanced 3D sensors onto 

industrial AGVs and other mobile robots. 

ARL Tactical Behaviors 

(Objective #2)

This project team will support the Army Research

Laboratory (ARL) program in tactical behaviors.

Deliverable for FY2005:

A demonstration of next generation perception,

planning and autonomous mobility that supports

multiple vehicle tactical behaviors using

real/virtual simulation environments. 

Deliverable for early FY2006:

UGV intelligent tactical behaviors for route 

reconnaissance available to ARL for Field

Operational tests. 

61

Programs of the Manufacturing Engineering Laboratory

Intelligent Control of Mobility Systems
NIST Mobility Testbed Vehicle

(Objective #2)

This project team will provide DOD agencies with

the control system architectures, advanced sensor

systems, research services, and standards to achieve

next generation autonomous mobility and tactical

behaviors for unmanned ground vehicles. 

Deliverable for FY2005:

The NIST mobility testbed vehicle upgraded to

evaluate and refine next generation perception,

learning, planning, and multi-vehicle behaviors

for a reconnaissance mission. 

Deliverable for FY2006:

A demonstration of next generation autonomous

technology and tactical behaviors at NIST. 

Military UGV & US Standards

(Objective #2)

This project team will support relevant military standards activities.

Deliverable for FY2005 and beyond:

Working with standards groups on standards for

the deployment of UGVs in the battlefield.

NHTSA Integrated Vehicle Safety

Systems (Objective #3)

The project team will support the NHTSA Intelligent

Transportation Systems (ITS) program initiative in

Integrated Vehicle Based Safety Systems.

Deliverable for FY2005:

A NHTSA new program plan and Field

Operational Tests in Integrated Vehicle Based

Safety Systems developed to prevent highway

crashes.

Deliverable for FY2008:

Development of the Next Generation baseline

measurement system and test method concepts

for measuring performance of Integrated Vehicle

Based Safety Systems in preventing highway

crashes. 

Reference/Standards and Metrics

for NUSE2 (Objective #3)

The project team will support the OSD Joint

Robotics Program office by developing references

and standards, and metrics for evaluating the

performance of intelligent systems.

Deliverable for FY2006:

Assuming funding becomes available–

An initial baseline reference test facility for

small autonomous robots at NIST. 

Deliverable for FY2007:

Assuming funding becomes available–

Transition of reference/standard assessment technology to the NUSE2 experimentation sites

62

Programs of the Manufacturing Engineering Laboratory

Intelligent Control of Mobility Systems
DOD/DOT Intelligent Vehicle

Technology Transfer (Objective #3)

This project team will conduct a workshop and

initiate a process for intelligent vehicle technology

transfer between the DOD Joint Robotics Program,

the DOT Intelligent Transportation Systems program,

and their associated industry and research partners.

Deliverable for FY2005:

Assuming funding becomes available - a workshop and a final report to DOD and DOT

describing the results of the workshop.

TARDEC Intelligent Ground Vehicle

Ontology Program (Objective #4)

This project team will support the U.S. Army’s Tank

and Automotive Research, Development and

Engineering Center (TARDEC) office in the development of a neutral Intelligent Ground Vehicle

Ontology for representing tactical behaviors for

unmanned ground vehicles. 

Deliverable for FY2005:

An initial version of the Intelligent Ground

Vehicle Ontology that focuses on scenarios

identified by the TARDEC STOs (Science and

Technology Objectives). 

Knowledge-based Representations

for Mobility Systems (Objective #4)

This project team will develop data structures and

knowledge bases that will allow an autonomous

mobility system to better understand itself and the

environment.

Deliverables for FY2005:

1. Representations for moving objects that include

the ability to predict their future location probabilistically.

2. Exploration of tools to aid in knowledge

entering, reasoning, and visualization.

63

Programs of the Manufacturing Engineering Laboratory

Intelligent Control of Mobility Systems
Typical Customers and

Collaborators

Government:

• Army Research Lab: Tactical Behaviors for

Unmanned Vehicles

• DARPA: Future Combat Systems Technology

Development

• DOT/NHSA: Metrics for Vehicle-based Safety

Systems

• TACOM/TARDEC: Intelligent Vehicle Ontology for

Tactical Behaviors

• OSD/JRP: National Experimentation Sites for

Unmanned Robotic Systems

Industry:

• Applanix: Integrated (INS/GPS) Position and

Orientation Systems

• ATR: Advanced Computing and Simulation

• Transbotics: Automated Loading and Unloading

of Trucks

• Visteon & Assistware: Road Departure Crash

Warning Systems

• Robotic Technology Inc.: Military and

Transportation Robotics 

• Advanced Scientific Concepts, Coherent

Technologies: Next Generation LADAR

• Lockheed Martin, Raytheon: Next 

Generation LADAR

• Aeolean: Advanced Computing

• EarthData Inc.: High Resolution Ground Truth

• Automated Material Handling Association:

Automated AGVs

Universities:

• University of Delaware: Dynamic Modeling of

Vehicles, Path Planning

• Drexel University: Real-time Hierarchical 

Control Architectures

• University of Maryland: Gesture Recognition,

Hyper-spectral Imaging

• Bremen University/Germany: Research in Next

Generation Planners

• MIT/Lincoln Labs: Next Generation 

Solid State LADAR

FY 2005 Standards Participation:

• American Society of Mechanical Engineers

(ASME) B56.5 AGV Bumper Standards Committee

– participate in committee activities

• ISO Technical Committee 204, Working Group

14 – Standards for Lane Departure Warning

Systems – participant

• DOD Joint Architecture for Unmanned 

Systems – participant

• DOD Weapon System Technical Architecture

Working Group – participant

• DOD Vetronic Architecture Standards for

Unmanned Ground Vehicles – participant

• Autonomy Levels for Unmanned Systems (ALFUS)

– facilitator and participant

• Infrastructure & Standards Committee for

Unmanned Systems - participant

64

Programs of the Manufacturing Engineering Laboratory

Program name
65

Programs of the Manufacturing Engineering Laboratory

Intelligent Control of Mobility Systems

Themes

2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007

Principal

Activities

Deliverables

Impacts

Intelligent Control of Mobility Systems 

• 4D/RCS draft standard for military UGVs 

• FCS develops ANS based on results of TRL-6

• ANSI/ASME stds. allow use of

 non-contact safety sensors 

• Reduced annual operating cost

 savings and casualties 

 • Cost savings and lives saved on highways

• Cost savings and increased 

 productivity in industry

Build technical strength in robotics

Transfer adv. intelligent vehicle technology to industry

Establish technical strength in Performance Measures (PM) & reference/standards 

DOT: PM validation for crash warning systems in Field Operational Tests

NISTIR on non-contact sensors for 

safety and autonomous navigation

Increased collaboration 

with other industries 

Autonomous loading &

unloading of trucks for 

warehousing industry

DOT: PM validation for Integrated 

Vehicle Based Safety Systems

OSD/JRP & FCS: Ref/Stds and PM for unmanned systems

Develop PM for Autonomous Mobility (AM)

 technology (ARL Demo III UGV program)

ARL: AM technology &

architecture for UGVs

FCS: Boeing received 4D/RCS 

architecture & design specs. of ANS

ARL: Next gen. AM algorithms 

for tactical behaviors

ARL: TRL

assessment

PM for tactical

 behaviors

Develop PM for next generation

AM technology (ARL)

Support Army/DARPA FCS Program 

Architectures & Autonomous Navigation System

Develop PM & Ref/Stds for 

intelligent vehicles (OSD/JRP)

Transfer intelligent 

vehicle technology

Develop PM for Road Departure Crash 

Warning Systems (DOT/IVI)

Develop PM for DOT/IVI Integrated 

Vehicle Based Safety Systems

Transfer advanced technology to AGV – 

Material Handling and other industries
interoperability Manufacturing Interoperability 

Program Goal: 

Equip U.S. manufacturers with the technical guidance and testing support needed to 

interoperate in today’s global, heterogeneous manufacturing world.

Customer Need & Intended Impact

Globalization is the major trend in manufacturing today — globalization of

markets and globalization of partners. The globalization of markets means

that the companies want to sell their products all over the world. The globalization of partners means that supply chain members are also located all over the

world. Both have led to an explosion in the amount of information sharing that

must take place. It is absolutely critical to the success of companies and their

suppliers that this sharing is done correctly, efficiently, and inexpensively. 

Changes in technology, from faster networks to new programming languages

such as XML (EXtensible Markup Language), are impacting the way in which this

information sharing takes place. Nevertheless, humans still provide the bulk of

the understanding needed to determine what the information means and the

majority of the tacit knowledge needed to make decisions based on that understanding. All of this is about to change with the advent of the Semantic Web.

Simply stated, the Semantic Web will enable computers to understand the

meaning of concepts, to reason about those concepts, and act on those concepts

according to the rules they have been given. The resulting programs will operate

at the semantic level, not the data level. They will know that purchase orders are

different from schedules, which in turn are different from Numeric Control (NC)

programs; and they will know how to deal with those differences. 

This program addresses the information sharing needs of Original Equipment

Manufacturers (OEMs), their Small and Medium Enterprise (SME) suppliers, and

software vendors. In addition, we have customers within the federal government,

including the Department of Energy (DOE) Oak Ridge National Labs and the

Department of Defense (DOD) departments of the Army, Air Force, and Navy.

Within NIST, the evolving Interoperability Test Bed (ITB) is already supporting the

work of other laboratories. Those laboratories include the Electronics and

Electrical Engineering Laboratory (EEEL), Building and Fire Research Laboratory

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Programs of the Manufacturing Engineering Laboratory

Manufacturing Interoperability

Program Manager:

Steven Ray

Total FTEs:

26

Annual Program Funds:

$3.9 M
(BFRL), Chemical Sciences and Technology

Laboratory (CSTL) and Information Technology

Laboratory (ITL). Finally, we have a number of

customers from the international standards-development sector. We actively participate in technical

working groups in three de jure organizations:

American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME),

Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, Inc.

(IEEE), and ISO. We also participate in other

industry-led standards development organizations:

OMG, OASIS, and W3

C.

To survive in the global economy, our customers

repeatedly emphasize the need to get the right 

information to the right place in the right form at 

the right time. Succinctly, their goal is information

integration anywhere, anytime. Our customers asked

NIST to address three specific and important needs

that will enable the realization of this goal.

NIST should:

• Provide methods, tools, and data sets for testing

conformance to existing international and de

facto standards.

• Evaluate: (1) the standards conformance of key

implementations – what was implemented agrees

with the specification (conformance testing), (2)

that the standards meet the business requirements

they were intended to address (validation testing),

and (3) that sets of business applications can

successfully operate together (interoperability

testing).

• Propose a new generation of standards technology that is based on formal semantics, to

support both the automation of the integration

process and the harmonization of existing,

conflicting standards.

NIST is uniquely positioned to respond to these

needs. Our service to customers is perhaps best

illustrated in Figure 2.

67

Programs of the Manufacturing Engineering Laboratory

Manufacturing Interoperability

Figure 2. Customer Needs
Technical Approach &

Program Objectives

We aim to equip today’s manufacturer with the

guidance and testing support needed to

participate in the global, distributed manufacturing

world. We work with industrial partners to overcome

the information-handling barriers that have arisen

from the increased reliance on electronic information exchange with distant customers and suppliers,

using a virtual manufacturing environment where

vendors and manufacturers can test conformance to

existing standards, and researchers can validate the

next generation of standards. A picture of our vision

is shown in Figure 3. 

Program Thrusts 

The Manufacturing Interoperability Program focuses

on three major thrusts:

A. An interoperability testing and 

demonstration infrastructure

B. Testing of key integration standards for 

today’s manufacturers

C. Development of semantic technologies for

tomorrow’s integration needs

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Programs of the Manufacturing Engineering Laboratory

Manufacturing Interoperability

Figure 3. Program Vision
These three thrusts depend on one another to be

successful. Integration standards will be identified in

concert with industrial partners for key information

supporting product, process, operations and supply

chains. Pragmatic choices will be made to provide a

recommended suite of standards for today’s modern

manufacturer. 

These standards will be supported through the interoperability testing and demonstration infrastructure

containing two major components: a testing environment for logging, diagnosis, conformance and interoperability testing focused at the content level, plus

a piloting and demonstration environment populated

with commercial production software tools to 

establish the usability of these standards-based

approaches in realistic settings. These two components are called the Interoperability Test Bed, and

the Virtual Manufacturing Environment, respectively.

Finally, the program is investing in a strong research

thrust to support the use of semantic technologies in

new standards. It is becoming widely accepted that

semantic technology is the correct way to transmit

information in an unambiguous and computable

fashion, and we are recognized leaders in this arena.

The tools within our testing infrastructure will rely

upon the semantic research results, and the contentoriented tests will typically use ontologies, either

explicitly specified in the standards (most desirable),

or reverse-engineered from the standards.

Thrust A - Interoperability Testing

and Demonstration Infrastructure

This infrastructure builds upon past efforts and

collaborations initiated under earlier MEL programs

and projects that addressed interoperability testing

and the simulation of manufacturing supply chains,

systems, and processes.

Objective #1 

Will establish a

program Technical

Advisory Board

(TAB). The

Technical

Advisory Board

will be comprised

of leading experts

from industry,

government, standards organizations, academia,

and the research

community. The TAB will advise program management on changing industry needs, program directions, collaboration opportunities, evolving technologies, implementation issues, and relevant external

activities. It will also document the industry problems, research, development and testing issues

within the scope of the program. 

69

Programs of the Manufacturing Engineering Laboratory

Manufacturing Interoperability

“NIST is doing what

our industry members 

won’t do – providing

the infrastructure 

and testing resources

to speed the 

development and

implementation of 

new specifications.”

David Connelly, President

Open Applications Group 
Objective #2 

Establishes the Interoperability Test Bed (ITB). The

Interoperability Test Bed will consist of a testing

framework and tools for standards conformance and

interoperability demonstration, building on the

demonstrated success of the Manufacturing

Business- to-Business (B2B) Test Bed and the

Metrology Interoperability Test Bed. A report documenting the ITB configuration, tools, methods, and

procedures will be produced.

Objective #3 

Establishes a Virtual Manufacturing Environment

(VME) capability within the NIST laboratories. The

Virtual Manufacturing Environment will pilot interoperability solutions, and will be an effective means

to communicate the value of this program to decision makers in industry and government. The VME

will enable NIST to implement, evaluate, and

demonstrate the feasibility of interoperability solutions using real manufacturing software applications,

as well as simulations and emulations of manufacturing processes and equipment. VME software

systems will be augmented with manufacturing hardware in the MEL Fabrication Technology Division

and other laboratories in MEL. Manufacturing hardware may include numerically controlled machine

tools, coordinate measuring machines, robots, and

other manufacturing equipment. Visualization capabilities within the Advanced Manufacturing Systems

And Networking Testbed (AMSANT) Facility will be

enhanced to support VME pilot implementations and

demonstrations. Web cam and other remote visualization capabilities will be installed to monitor actual

physical hardware running at remote locations from

the AMSANT. A report documenting the VME configuration, applications, procedures and test data sets

will be produced.

Thrust B – Integration 

Standards Testing

A typical interaction between a manufacturer and a

customer or supplier contains a minimal set of information, often called a technical data package. This

information includes a specification of a product to

be manufactured along with quality specifications

and at times processing requirements. The manufacturer in turn must incorporate this manufacturing

need into its ongoing operation plans – schedules,

inventory, resource and component requirements. 

By focusing on just this minimal set of requirements,

we identified a core set of cross-referencing standards needs to support a majority of manufacturers,

especially small manufacturers. These standards –

product, process, operations, and supply chain standards as shown in Figure 3 – must be consistent with

one another to enable smooth information flow. This

program will identify and validate such a consistent

standards suite by teaming with industrial partners in

the various specializations in an environment of

close and frequent communication among the

specializations. In this manner we will avoid a

disjoint set of standards that cannot support interoperation among them. This is achievable only by

virtue of having an interoperability program with the

breadth of scope present here at NIST.

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Programs of the Manufacturing Engineering Laboratory

Manufacturing Interoperability
The specifications, typical software applications, and

associated test data will be validated using testing

tools within the Interoperability Test Bed. One or

more real world test case data sets will be established for each specification in cooperation with

industrial and research collaborators. Test Bed tools

will support information modeling, wrapper development, system prototyping, verification, validation,

conformance and interoperability testing.

The Virtual Manufacturing Environment (VME) will

be used to test-drive the specifications and test data

sets with both real and simulated manufacturing

software applications. Existing commercial software

applications may be used “as-is” or extended to

support required interfaces and functionality. If

appropriate commercial or research systems are not

available, prototype applications may be developed

to fill holes in the integration scenario. Due to

resource limitations, prototype development will

usually only be undertaken as a last resort when it is

critical to the effective achievement of an interoperability objective.

Objective #4 

Addresses the collaborative identification of a suite

of complementary standards supporting the

exchange of product, process, operations and supply

chain information, with associated testing support. A

consistent approach will be used to achieve each

interoperability scenario. First, a system architecture

and scenario document will be developed. This

document will describe industry’s requirements, the

software applications or functional modules that

need to be integrated, and an operational scenario

that illustrates how the integrated applications and

modules should ultimately function together. 

The next steps will be to identify and test interface

specifications that will be used to implement the

architecture. Working with industry and other

research collaborators, test data sets will be assembled that reflect real industry problems. The test data

sets will be used to populate software applications,

and where appropriate, associated databases. Test

data will be used to exercise interfaces, perform

various integration tests using tools of the

Interoperability Test Bed, and pilot solutions within

the Virtual Manufacturing Environment.

Demonstrations will be scheduled periodically to

show progress towards and completion of 

integration.

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Programs of the Manufacturing Engineering Laboratory

Manufacturing Interoperability
As individual specifications are established or identified, attention will be concentrated on integrating

them into larger networks of interconnected systems

and interfaces, specifically through the following

integrations: 

1. Expanded supply chain interoperability through

the integration of supply chain business

processes specifications with the production

management operations specifications

2. Expanded internal engineering data flow through

the integration of the engineering product and

manufacturing process specifications

3. Full integration across a virtual enterprise

through the joining of the combined supply

chain specifications with the combined product

and process specifications.

The first integration will give supply chain managers

and participating suppliers access to both inventory

levels and production schedules throughout a supply

chain, expanding upon the goals of the Automotive

Industry Action Group (AIAG) Inventory Visibility

and Interoperability program.

The second integration will provide a consistent,

standards-based treatment of the engineering data

from concept to manufacturing process execution.

The third integration will provide a consistent set of

standards covering the supply chain management,

internal production management, production

process functions and engineering data flows

addressed in earlier work.

Thrust C – Development of New

Technologies for Interoperability

Standards and Integration

Tools and standards for information system development have gone through a long process of abstraction and layering. Each layer enables individuals to

direct these devices in ways closer to how they

understand the problem being solved. Early

computer systems were programmed by physically

wiring computer circuit boards. Machine programming and assembler language raised this to the

symbolic level. Later languages such as Fortran and

C brought languages closer to simple mathematics,

and LISP and Prolog enabled programmers to build

intelligent systems that reflected human problem

solving techniques.

Despite these

improvements, in

many respects software standards and

technology have

changed very little

over the last 20 years.

The languages have

become a bit easier

to use, but not vastly

different from Fortran of the 1950’s. Programmers

and architects still sift through libraries of reusable

elements, and put them together in a handcrafted

way. Many tools are available now, but just as aids

in the manual process of software construction. They

are comparable to the improvement of a circular

saw over a handsaw, rather than robotic and NC

manufacturing systems over manually controlled

machine tools.

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Programs of the Manufacturing Engineering Laboratory

Manufacturing Interoperability

“Semantics-based

integration tools are

destined to become

increasingly powerful

and capable.”

From CIO Magazine, 

August 2002
This thrust will complete the fundamental research

necessary for information system development to

move to a new level of automation and facilitate the

integration of industry’s next generation of systems.

The components will be:

• Identification of semantic approaches

• Ontology development

• New tools and techniques

• Prototype systems

Semantic approaches are the

next logical step in bringing

computer languages closer to

the way business, engineering

and manufacturing experts

understand their problems.

These approaches express the

expert’s concepts in terms of

meaningful, computable

statements. The techniques

are not oriented toward

computational speed, but

rather precision of expression. In this way, the specific

conclusions or effects that are

expected of the system can be

recorded, validated with automated reasoning and

simulation, and used to verify the performance of

the system eventually built. Its semantic description

can be searched by others looking for existing functionality to reuse, or can be automatically composed

with semantic descriptions of other systems to create

newly integrated ones. The semantic description can

also be used to present the data present in the

system in a way domain experts can understand, 

and enable automated and semi-automated 

decision-making.

Objective #5 

To identify the semantic approaches that are appropriate to manufacturing. The primary concern is that

these be understandable by experts at the same time

they are rigorous enough to enable computer

support. In particular, they must be self-documenting

and address concrete instances of concepts, so it

does not require the original author or extensive

documentation for others to

understand the meaning of the

information, and so they are

amenable to commonly available

automatic reasoners. It is also

important that the approaches

leverage existing or near-term

information standards to ensure

relevance.

Objective #6 

To apply the identified semantic

approaches to the primary areas

of manufacturing: product,

process, operations, and supply

chain. These will require a

common set of primitive

concepts that are reusable as

needed in the various areas. The results will be

amenable to automatic reasoning, to enable application in complex and diverse systems, coordination of

knowledge across organizations and disciplines,

enhanced support for enterprise design, integration,

and decision-making, unambiguous of interoperability standards, and autonomous agents. MEL’s

experience in both manufacturing and ontologies

will apply to these areas.

73

Programs of the Manufacturing Engineering Laboratory

Manufacturing Interoperability

Ontology capabilities will

become a core technology. [...] 

By 2005, lightweight ontologies

(taxonomies) will be part of 75

percent of application integration

projects [...] By 2010, ontologies

using strong knowledge 

representations will be the basis

for 80 percent of application 

integration projects. 

From Gartner, “Semantic Web

Technologies Take Middleware to the

Next Level,” August 2002
Objective #7 

To develop tools and techniques for working with

the ontologies developed in the previous objective.

It will address automation in the capture of the

knowledge implicit in interfaces to manufacturing

software, the design of inter-system processes 

using those interfaces, and generation of translation 

software from these specifications. This will involve

the matching of concepts between existing systems

and requirements on the integrated process, as well

as the expression of those concepts in specific

implementations.

Objective #8 

Apply and test the tools developed in Objective #3,

using actual industry cases drawn from the many

incompatible standards currently emerging. Part of

the testing will be to ensure that the results of the

tools conform to existing tests provided for the standards involved. This objective will also identify those

aspects where tool support requires further research

in the underlying semantic representations.

Major Accomplishments 

Metrology Test Bed Launched

The “test bed” is a group of people and physical

resources located at NIST in the Manufacturing

Engineering Laboratory that support development

and testing of standards for components of dimensional metrology systems. Our primary tie to

industry is through the Automotive Industry Action

Group Metrology Interoperability Team 

(AIAG-MIPT). For more information, please 

visit the test bed website: 

http://www.isd.mel.nist.gov/projects/metrology_

interoperability/NISTactivities.htm#testbed

Simulation Standards Consortium

Established

The Manufacturing Engineering Laboratory hosted

the Simulation Standards Consortium kick-off

meeting at NIST on February 25, 2003. Charles

McLean made a presentation on the mission, goals

and objectives, and motivations for joining the

consortium; and offered a framework of modeling

and simulation standards for focusing the efforts of

the Consortium. Swee Leong presented the operational plans for this Consortium. A draft Simulation

Standards Consortium agreement was distributed to

the participants for their review, comments, and

approval. Meeting attendance represented 19 organizations from major software vendors, industrial

companies, government agencies, and academia.

Responses to the Simulation Standards Consortium

have been very positive.

74

Programs of the Manufacturing Engineering Laboratory

Manufacturing Interoperability
“Economic Impact of Inadequate

Infrastructure for Supply Chain

Integration” Study Completed

This economic impact study examined the current

state of supply chain integration, estimated the

economic impact of inadequate integration, and

identified opportunities for governmental organizations to provide critical standards infrastructures that

will improve the efficiency of supply chain communications. A copy is available at

http://www.nist.gov/director/prog-ofc/report04-2.pdf. 

Process Specification Language (PSL)

Becomes an International Standard

ISO 18629-1, Process Specification Language Part 1,

“Overview and basic principles,” was published as

an international standard by ISO. NIST played an

integral role in the initial drafting and continued

leadership in the development of ISO 18629 and its

associated parts. Process data is used throughout

the life cycle of a product, from early in the manufacturing process during design, through process

planning, validation, production scheduling, and

control. The standard is available for purchase via

the ISO online catalog:

http://www.iso.org/iso/en/ISOOnline.frontpage.

NIST B2B Testbed Demonstration with the

Automotive Industry Action Group

NIST staff presented an update of the Object

Application Group (OAG)/NIST B2B Testbed capabilities at the AUTOTECH 2004 conference in Detroit,

MI. NIST presented the methodology developed for

content testing that was applied to the Inventory

Visibility and Interoperability (IV&I) project

(http://www.aiag.org/whatsnew.cfm#ivi) as part of

the IV&I status update, and demonstrated the testbed

capability to support Business Object Document

(BOD) constraint checking to the representatives of

the Standards in Automotive Retail (STAR) consortium. The STAR delegation expressed significant

interest to use NIST capabilities for BOD management and testing of business rules and constraints

within the STAR community. The NIST team also

presented the vision and some technical ideas for a

Semantic Web-based approach to develop the next

generation OAG specification. For more information

regarding the NIST test bed, please visit:

http://www.mel.nist.gov/msid/b2btestbed/.

75

Programs of the Manufacturing Engineering Laboratory

Manufacturing Interoperability
FY2005 Projects

Interoperability Test Bed

(Objectives #1 & #2) 

Combine existing and emerging MEL & NIST testing

capabilities into a coherent, structured interoperability testing environment, with tools, test cases,

test bed documentation; hold a demonstration of test

bed capabilities at a public open house.

Virtual Manufacturing Environment

(Objectives #1 & #4)

Collect the manufacturing applications and simulation tools needed to support the various integration

threads. Where possible, commercial applications

will be acquired and training completed; otherwise,

prototype software will be developed. 

Supply Chain Business Systems

(Objectives #1 & #4)

Bring together the software applications and interface specifications that will provide capabilities to

satisfy industry’s priority needs in the integration of

supply chain business systems.

Production Management Systems

(Objectives #1 & #4)

Bring together the software applications and interfaces specifications that will provide capabilities to

satisfy industry’s priority needs in the integration of

production management systems.

Shop Process Systems 

(Objectives #1 & #4)

Bring together the software applications and interfaces specifications that will provide capabilities to

satisfy industry’s priority needs in the integration of

process engineering and shop floor hardware

systems.

Collaborative Design and

Engineering Systems 

(Objectives #1 & #4)

Bring together the software applications and interfaces specifications that will provide capabilities to

satisfy industry’s priority needs in the integration of

design and engineering systems.

Common Manufacturing Primitives

Ontology Specification 

(Objectives #1, #5, & #6)

Develop formal ontologies using emerging semantic

methods such as Process Specification Language

(PSL), Web Ontology Language (OWL) and Resource

Description Framework (RDF), in support of the integration threads. 

Next Generation Integration

Technologies 

(Objectives #1, #5, & #7)

Continue the work begun in the Automated Methods

for Integrating Systems (AMIS) project developing

tools, methods, and models, and using the ontologies developed for the integration threads, to support

the automation of various aspects of the integration

process.

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Programs of the Manufacturing Engineering Laboratory

Manufacturing Interoperability
Typical Customers and

Collaborators

Industrial:

Accordare, Drake Certivo, Lockheed Martin,

Nyamekye Research and Consulting Firm, Covisint,

General Motor Corp., Ford Motor Company, Lear,

Lesker Corporation, The Boeing Company, Deere &

Company, LK Metrology, Mitutoyo, Pratt & Whitney,

DaimlerChrysler, General Electric, LK, Zeis, 

and Nihon, Unisys

Consortium:

Automotive Industry Action Group, PDES, Inc., and

Metrology Automation Association

Software Vendor: 

AutoSimulation, Inc., EDS, Promodel Corporation,

Micro Analysis & Design Incorporated, Softimage,

Proplanner, Flexsim Software, Emergis, Fujitsu, QAD,

SAP, Sterling Commerce, iConnect, Wolverine

Software, Simul8 Corp., Delmia Corporation

(formerly Deneb Robotics), Systems Modeling –

Rockwell Software, Sewickley, Knowledge Based

Systems, Inc., Technomatix, Delmia, Wilcox, and

Theorem Solutions

FY2005 Standards

Participation 

Active participation and leadership roles in: 

• ANSI/ASME B5 Machine Tools - Components,

Elements, Performance, and Equipment

• Foundation for Intelligent Physical Agents ISO/IEC

JTC1/SC22/WG11

• ISO/IEC JTC1/SC32 Information Technology Data

Management and Interchange

• ISO TC184/SC4 Industrial 

automation/Industrial data

• ISO TC 184/SC1/WG7 Industrial automation

systems and integration/ Physical device control

• ISO TC184/SC5/WG4 Manufacturing

Programming Environments

• I++ Group

• OASIS

• Object Management Group

• Open Applications Group

• SISO/IEEE

• US PRO

• W3C Semantic Web

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Programs of the Manufacturing Engineering Laboratory

Manufacturing Interoperability
78

Programs of the Manufacturing Engineering Laboratory

Manufacturing Interoperability

Themes

2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008

Principal

Activities

Deliverables

Impacts

Manufacturing Interoperability

An interoperability testing and demonstration infrastructure 

Testing of key integration standards for today’s manufacturers 

Development of semantic technologies for tomorrow’s integration needs 

Establish the Interoperability Test Bed (ITB)

Establish the Virtual Manufacturing Environment (VME) 

Integrate suite of stds & tests to support product, process, 

operations & supply chain info exchange

Plan semantic integration tactic 

Develop & apply ontologies to primary areas of mfg

Develop tools & techniques for semantic integration

Test the tools developed on actual industry cases

Suites of stds 

identified

Simulation Stds

Consortium

Demonstrated

apps integration

Ontology

 specs for 

primary areas Tools to capture of mfg semantic interfaces

Metrology Test Bed Enhanced ITB

B2B Test Bed

PSL Standard

VME Facility

Integration Study

Gap Analysis

Accelerated simulation 

stds through IEEE/SISO

Establish a 

program TAB 

Establish B2B 

Test Bed 

Develop conformance tests

 for I++, DML

Develop semantic integration 

framework

Develop process 

standard in formal logic

STEP Impact 

published

Reduced

inventory costs

Improved stds for 

construction industry

Recognition of 

interoperability benefits

Recognition of 

semantics benefits

Increased integration of product 

& process info across lifecycle

Reduced time and cost to develop and validate stds
healthcare Manufacturing Metrology 

and Standards for the 

Health Care Enterprise

Program Goal: 

Apply proven MEL manufacturing technology and expertise to healthcare systems, 

biomedical devices and equipment, and biomedical data management

Customer Need & Intended Impact

Spending on healthcare in the United States was about 13.2 % of the Gross

Domestic Product (GDP) in 2000, which is $1.3 trillion, and continues to

grow at the rate of 7.3 % per year. This amount will reach $2.8 trillion dollars by

2011 (around 17 % of the GDP). These costs are also a major concern for the

U.S. industry, as escalating healthcare costs are impeding our ability to compete

globally. According to a USA Today article, General Motors (GM) spent 

$4.5 billion on healthcare in 2002, an increase of nearly 9 % from 2001. GM

sold 8.4 million vehicles in 2002. In effect, healthcare expenses constituted

$535 of the price tag of each GM car. This is reiterated in a recent U.S.

Department of Commerce report entitled “Manufacturing in America: A

Comprehensive Strategy to Address the Challenges to U.S. Manufacturers.” This

report cites that rising healthcare costs may prove to be detrimental to our manufacturing industry, with testimonials from various industries.

Healthcare and manufacturing share many similar organizational, technological

and informational issues. Thus, the healthcare industry as a whole is a customer

for the metrology, standard-setting support and technology approaches and solutions that MEL has developed for the manufacturing sector that are transferable

or adaptable to the healthcare sector.

The benefit to the healthcare industry will be an infrastructure for the accelerated and enriched development of improved organizational, technological and

informational support methodologies for all aspects of health care delivery.

NIST’s contributions will enable more effective development and application of

biological and medical knowledge to practical problems.

79

Programs of the Manufacturing Engineering Laboratory

Manufacturing Metrology and Standards for the Health Care Enterprise

Program Manager: 

Ram D. Sriram

Total FTEs: 

2.4

Annual Program Funds:

$595 K 
Technical Approach &

Program Objectives 

There are two dimensions to the program: (1)

Healthcare informatics; and (2) Medical devices.

Healthcare informatics deals with all the processes

or “software” of the healthcare enterprise: modeling

and simulation, design and production, biosurveillance, manufacturing and its associated supply

chains, and information and data management both

in clinical practice and biological research. Medical

devices deal with all the products or “hardware” of

the enterprise: the characterization, design, manufacture, testing, and metrology of medical devices at

scales ranging from large equipment to nano-scale

drug delivery mechanisms. 

This program deals with the following objectives:

(1) Healthcare informatics

Objective #1.1: Enterprise 

modeling and simulation

Explore the applicability of the modeling and simulation technologies developed in MEL to healthcare

systems; explore means for disseminating this information to the shareholders in the healthcare

industry.

Objective #1.2: Design and production 

of pharmaceuticals

Develop representations of pharmaceutical

processes, quality measurement methods, and test

equipment standards necessary for the specification,

characterization, and data interchange involved in

the clinical trials, certification, production testing,

and manufacture of pharmaceutical products.

Objective #1.3: Biosurveillance

Develop information models and integration technologies, classifications of healthcare terminologies

and ontologies, interchange specifications and test

methods necessary for the acquisition, characterization, standardization, and validation of public health

surveillance information and the dissemination and

integration of relevant treatment guidelines to

improve the detection and response to disease

outbreaks and insidious bioterrorism attacks.

Objective #1.4: Manufacturing and value

chain management

Develop interfacing specifications and interaction

protocols for integrating manufacturing and 

e-commerce software solutions into the biomedical

device value chain and enhance existing standards

for device integration.

Objective #1.5: Clinical informatics

Extrapolate from MEL’s experience in information

modeling and research supporting information interchange standards development for the manufacturing industry to provide experience, assistance and

leadership for related activities in the health care

informatics field.

Objective #1.6: Bioinformatics

Adapt and extend NIST’s expertise in information

modeling, information interchange and standards

development in the manufacturing arena to the 

field of bioinformatics, leading to synergisms with 

bioinformatics research and practice and 

consolidation of the bioinformatics knowledge base.

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Programs of the Manufacturing Engineering Laboratory

Manufacturing Metrology and Standards for the Health Care Enterprise
(2) Medical devices 

Objective #2.1: Mobility devices

Develop test methods and performance metrics,

sensor data, standards and specifications necessary

for intelligent assistive devices for wheelchair

dependents and the blind.

Objective #2.2: Hearing devices

Develop test and measurement methods, data, standards and specifications necessary for the characterization, manufacturing, and testing of hearing devices

and related diagnostic equipment. 

Objective #2.3: Intelligent assistive

surgical devices (medical robots)

Work with an American Standards for Testing of

Materials (ASTM) committee, the Food and Drug

Administration (FDA), medical robotic research

groups and University Hospitals for the establishment of Intelligent Assistive Surgical Devices

(Medical Robots) standards. This work will extrapolate on our previous work on industrial robot

performance and safety standards, related metrology,

instrumentation and artifact and marker design.

Objective #2.4: Surface characterization

of biomedical devices

Develop test procedures for characterizing the

surfaces of medical devices that relate to device

function and failure behavior. 

Objective #2.5: Mesomicro-biodevices

Assist in the establishment of meso-micro-biodevices

standards. Meso scale devices have components

with feature sizes of a few millimeters. Micro-scale

devices have components with features, which range

between 1 mm and 1 mm and nano-scale devices

have components with features, which range

between 1 μm and 1 nm. 

Objective #2.6: Nano-biodevices

Develop protocols for high-resolution imaging of

individual components and associated complexes of

the constituents of nanoparticle drug delivery

systems (NDS). Demonstrate imaging of the cell

transfection process with fixed and live cells using

such systems. Nano scale devices have components

with features that range between 1 μm and 1 nm. 

81

Programs of the Manufacturing Engineering Laboratory

Manufacturing Metrology and Standards for the Health Care Enterprise

Acoustics

research using

KEMAR- a test

manikin with

sensors

instead of

eardrums
Major Accomplishments

This is a new program initiated in FY 2005. 

The program builds on the previous accomplishments of all five divisions of MEL, which include the

following: an exploratory project on healthcare

information interchange through shared ontologies;

data representation schemes for proteomics 

standards; initial studies for robotic wheel chair 

standards; active participation in the ASTM

Intelligent Assistive Surgical Devices (Medical

Robots) standards meetings; an exploratory project

on nanoparticle imaging which resulted in the

acquisition of a scanning probe microscope with

biological imaging capabilities; and a major role in

the development of American National Standards

Institute (ANSI) standard S3.22 “Specification of

Hearing Aid Characteristics.”

FY2005 Projects

A star (*) in front of a project indicates that the

project will be pursued if we are successful in

obtaining external funding/collaboration. 

Simulation Applicability Study

(Objective 1.1)

Prepare a comprehensive report on the applicability

of modeling, simulation and visualization concepts

developed at NIST/MEL to biological information

and processes.

*Pharmaceuticals Industry

Involvement Roadmap 

(Objective 1.2)

Develop a roadmap detailing potential tasks (e.g.,

similar to those described below) for NIST’s role in

aiding the pharmaceutical industry. Publish a workshop report on Interoperable Manufacturing Process

Specifications to enable interoperability and interchange of manufacture of active ingredients and key

intermediates in the production of pharmaceuticals. 

Public Health Surveillance Data

Interchange Proposal 

(Objective 1.3)

Develop a proposal for potential funding on 

standards for the interchange of public health

surveillance data and integration of newly 

disseminated active clinical guidelines into 

healthcare information systems. 

Biomedical Device Industry Needs

Study (Objective 1.4)

Conduct a workshop to collect industry needs and

prepare a thorough report on biomedical device

manufacturers’ needs for standards and a roadmap

to their achievement. This report will also 

identify stakeholders, due dates, approaches, 

and appropriate standard activities for which 

we should participate. 

82

Programs of the Manufacturing Engineering Laboratory

Manufacturing Metrology and Standards for the Health Care Enterprise
Clinical Information Standards Plan

(Objective 1.5)

Prepare a comprehensive report of all clinical information-oriented standards, their development organizations, their scope and the vocabularies/ontologies

they employ. Use the report as the basis for developing a plan for applying NIST’s experience to assist

in clinical information-oriented standard development and closer harmonization.

*Bioinformatics Framework

Proposal (Objective 1.6)

Prepare a comprehensive report reviewing 

bioinformatics concepts and languages used in

bioinformatics, proposing a framework based on

information modeling languages, formal ontologies

and a common set of concepts enabling better

communication.

Wheelchair Standards Core

Competency Development

(Objective 2.1)

Develop core competencies within MEL to address

robotic wheelchair standards organizations intelligently. Prepare and submit a proposal to a healthcare funding organization to further this research. 

Hearing Devices Standards Report

(Objective 2.2)

Report on development and status of ANSI 

(The American National Standards Institute) and

international (primarily IEC (International

Electrotechnical Commission)) standards on hearing

devices and related diagnostic equipment.

Standard Test Classes for Human

Joint Specimens (Objective 2.3)

Select a few human joint specimens, which will be

candidates for NIST standard reference artifacts.

These specimens will come from healthy and

diseased joints and will form separate standard test

classes of the developing standard.

Biomedical Surface

Characterization Workshop

(Objective 2.4)

Plan and organize a workshop on surface characterization for the biomedical industry. 

*Meso-Micro-Biodevice Technology

Report (Objective 2.5)

Prepare a brief report describing the status of the

Meso-Micro-Biodevices technology and possible

opportunities for collaboration with other research

groups.

Advanced Nanoparticle Imaging

Opportunities (Objective 2.6)

Leverage external funding to demonstrate highresolution imaging of individual components and

associated complexes of the constituents of a NDS

(Tf-Lip-p53).

83

Programs of the Manufacturing Engineering Laboratory

Manufacturing Metrology and Standards for the Health Care Enterprise
Typical Customers and

Collaborators

Healthcare providers and organizations

Cleveland Clinic, Kaiser Permanente, Union

Hospital, MD, Mayo Clinic, Partners Healthcare,

MA, and others; Pharmaceutical manufacturers such

as Eli Lily and Company, Pfizer, Bayer,

GlaxoSmithKline, Mylan Laboratories, etc.;

Process modeling vendors 

Aspen Technologies; Healthcare informatics vendors

and consultants, such as Apelon, Adam Inc.,

LightPhrama, Synergene Therapeutics, Inc., etc.;

Medical device industry; 

Academic institutions

University of Pennsylvania, Stanford Medical

Informatics, Purdue University, University of

Minnesota, University of Michigan, West Virginia

University, Carnegie-Mellon University, Johns

Hopkins University, University of Pittsburgh,

University of Delaware, Georgetown University

Medical Center, etc.; 

Government organizations

Telemedicine and Advanced Technology Research

Center, Fort Dietrick (MD), U.S. Army, U.S. Uniform

Health Services, Department of Homeland Security,

Various institutes of the National Institutes of Health,

Food and Drug Administration, Centers for Disease

Control, Veterans Administration, Agency for

Healthcare Research and Quality; 

Various associations

Radiological Society of North America (RSNA),

ANSI, RESNA (Rehabilitation EFY2005 

Standards Participation

84

Programs of the Manufacturing Engineering Laboratory

Manufacturing Metrology and Standards for the Health Care Enterprise
85

Programs of the Manufacturing Engineering Laboratory

Manufacturing Metrology and Standards for the Health Care Enterprise

Themes

2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008

Principal

Activities

Deliverables

Impacts

Manufacturing Metrology and Standards 

for the Health Care Enterprise 

Healthcare informatics

Medical devices

Better interoperability

Higher Quality

Reduced Costs

MSID activities Simulation applicability

Healthcare

exploratory 

study

ISD activities

MMD activities

PED activities

Pharmaceuticals roadmap Simulation applicability

Simulation applicability Surveillance proposal

Device standards needs Simulation applicability

Clinical information plan Simulation applicability

Bioinformatics proposal Simulation applicability

Reference artifacts

Hearing device standards Simulation applicability

Wheelchair standards

Surface characterization Simulation applicability

Simulation applicability Meso-micro-biodevices

Imaging nanoparticles

Applicability study

Involvement roadmap

Interchange proposal

Industry needs study

Standards plan

Framework proposal

Competency report

Project plan

Reference artifacts

Characterization workshop

Status report

TBD
mechanical metrology Mechanical Metrology

Program Goal 

Develop and deliver timely measurements and standards to address identified critical U.S. industry needs

for traceable mechanical metrology in the areas of acoustics, force, mass, and vibration, particularly

for the support of trade and innovation, process-control, and quality in manufacturing.

Customer Need & Intended Impact 

Mechanical metrology plays a critical role in nearly all sectors of the U.S.

economy and in everyday life. The mechanical metrology program

provides the research and development infrastructure for responding to and anticipating the needs of the U.S. government and industry in the areas of acoustics,

force, mass, and vibration measurements. In addition, the program realizes,

maintains, and disseminates the basic SI (System of International Units) unit of

mass, and the quantities of acoustics, force, and vibration to a broad customer

base covering the nuclear, aerospace, electronics, electric power, pharmaceutical, biotechnology, materials, chemical, construction, and automotive industries, state governments, as well as the U.S. departments of defense, labor,

energy, transportation, veteran’s affairs, and agriculture. 

To insure the competitiveness of the U.S. industry in world markets, the mechanical metrology program maintains active participation in the CIPM (Comité

International des Poids et Mesures) consultative committees on Mass and related

quantities (CCM – Consultative Committee on Mass and Related Quantities) and

Acoustics, Ultrasound, and Vibration (CCAUV – Consultative Committee on

Acoustics, Ultrasound, and Vibration), the Interamerican Metrology System (SIM),

participation in the Mutual Recognition Arrangement (MRA) and associated international key comparison. A crucial aspect of the mechanical metrology program

is the transfer of NIST-developed measurement and uncertainty evaluation techniques to the U.S. industry and other government agencies. This is accomplished

through participation and/or leading of standards activities (ISO, IEC -

International Electrotechnical Commission, OIML - International Organization of

Legal Metrology, ASTM – American Society for Testing and Materials) and other

direct outreach activities that serve the dual purpose of assessing immediate 

and anticipated needs of the metrology and research and development (R&D)

community as well as transferring the current resident knowledge and 

expertise at NIST.

86

Programs of the Manufacturing Engineering Laboratory

Mechanical Metrology

Program Manager: 

Zeina J. Jabbour

Total FTEs: 

9.3

Annual Program Funds:

$2.327 M
The R&D needs include short-term and current

needs that are the focus of the existing activities. 

It is the intention of this program to increase the

emphasis on long-term anticipated needs. This will

be accomplished over time in an evolutionary

manner, beginning with forming high-level contacts

with the R&D community to assess the impact of 

the current measurement services provided and to

establish a roadmap for the long-term future of

mechanical metrology. 

Areas such as stable mass artifacts, traceable

vacuum mass measurements, optical detection of

forces, MEMS (Micro Electro-Mechanical Systems)

load cells, shock metrology, traceable phase measurements for accelerometers, next-generation measurement techniques for new microphones, and

angular accelerometers are areas of known interest

for industry and public-sector customers would

result in significant anticipated impacts cutting

across most sectors of the U.S. economy. The shortterm/current needs are evidenced by the large

demand for the measurement services provided and

the continuous requests to improve and upgrade,

existing services, and/or develop new ones. Such

additional needs include the development of lowfrequency vibration capabilities, improved density

measurements, torque, dynamic force, and dynamic

torque measurements. 

Technical Approach &

Program Objectives 

The program goal will be met through prioritization of activities and allocation of resources to

address the key elements of each mechanical

metrology service area. For each service area, the

activities of R&D for new and improved measurement capabilities, provision of services to customers,

participation in international comparisons to eliminate barriers to trade, and standardization of measurement methods and protocols are integral to the

overall success of the program. These aspects form

the basis for the program objectives and each objective interacts strongly with the others. The program

will draw upon the internationally recognized skills

and expertise of MEL staff in the mechanical

metrology areas to achieve the program objectives.

Funding will be leveraged from multiple sources as

much as possible to enable appropriate allocation of

resources. As indicated above, the program intends

to increase the emphasis on R&D to respond to

customer needs for future measurement capabilities

and to increase the interactions with mechanical

metrology R&D organizations and the “end-users” 

of devices and artifacts calibrated by MEL 

measurement services. 

Objective #1: Research and 

Development Activities

By FY2009, conduct research and development

activities to anticipate the long-term, short-term, and

current needs of fundamental SI metrology, government, and industry, and drive future advancements

in the areas of mass, acoustics, force, and vibrations. 

87

Programs of the Manufacturing Engineering Laboratory

Mechanical Metrology
Deliverables for FY2009: 

Foundation for “future mass metrology” built by

designing, building, and testing a prototype

magnetic levitation vacuum balance, and developing stable mass artifacts to provide the foundation for the first directly-traceable vacuum

measurements, eliminate the time-variance of

the mass artifacts and the definition of the

Kilogram and enables the realization of the

alternative definitions of the artifact mass definition.

Milestones:

• For 2005, preliminary design of balance

including weighing mechanism, vacuum/air interface chamber, and magnetic levitation and

shielding mechanisms. 

• For 2007, the magnetic rigid link system and

report on the operation of the balance in air and

in vacuum.

• For 2007, mechanisms for in-situ measurements

of surface and material properties.

• For 2007, methods for manufacturing stable mass

artifacts and evaluation of platinum-iridium and

stainless steel samples.

• For 2008, the first set of stable mass 

standards and report on surface and 

material properties monitoring.

• For 2009, full implementation of first prototype

magnetic levitation balance; first vacuum/air

mass measurement with direct traceability to one

of the U.S. national prototype Kilograms; and a

report of operation uncertainty sources, and

requirements for building the next-generation

balance to realize measurements with 

1x10-10 relative precision.

Deliverables for FY2006: 

Robotic mass and solid density measurement

facility built in the Advanced Measurement

Laboratory (AML) to eliminate errors caused by

human interface and optimize measurement

process. This facility will cover the mass range

from 1 mg to 64 kg and solid density of artifacts

in the range from 10 g to 1 kg and will be 

used to improve the measurements 

efficiency and uncertainty of NIST reference 

standards used in R&D and those used in

delivery of measurement services. This facility

will be adapted for the provision of the mass

calibrations in the ranges specified and all

procedures and uncertainties documented.

Milestones:

• For 2005, implementation of mass and density

robotic systems in AML. and measurement 

procedures for robotic systems.

• For 2006, robotic systems for the provision of

mass and solid density measurement services 

and procedures documented.

88

Programs of the Manufacturing Engineering Laboratory

Mechanical Metrology
Deliverables for 2005:

The automation and upgrade of hardware and 

software controls of the 27 kN (6.1 klbf) force 

deadweight machine completed to allow

hysteresis measurements, enhance efficiency

and improve the consistency of the measurement process and document all operation 

procedures, hardware, software, and testing

results in NISTIR.

Deliverables for 2005:

The extended low-frequency sinusoidal

accelerometer calibration system with improved

accuracy and extended frequency range to

satisfy the requirements of the automotive, aerospace, construction, nuclear power, manufacturing industries, and Department of Defense

(DoD) for traceability of vibration transducers in

the frequency range extending at least an order

of magnitude below 1 Hz; documentation of

developed procedures and uncertainty analysis

necessary for establishing a new NIST SP250 

calibration service; and vibration measurement 

services implemented in new laboratory in AML.

Objective #2: Customer Interactions

By 2008, establish and/or maintain contacts with

customers from various sectors of the U.S. industry,

government agencies and departments, and

academia to evaluate and assess the future 

research and development needs in the areas 

of mechanical metrology.

Deliverables 

for 2005:

• Major mechanical

metrology customers identified and contacts 

initiated with assistance from MEL 

strategic manager.

• Site visits to selected customers to identify the

current impact of the mechanical metrology 

services and identify the future needs; and a

summary report of findings.

Deliverables for 2006: 

Multiples workshops to formally assess and

identify the industry needs in the acoustics,

force, mass, and vibration and reports on 

workshops results and findings.

Deliverables for 2008: 

Consensus technology roadmaps developed

with industry contacts, that to plan and 

prioritize development of future mechanical

metrology capabilities based on identified

industry needs and workshop results in mass,

acoustics, force, and vibration.

89

Programs of the Manufacturing Engineering Laboratory

Mechanical Metrology

U.S. National

Prototype

Kilogram

housed

at NIST
Objective #3: Measurement Services

Provide measurement services in conformance with

an ISO 17025 compliant quality system to meet the

needs of the U.S. government and industry in the

areas of acoustics, force, mass, and vibrations.

Activities associated with this objective are ongoing

with annual deliverables.

Annual Deliverables: 

1. Provided SP250 calibration services and special

tests to broad customer base in the areas of

acoustics, force, mass, and vibration with uncertainties equal to or better than those specified in

publication NIST SP 250; and 90 % or better ontime delivery of reports of calibrations and

special tests to all customers.

2. Compliance with ISO 17025 quality systems for

all SP250 measurement services from all administrative and technical aspects including regular

calibration of NIST reference and working standards, calibration of all equipment and/or instrumentation associated with calibration systems

with direct traceability to NIST, and maintaining

control charts. Report on status to Measurement

Services Advisory Group (MSAG).

3. All calibration fees reviewed and revised as

necessary to insure full cost recovery for all

calibration services in accordance with 

NIST policies.

Objective #4: International Key

Comparisons

By 2008, conduct international key comparisons 

to insure U.S. compliance with the MRA and 

insure competitiveness of the U.S. industry in 

world markets. 

Deliverables for 2008: 

Participate and/or pilot, perform measurements, 

and generate reports for the CIPM and SIM key

comparisons in acoustics:

Milestones:

• For 2005, participation in the CCAUV 

comparison of laboratory standard microphones

at 31.5 Hz to 25 kHz; analysis and comments 

on Draft A results.

• For 2006, participation in the CCAUV comparison of free field sound pressure in air in the

range of 2 kHz to 40 kHz (if enough other

National Measurement Institutes (NMIs) are

ready),

• For 2006, participation in the CCAUV 

comparison of laboratory standard microphones

at low frequencies in the range of 

2 Hz to 125 Hz.

• For 2008, participation in the SIM comparison

of laboratory standard microphones in the range

of 125 Hz to 8 kHz.

90

Programs of the Manufacturing Engineering Laboratory

Mechanical Metrology
Deliverables for 2008:

Participate and/or pilot, perform measurements, 

and generate reports for the CIPM and SIM key

comparisons in force:

Milestones

• For 2005, pilot lab for the CCM 2 MN and 

4 MN comparisons.

• For 2006, participation in the CCM 

10 kN comparison.

• For 007, participation in the CCM 100 kN 

comparison.

• For 2008, participation in the CCM 1 MN 

comparison.

Deliverables for 2008: 

Participate and/or pilot, perform measurements, 

and generate reports for the CIPM and SIM key

comparisons in mass:

Milestones

• For 2005, co-pilot lab for the CCM comparison

of 1 kg stainless steel artifacts.

• For 2006, participation in the CCM comparison

of solid density.

• For 2006, participation in the CCM comparison

of 50 kg mass standards.

• For 2008, participation in the CCM comparison

of multiples and submultiples of 1 kg standards.

Deliverable: 

Participate and/or pilot, perform measurements,

and generate reports for the CIPM and SIM key

comparisons in vibration:

Milestones

• For 2005, pilot lab for the SIM comparison in

the range of 50 Hz to 5 kHz.

• For 2006, participation in the SIM low frequency

vibration comparison.

Objective #5: Standards Activities

Provide high-level technical expertise through 

participation in standards activities in the areas of

acoustics, force, mass, and vibration to ensure traceability and comparability of U.S. physical and documentary standards in mechanical metrology to those

of other nations and to represent and protect the

interests of the U.S. industry in global markets. 

A complete list and roles of mechanical metrology

program staff in standards committees is listed under

the “standards participation” section. Activities 

associated with this objective are ongoing with

annual deliverables.

Deliverables: 

NIST interests represented and defended 

contribution to future planning activities, and

status reports on technical developments and

MRA related activities at the meetings of the

CCM and associated working groups on mass,

force, and density in the years 2005, 2006,

2008, and 2009, CCAUV in the years 2006 and

2008, SIM and its associated working groups on

mass and related quantities, and acoustics, ultrasonics, and vibrations as needed.

Annual Deliverables:

As Technical Advisor to the USNC (ANSI’s

United States National Committee)/IEC for

Technical Committee (TC) 29, recommendation

USNC/IEC position and contribution to the

development of acoustics standards (annual

deliverables): 

• IEC 61094-6 “Measurement microphones – Part

6: Electrostatic actuators for determination of

frequency response,” 

91

Programs of the Manufacturing Engineering Laboratory

Mechanical Metrology
• IEC 61094-7 “Measurement microphones – Part

7: Values for the difference between free-field

and pressure sensitivity levels of laboratory 

standard microphones,” 

• IEC 61672-3 “Electroacoustics – Sound level

meters – Part 3: Periodic tests,” 

• Drafts/proposals for new ANSI standard S1.15

Measurement Microphones – Part 2: Primary

Method for Pressure Calibration of Laboratory

Standard Microphones by the Reciprocity

Technique, for other parts of the S1.15 series,

and for new ANSI standards on sound calibrators, on sound level meters.

Deliverables for 2005:

• Publication of ANSI S2.1 on Vibration and 

Shock Terminology.

• Publications of ISO 16063-15 on Primary

Angular Vibration Calibration by Laser

Interferometry and ISO 16063-22 on 

Shock Calibration by Comparison to a 

Reference Transducer.

Deliverables for 2008:

Publications of ISO 18431-1 on a General

Introduction to Mechanical Vibration and Shock

Signal Processing in 2007 and ISO 18431-4 on

Shock Response Spectrum Analysis in 2008.

Deliverables for 2009:

Revision of ISO 2041 (TC108 WG1) on

Vibration and Shock Terminology and 

integration of ANSI S2.1 into it.

Deliverables:

• For 2005, technical contributions to resolve 

transducers stability criteria in ASTM E74-02

“Standard Practice of Calibration of ForceMeasuring Instruments for Verifying the Force

Indication of Testing Machines” and 

revised standard.

• Annual review the ASTM Force Standards E74-

02 and E4-03 “Standard Practices for Force

Verification of Testing Machines” and 

participation in bi-annual committees / 

sub-committees meetings as needed.

Deliverable 

Technical contributions to OIML R111 and

ASTM E617-97 standards on weights, their 

classifications, technical requirements, and

measurement procedures as needed.

92

Programs of the Manufacturing Engineering Laboratory

Mechanical Metrology
Major Accomplishments

ISO 17025 compliant quality system

implementation and assessment for international recognition of services and

participation in the MRA

• Development, documentation, implementation,

and assessment of the MEL Manufacturing

Metrology Division (MMD) quality system for

measurement services in Acoustics, Force, Mass

and Vibration completed.

• Quality system assessed both internally by MMD

and by NIST at large and found to be in conformance with the NIST quality system by the NIST

Assessment Review Board and the NIST

Measurement Services Advisory Group. 

• Electronic copy of quality manual and report on

quality system submitted to SIM Quality System

Task Force for approval during November 2004

Regional Board meeting. This quality system

supports the NIST Calibration and Measurement

Capabilities claimed for Acoustics, Force, Mass

and Vibration in Appendix C of the Mutual

Recognition Arrangement.

Strong support for MRA through international and regional intercomparisons to

eliminate trade barriers for customers 

• Hosted meeting of SIM Metrology Working

Group 9 on Acoustics, Ultrasound & Vibration. 

• Draft A of the report on CCAUV.A-K3 prepared

& circulated among the participating labs.

• Piloted Force 4 MN key comparison, CCM.F-K4;

status report submitted for March meeting of

CCM Working Group on Force. 

• Final reports of results of key comparisons in

mass, CCM.M-K1 and CCM.M-K2 published in

Appendix B of the BIPM (Bureau International

des Poids et Mesures) key comparison data base.

High quality NIST SP 250 

measurement services 

• In 2004, 442 calibrations, special tests, and NTEP

(National Type Evaluation Program) tests were

performed for 98 distinct customers in the industrial, governmental, and educational sectors.

Crucial role in development and publication of documentary standards to support

measurement methodology and their

implementation in calibration procedures

• ISO standard on secondary calibration of 

vibration and shock transducers by 

comparison published. 

• ISO standard on time domain windows for

Fourier transform analysis submitted for 

publication.

• IEC/TS 62370 on electromagnetic and electrostatic compatibility requirements and test procedures for sound-intensity measuring instruments

published in May 2004. 

93

Programs of the Manufacturing Engineering Laboratory

Mechanical Metrology
• Four national standards published: ANSI S1.11-

2004 on octave-band and fractional octave-band

analog and digital filters, ANSI S1.17-2004/Part1

on measurements and specification of insertion

loss of microphone windscreens, ANSI S3.6-2004

on specifications for audiometers, and ANSI

S3.21-2004 on methods for manual pure-tone

threshold audiometry.

FY2005 Projects

Mass Metrology of the Future

(Objective #1)

Develop preliminary design of a vacuum balance

that directly links the vacuum unit of mass to the

current realization in air and begin manufacturing

and/or procuring parts. Implement robotic mass

facility in AML for mass and solid density metrology.

Upgrades and Expansion of

Mechanical Metrology

Measurement Services 

(Objective #1)

Expand the vibration measurement services in the

low-frequency range. Implement new vibration labs

in AML. Automate the 27 kN (6.1 klbf) deadweight

machine to improve operation and realization of the

unit of force.

Outreach (Objective #2) 

Identify major mechanical metrology customers and

initiate contacts with assistance from MEL strategic

manager. Organize and conduct site visits to

selected customers to identify the current impact of

the mechanical metrology services and identify the

future needs. Generate a summary report of findings.

Mechanical Metrology

Measurement Services 

(Objective #3)

Provide measurement services in the areas of

acoustics, force, mass, and vibration in accordance

with the NIST quality system. Maintain the quality

manual in compliance with ISO 17025 and NIST

QMI (Quality Manual I). Update manual as needed.

Issue quarterly reports to the MSAG on the status of

the quality system for the areas in mechanical

metrology.

International Key Comparisons 

and Standards Activities

(Objectives #4 & #5)

Complete measurements and analyze results of the 4

MN key comparisons piloted by NIST in collaboration with the NIST Statistical Engineering Division.

Write and submit first draft report to the CCM

working group on Force. Pilot SIM key comparison

in vibration; conduct measurements, analyze results,

and issue preliminary report. Co-pilot 1 kg mass

standards key comparison with BIPM. Participate in

CCAUV key comparison in acoustics. Represent

NIST at the CCM meeting and the meetings of the

Working Groups on Mass and Density. Represent

NIST and the U.S. in meetings of the ASTM, ISO,

IEC, OIML, and other standards organizations as

needed.

94

Programs of the Manufacturing Engineering Laboratory

Mechanical Metrology
Typical Customers and

Collaborators

Aerospace industry, automotive industry,

construction industry, nuclear power industry,

pharmaceutical industry, instrument manufacturers,

university research labs, state weights and measures

labs, federal agencies (Departments of Agriculture,

Commerce, Defense, Energy, Labor, Veterans Affairs,

Justice, and the Food and Drug Administration).

FY2005 Standards

Participation 

ANSI S1 Acoustics: 

Organizational Member; S1/WG1 Standard

Microphones and their Calibration: Chair; S1/WG21

Electromagnetic Susceptibility of Acoustical

Instruments: Member

ANSI S2 Mechanical Vibration and Shock: 

Vice Chair and Organizational Member; S2/WG2

Terminology: Chair; S2/WG3 Signal Processing

Methods: Member; S2/WG5 Use and Calibration of

Vibration and Shock Measuring Instruments: Chair

ASACOS (Acoustical Society of America on

Standards): 

Member

ASTM E7 Nondestructive Testing:

Member; E7.04 Acoustic Emission: Member; E7.06

Ultrasonics: Member.

ASTM E28 Mechanical Testing: 

Member; E28.01 Calibration of Mechanical Testing

Machines and Apparatus: Member; E28.05 Residual

Stress: Member; E28.13 Dynamic Modulus

Measurements: Member.

ASTM E41.06 Weighing Devices: 

Member

CIPM:

Consultative Committee on Acoustics, Ultrasound

and Vibration (CCAUV): Delegate; Consultative

Committee on Mass and Related Quantities

(including force) (CCM): Delegate; CCM WG on

Mass: Member; CCM WG on Density: Member;

CCM WG on Force: Member.

SIM:

MWG7 Mass & Related Quantities, MWG9

Acoustics and Vibration: Member.

IEC TC29 Electroacoustics: 

Chair U.S. Delegation; USNC/IEC for TC29:

Technical Advisor; TC29/WG5 Measurement

Microphones: Member.

ISO TC108 Mechanical Vibration and Shock: 

Chair U.S. Delegation; TC108 U.S. TAG: Chair;

TC108/WG1 Terminology: Member; TC108/WG26

Signal Processing Methods for the Analysis of

Mechanical Vibration and Shock: Convener;

TC108/SC3 Use and Calibration of Vibration and

Shock Instrumentation: Chair U.S. Delegation;

TC108/SC 3 U.S. TAG (Technical Advisory Group):

Chair; TC108/SC3/WG6 Calibration of Vibration and

Shock Transducers: Expert Member;

TC108/SC3/WG10 Vibration Condition Monitoring

Transducers and Instrumentation: Member.

ISO TC135 Nondestructive Testing:

Alternate Chair U.S. Delegation; ISO TC135/SC3

Acoustic Methods: Chair; ISO TC135/SC3: liaison to

IEC TC87 Ultrasonics.

95

Programs of the Manufacturing Engineering Laboratory

Mechanical Metrology
OIML TC9 Instruments for Measuring 

Mass and Density:

Technical Advisor to U.S. Voting Member; OIML

TC9/SC3 Weights: Technical Advisor to U.S. Voting

Member; USNWG/OIML TC9/WG1 Load Cells:

Member.

OIML TC13 Measuring Instruments for Acoustics

and Vibration: 

Technical Advisor to U.S. Voting Member

FY2005 Measurement

Services 

Calibrations and Special Tests: 

Provide calibrations and special tests as described

under Mass Standards, Force Measurements,

Vibration Measurements, Acoustic Measurements,

and Ultrasonic Measurements in the NIST

Calibration Services Users Guide, SP 250.

Research Facilities: 

Provide tests and measurements on an as-needed

basis in special NIST Research Facilities such as the

NIST Acoustic Anechoic Chamber.

Testing: 

Load Cell Evaluation - Provide evaluations of prototype load cells in accordance with both national

(NTEP) and international (OIML R60) standards.

96

Programs of the Manufacturing Engineering Laboratory

Mechanical Metrology

Army helicopter loudspeaker unit setup for testing in the acoustic anechoic chamber research facility
97

Programs of the Manufacturing Engineering Laboratory

Mechanical Metrology

Themes

2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008

Principal

Activities

Deliverables

Impacts

Mechanical Metrology 

Research and development

Customer outreach

High quality measurement services

Support of MRA

Alternative realization of kilogram, improved uncertainty and efficiency of measurements

Competitiveness of US industry

Access to State-of-the-art traceable measurements and standards

Equivalency of measurements and open world markets

Over 500 calibrations services and special tests annually

Measurements & reports of international and regional key comparisons

Establish direct traceability of vacuum mass to SI unit

Enhance delivery of measurement services

Perform outreach and assess present and future customer needs

Provide calibrations services and special tests

Implement quality system Establish R&D foundation for program

Active representation in CCM, CCAUV, SIM MWG7 & SIM MWG9

“Proof-of-concept” magnetically levitated vacuum balance

Mass calibration software Stable mass artifacts

Low frequency vibration system

Automated 6.1 klbf force machine

Successful assessment of

quality system

Robotic mass facility

Site visits, workshops, and roadmaps for R&D
nanomanufacturing Nanomanufacturing

Program Goal

Develop and deliver timely measurements, standards, and infrastructural technologies that address identified critical U.S. industry and other government agency needs for innovation and traceable

metrology, process-control and quality in manufacturing at the nanoscale.

Customer Need & Intended Impact 

Advanced nanomanufacturing is key to the strength and future growth of the

U.S. manufacturing sector and a strong measurements and standards infrastructure is vital for its success. NIST is responsible to U. S. manufacturing for

providing traceability to the national unit of length, by developing measurement

capabilities and calibration standards. Metrology is a key enabler for all manufacturing and it is especially important to nanotechnology. It has been predicted

that within the next 10 years, at least half of the newly designed advanced materials and manufacturing processes will be built at the nanoscale. Measurement

science (metrology) and advanced instrumentation are essential for nanomanufacturing. If you cannot measure it you cannot make it and that statement is even

more accurate in the regime of nanotechnology. Successful metrology infrastructure is essential for manufacturers to achieve the real promise of developing and

manufacturing new nanomaterials, devices, and products. Advanced instrumentation provides the necessary data upon which sound scientific conclusions can

be based and correct metrology provides the ability to properly and accurately

interpret those data. Together they facilitate nanomanufacturing. As pointed out

in the National Nanotechnology Initiative (NNI) Instrumentation and Metrology

Grand Challenge workshop final report, some of these metrology techniques will

be evolutionary and some will be revolutionary. With that in mind, it is imperative that this program remain agile and evolve with the nanomanufacturing

industry and adapt as new applications develop. It has been proven that where

the economy of scale in manufacturing is concerned, even relatively small

improvements in the metrology in the manufacturing process can yield large

savings and increased value to the U. S. Economy. 

98

Programs of the Manufacturing Engineering Laboratory

Nanomanufacturing

Program Manager:

Michael T. Postek

Total FTEs: 

25

Annual Program Funds:

$5.029 M
Technical Approach &

Program Objectives

This program represents an integrated approach to

the currently known nanomanufacturing needs

with an eye on the anticipated needs which will

soon emerge. Therefore agility will be the key to the

success of the technical approach. By integrating

instrument development, and metrology infrastructure development a strong package of MEL

metrology capability can be presented to the

customer base.

Objective #1: SEM for Nanoscale

Measurements 

Develop the best-in-the-world accurate 3-dimensional Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM)-based

dimensional metrology and modeling capable of

measurement resolution of less than 0.1 nm and

apply these to real-world samples to meet the

requirements of the current and emerging nanomanufacturing in microelectronics, nanotechnology and

biotechnology.

Deliverables for FY2005: 

The new high-resolution, environmental, laser

interferometer stage metrology SEM installed in

the Advanced Measurement Laboratory (AML).

Deliverables for FY2006: 

Extension of modeling capabilities of NIST’s

Monte Carlo (MONSEL) electron trajectory

simulator to include two- and three-dimensional

samples of arbitrary shape. 

Deliverables for FY2007: 

New, accurate 3-dimensional metrology

coupled with modeling that allows the comprehensive experimentation on both virtual and real

samples with nanometer uncertainty.

Deliverables for FY2008: 

Validated MONSEL for low electron landing

energy images and its capabilities extended to

simulate low-vacuum (environmental) imaging

modes (used for charge compensation when

imaging insulating samples such as photomasks

or biological samples) and the results published

Deliverables for FY2009: 

A new state-of-the-art reference dimensional

metrology SEM and accurate metrology methods

for full-size wafers and masks. This work will

carried out in cooperation with participants from

the U.S. nanomanufacturing industry.

Objective #2: Optical Metrology 

Provide world class metrology capabilities and technical leadership using optical based methods

capable of measuring photomasks, reflection mode

targets (as on wafers or industrially relevant

substrates), and feature to feature positions with

unsurpassed accuracy on features used in the most

advanced nanoelectronics manufacturing.

Deliverables for FY2005: 

Models and metrology targets; new overlay

metrology methods that support the manufacturing of nanolelectronic devices at the 65 nm

node and that can extend optical technology to

the 65 nm sized manufacturing domain.

99

Programs of the Manufacturing Engineering Laboratory

Nanomanufacturing
Deliverables for FY2006: 

New scattering models for line width evaluation

in transmission mode; advanced models necessary for optical metrology at the 32 nm node

including reflection and transmission modeling

of phase shifting features developed and tested

in conjunction with industry.

Deliverables for FY2007: 

A comprehensive set of Overlay Wafer Standard

Reference Materials (SRMs), calibrated

photomask linewidth features and 2-dimensional

grids artifacts.

Deliverables for FY2008: 

Advanced optical measurement methods

capable of sub-1 nm repeatability and

nanometer accuracy for use in nanoelectronics

and nanomanufacturing feature metrology and

process control. 

Deliverables for FY2009: 

A new optical metrology methodology useful in

integrated metrology applications based on scatterfield microscopy. 

Objective #3: Atom Based Metrology 

Develop the best in the world atomic-scale

metrology for measurements and standards in

support of nanomanufacturing and nanoelectronics.

Enable the capability to measure feature dimensions

and positions with atomic precision and to fabricate

test structures with sub-5 nm dimensions to support

and enable developing advanced atomic-scale measurement capabilities.

Deliverables for FY2005: 

Procurement of a new Scanning Tunneling

Microscope (STM) that has improved atomic 

scale imaging capability for atom-based 

dimensional metrology. 

Deliverables for FY2006: 

Improved methods for etching nanostructures

written in silicon work (in collaboration with

ISMT (International Sematech) and the NIST

Electronics and Electrical Engineering Laboratory

(EEEL).

Deliverables for FY2007: 

Techniques for the preparation of Scanning

Probe Microscope (SPM) tips with reproducible

geometries and the direct characterization of 

the SPM tip geometry and dimensions on the

atomic scale. 

Deliverables for FY2008: 

Evaluation and demonstration of the use of

nanotube tips for use in atomic scale metrology

and nanolithography. Perform field emission

testing to evaluate electrical characteristics.

Deliverables for FY2009: 

Features written in silicon with critical dimensions smaller than 3 nm; The process developed

so it can be implemented in other nanolithography systems and measured in external

metrology systems. 

100

Programs of the Manufacturing Engineering Laboratory

Nanomanufacturing
Objective #4: SPM for Nanoscale

Measurements 

Develop world class traceable calibrations of probebased calibration systems and procedures for the

measurement of dimensional parameters for the

semiconductor and other microelectronics 

industries with nanometer- and subnanometer-level

uncertainties.

Deliverables for FY2005: 

A SPIE (International Society for Optical

Engineering) presentation and article on the

development of the Veeco SXM (Scanning Probe

Microscope) measurement system for linewidth

measurement.

Deliverables for FY2006: 

Calibrated pitch, height, and linewidth artifacts

for maintaining and demonstrating the traceability of the instrument and SPIE presentation

and article on the system concept and measurement results. 

Deliverables for FY2007: 

An independently traceable linewidth measurement technique, based on image stitching and

the use of nanotube probes, for independent

verification of the critical dimension (CD)-

Atomic Force Microscope (CD-AFM) and an

optimized reference measurement system at

ISMT closely coupled both to NIST and to

industry, providing traceable measurements of

pitch, step-height, linewidth, and Line-Edge

Roughness (LER). 

Deliverables for FY2008: 

A journal article on the comparison of the

results of three independently traceable

linewidth measurement techniques: the CDAFM,

image

stitching,

and SEM (in

collaboration

with the SEM Project).

Deliverables for FY2009: 

Traceable, CD-AFM-based linewidth measurement service for linewidth as small as 50 nm

with uncertainties consistent with the sub

nanometer resolution levels now required in

industrial measurements (see: the International

Technology Roadmap for Semiconductors ITRS)

and capable of pitch and step height measurements as well. 

Objective #5: Force Metrology for

Nanoscale Measurements and Standards 

Develop world-class force metrology for 

nanoscale measurements and standards for

nanomanufacturing capable of improving the 

realization of the unit of force below 10-5 N by

measuring a nanonewton with an expanded relative

uncertainty below a percent. 

Deliverables for FY2005: 

A paper and review article on microforce

submitted to the SPIE Microlithography

Conference to introduce this topic to that

community with potential resubmission to the

Journal of Microlithography, Microfabrication

and Microsystems.

101

Programs of the Manufacturing Engineering Laboratory

Nanomanufacturing

Combination of

circular and

cantilever cut

flexures
Deliverables for FY2006: 

A force and displacement measuring instrument

capable of moving a rigid probe element or load 

cell into contact with the moving pan of the

Electrostatic Force Balance (EFB) while recording

force with 10 pN resolution and observing the 

relative separation of the probe and balance pan

with 10 pm resolution.

Deliverables for FY2008: 

A secondary force standard based on 

piezoresistive load sensing. 

Deliverables for FY2009: 

Examination of intrinsic force standards.

Objective #6: Advanced Control Systems

and Positioning

Develop world-class advanced control and positioning systems for nanoscale measurements,

assembly and standards. This includes arrays of highprecision Micro Electro-Mechanical Systems (MEMS)

stages for scanning probe microscopy; multi-degreeof-freedom nanometer resolution fiber optic

displacement sensors; and the automated assembly

of micro and nano-scale components.

Deliverables for FY2006: 

Fabrication of a 2 x 2 array of MEMS-based x-yz positioning stages. The displacement range,

frequency bandwidth and parasitic errors determined using an SEM. Additional tests will be

performed at the EEEL MEMS testing laboratory

to determine the thermal properties and out-ofplane stage motion. The results presented at an

appropriate scientific conference and submit a

paper to an appropriate scientific journal. 

Deliverables for FY2006: 

Integration of existing high-precision micromanipulation robot with an intelligent control

architecture. This system will be used to prototype various microassembly operations that are

critical to industry needs. Demonstration of a 4

degrees-of-freedom (DOF) peg-in-hole

microassembly operation using NIST-developed

microcomponent artifacts.

The results presented at an appropriate scientific conference and submit a paper to an appropriate scientific journal.

Deliverables for FY2007: 

Test arrays of high-precision MEMS stages for 

scanning probe microscopy that will have better

accuracy and resolution than commercial 

instruments and that will provide increased

scanning area per unit of time due to parallel

operation; The results presented at an appropriate scientific conference and submit a paper

to an appropriate scientific journal.

Deliverables for FY2007: 

A calibrated six degree-of-freedom fiber optic

displacement sensor. It will be incorporated into 

a scanning probe microscope to measure the

displacement and rotation of the scanning

probe. The results presented at an appropriate

scientific conference and submit a paper to an

appropriate scientific journal.

102

Programs of the Manufacturing Engineering Laboratory

Nanomanufacturing
Objective #7: Optical Tweezers for

Nanoscale Manipulation and Metrology 

Develop a best in the world capability to 

manipulate, assemble and test nano-scale devices

such as nanowires using optical forces that combine

laser-based manipulation, operator interface and

automation to open new avenues for creating and

testing nanodevices. 

Deliverables for FY2005: 

Functional nanodevices developed using semiconductor nanowires and publication of the

results in a leading journal such as Applied

Physics Letters.

Deliverables for FY2006: 

A particle count standard fabricated by assembling a fixed number of particles into a suitable

sample for calibration of particle counting

instruments (in liquid) and disseminate to 

appropriate alpha test sites. 

Deliverables for FY2009: 

A new Nano-tweezers instrument based on

innovative trapping physics and imaging 

techniques to manipulate and visualize much

smaller components than is currently possible

anywhere in the world using grid computing 

to allow 3D visualization in real time with 

resolution better than 30 nm.

Objective #8: Advanced Lithography 

Develop a world class capability to fabricate test

samples and standards using scanning probe oxidation and utilizing the unique capabilities afforded by

the high accuracy scanning probe placement of the

Molecular Measuring Machine; and develop a

competence in imprint lithography which will

enable nanomanufacturing of standards. 

Deliverables for FY2005: 

Reliable, effective methods and parameters for

pattern transfer (i.e., etching) that utilize the

SPM oxidation features as a mask.

Deliverables for FY2006: 

A predictive model for SPM oxidation kinetics

for optimized line width control of latent oxide

features. The model will include the influence of

electronic and ionic transport on the intrinsic

thickness growth and lateral spreading due to

space charge.

Deliverables for FY2007:

Prototypes of 1-D and 2-D silicon 

calibration structures.

Deliverables for FY2008: 

Replication of sub-50 nm features using nanoimprint lithography, and verification of the fidelity

and scale accuracy of the transferred patterns

over macroscopic distances 

Deliverables for FY2009: 

A photomask for a standardized template for

directed cell growth.

103

Programs of the Manufacturing Engineering Laboratory

Nanomanufacturing
Objective #9: Nanomachining

Technologies 

Develop enabling technologies for

Nanomanufacturing utilizing machine technologies

to build interfaces that link nano devices to the

physical world as well a fabricate imprint lithographic masks. 

Deliverables for FY2005: 

Participation in World Technology Evaluation

Center (WTEC) survey of state of the art in 

micro machining.

Deliverables for FY2006: 

Journal paper detailing design and characterization of metrology frame for improving accuracy

of desktop machine used for micro machining.

Deliverables for FY2007: 

Journal paper detailing micro/nano imprint 

manufacturing methods developed.

Deliverables for FY2009: 

Demonstration of the combination of machining

methodology with lithographic capabilities for

nanoimprint masks.

Major Accomplishments

NNI Workshop on Instrumentation and

Metrology for Nanotechnology

NIST held a very successful workshop on

Instrumentation and Metrology for Nanotechnology

in support of the National Nanotechnology Initiative.

More than 250 attendees participated in the plenary

sessions as well as the five breakout tracks. The

overall conference was organized and chaired by

Michael Postek and the Nanofabrication Breakout

session was co-chaired by Richard Silver. There were

numerous presentations in the sessions by international leaders within the various nanotechnology

specialties. The output goal is a document that

summarizes key goals, obstacles, roadblocks, and

strategies aimed at achieving the visionary goals.

This document will be used by the President’s

Council of Advisors on Science and Technology

(PCAST) and other government funding agencies to

provide direction and need for key research objectives and collaborations. 

Successful Completion Of 

SEMATECH Assignment

Ronald Dixson, a program member, completed a

two year assignment at International SEMATECH.

The primary focus of the assignment was the development of a reference measurement system (RMS)

using a critical dimension atomic force microscope

(CD-AFM). The Veeco Dimension X3D – which is

the current commercially available CD-AFM – was

implemented as an RMS. Uncertainty budgets were

developed and the instrument performance was

thoroughly characterized.

104

Programs of the Manufacturing Engineering Laboratory

Nanomanufacturing
Comparison of AFMbased Line Edge

Roughness (LER)

Measurements

A comparison of AFM-based LER

measurements were performed

using the SEMATECH Advanced

Metrology Advisory Group’s prototype

standards with an intentionally designed

LER. Different probes were used including

carbon nanotube tips. The study showed that

the carbon nanotube AFM tips performed

better than other techniques both in terms of the

ability to image closely spaced features and in being

able to reach deep valleys.

Scanning Electron Microscope Modeling

Proposal and Line Edge Roughness

Recommendations

The meetings of the International SEMATECH (ISMT)

Metrology Council draw a mix of metrologists representing ISMT member companies (semiconductor

manufacturers), manufacturers of metrology tools,

and government, business, and academic

researchers. John Villarrubia, a program member,

made a proposal for development of scanning electron microscope (SEM) models to support measurement of a greater range of sample shapes and

compositions with more general detector placement.

John also described two possible solutions to a

measurement bias problem in line edge roughness

measurement and recommended changes in the

industry roadmap, since current specifications actually favor the incorrect measurement.

New Photomask Standard, Calibrated in a

Unique Industry/NIST Collaboration

The new SRM 5001, the two-dimensional grid 

standards, were delivered to the NIST SRM office.

This represents the first time this new standard 

6 inch (15.24 cm) photomask has been delivered to

the SRM office. This SRM is expected to provide a

traceable standard for the calibration of photomask

positioning metrology tools as well as tools that

require accurate placement of a wafer within the

field of view. 

NIST Paper Receives SPIE Metrology Best

Paper of 2003 Award

The paper, “Simulation Study of Repeatability and

Bias in the CD-SEM,” by John Villarrubia, András

Vladár, and Michael Postek was selected by vote of

conference officials as the best of the approximately

129 papers presented at the 2003 SPIE Conference

on Metrology, Inspection, and Process Control.

Using the interferometerguided probe of the Molecular

Measuring Machine, accurate calibration patterns 

can be produced. For this artifact, the writing

method was scanned probe oxidation of 

hydrogen terminated silicon.

105

Programs of the Manufacturing Engineering Laboratory

Nanomanufacturing
Invention Disclosures Submitted On Two

Revolutionary Advances In Optical

Metrology

Researchers from the overlay metrology project

submitted two Invention Disclosure and Rights

Questionnaire forms (CD 240) for the disclosure of

recent potential breakthrough material in high resolution optical metrology. As a part of this disclosure,

a new target design that occupies only a few square

microns of space was unveiled. The second CD 240

focused on a new proposed method for critical

dimension metrology using through-focus focusmetric signatures that have shown near to

nanometer-scale sensitivity to changes in linewidth.

Overlay Metrology Methods To Be

Adopted By Industry

The overlay metrology project has made available

recent important research results on optical characterization, Charge-Coupled Device (CCD) data

acquisition calibration, and focus and edge detection work. In-depth discussion were held this year

between the NIST overlay project leader and technical representatives from all four of the leading

overlay tool manufacturers including Hitachi, Nikon,

KLA-Tencor and Sclumberger.

MEMS-scale One Degree Of Freedom

High Precision Micro/Nano Positioners

Fabricated

NIST designed and fabricated micro-scale versions

(i.e., MEMS) of the NIST/MEL one degree of freedom

high precision micro/nano positioner, with several

feature and dimensional variations. Fifteen silicon

dies of this and other calibration devices were fabricated with the collaboration of researchers from the

Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute Center for

Automation Technologies (RPI/CAT). Each die has a

dimension of 10 mm by 10 mm and contains 24

separate devices. The dies were divided among 

the NIST and RPI/CAT research groups and are

currently undergoing performance testing, modeling

and calibration. 

CRADA with RPI/CAT

A three year cooperative research and development

(R&D) agreement between the Center for

Automation Technologies, Rensselaer Polytechnic

Institute and NIST was signed. The two 

organizations will be working on a project titled:

Modeling and Performance Study of MEMS

Positioning Devices.

Field Ion Microscope Images Of

Nanotubes Obtained In Collaboration

With George Washington University

In a collaboration established in early 2004 between

the George Washington University and researchers

in the NIST Atom-based Dimensional Metrology

project, significant progress has been made in characterizing the ends of the nanotubes by directly

imaging the nanotube emitters.

Application of Model-Based Library

Metrology to Resist Lines

A study of the model-based library (MBL) technique

for SEM critical dimension metrology applied to

resist samples has been completed. The NIST-developed technique was applied to polycrystaline silicon

samples in previous years. This study of its application to resist samples was motivated by the importance of resist measurements to process control in

semiconductor electronics manufacturing. 

106

Programs of the Manufacturing Engineering Laboratory

Nanomanufacturing
Additional Accomplishments

• Guest Researcher Hui Zhou completes his Final

Defense of his Doctoral research

• “Integrated Metrology: Effective Hardware and

Control Strategies” panel chaired by NIST

• “High-resolution Optical Overlay Metrology”

presented SPIE Microlithography symposium in

Santa Clara

• New Silicon step flow model developed at NIST

• Brad Damazo presentation on the new diode

laser interferometry system

• Invited presentation at the ASME International

Conference - “Nanotechnology: Measurements

and Standards for Manufacturing”

• Invited paper at the Nanotech 2004 Conference

• Reflection mode optical measurements of phase

shifting photomasks completed

• New Type MIT Micro Positioner tested

• NNI Research Directions II Workshop participation and invited presentation summarize the

Grand Challenge Workshop on Instrumentation

and Metrology by Michael Postek

• Invited Presentation “Nanometrology a

Fundamental Need for Nanotechnology” at the

Microscopy, Metrology and Manipulations using

Electrons, Ions, and Photons for Nanophase

Materials Workshop

• NIST participation at the NNI Strategic 

Planning Workshop

• Nova Measuring Instruments sends high level

corporate staff for optics discussions

• NIST and SEMATECH collaborate to develop

wafers to test new high resolution optical 

CD techniques

• Nick Dagalakis has been asked to serve as a

liaison between the Robotic Industries

Association (RIA) office of standards development

and the, newly established ANSI/NSP

• Nick Dagalakis of ISD and John Kramar of PED

have prepared a CRADA application with

APNanotech, Inc.

• Transmission and Reflection Electromagnetic

Scattering Theory Model Developed

• Picometer Interferometer Design Described 

to ASPE

• NIST Assists ISMT in Benchmarking 

Scatterometry Equipment

• Nanotech in Microlithography Technical Group

Meeting held at SPIE 2004 

• Successful SEM/XRM Course at NWAFS 

Spring Meeting

• Workshop on Electron Beam/Specimen

Interaction Modeling at SCANNING Meeting

• Invited talk at NSF Workshop. B. Damazo gave

an invited talk at the NSF workshop on micromanufacturing

• Demonstrated a novel method for performing

nano-imprint lithography on refractory 

metal substrates

• Developed a model for describing scanning

probe oxidation kinetics of arbitrary materials

systems using fractional reaction-diffusion 

equations

• Demonstration of the principal of Image Stitching

Linewidth measurement and publication of two

papers on the subject

• AFM measurements of Single Crystal Critical

Dimension Reference materials (SCCDRM) 

specimens for EEEL and SEMATECH members

• Comparison of AFM-based line edge roughness

measurements using SEMATECH prototype 

standards

107

Programs of the Manufacturing Engineering Laboratory

Nanomanufacturing
FY2005 Projects 

(Project descriptions can be found within the 

associated objective)

• Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM) for

Nanoscale Measurements (Objective #1)

• Optical Metrology (OM) for Nanoscale

Measurements (Objective #2)

• Atom Based Metrology for Nanoscale

Measurements and Standards (Objective #3)

• Scanning Probe Microscopy for Nanoscale

Measurements (Objective #4)

• Force Metrology for Nanoscale Measurements

and Standards (Objective #5)

• Advanced Control Systems and Positioning for

Nanoscale Measurements and Standards

(Objective #6)

• Optical Tweezers for Nanoscale Manipulation

and Metrology (Objective #7)

• Advanced Lithography for Nanoscale

Measurements and Standards (Objective #8)

• Development of Nanomachining Technologies for

Nanomanufacturing (Objective #9)

Typical Customers and

Collaborators

• University of Maryland

• Advanced Micro Devices

• Soluris

• International SEMATECH

• Hitachi High Technologies

• FEI Company

• E. Fjeld Company

• Spectel Research

• INTEL

• KLA Tencor

• Semiconductor Research Corp.

• Photronics and Dupont Photomask

• Nova Metrology tools

• George Washington University 

• NASA

• Johns Hopkins University – Applied 

Physics Laboratory

• Center for Automation Technologies, Rensselaer

Polytechnic Institute

• Zyvex Corporation

• Newport Corporation

• Luna Technologies, Luna Innovations

• Duke Scientific

• University of Akron

• Georgetown University Medical Center

108

Programs of the Manufacturing Engineering Laboratory

Nanomanufacturing
FY2005 Standards

Participation

SEM Metrology

SEM magnification and linewidth standards are

being fabricated; ASTM E42.14, ITRS metrology

Technical Working Group (TWG).

Optical Metrology

Extensive participation in efforts at ISMT in the

development of benchmarking efforts and standard

measurement practices; representation on the

Semiconductor Equipment and Materials

International (SEMI) standards committees including

co-chair for the Microlithography committee; development of photomask 2-dimensional grid standards

as well as photomask standards and measurement

practices within SEMI.

Atomic scale

Broad participation in efforts at ISMT in the develop

of test structures and in the advanced semiconductor

needs for linewidth metrology; representation on the

SEMI standards committees including co-chair for

the Microlithography committee.

SPM

Committee participant - ASTM E42.14 on STM/AFM;

ASME B46 on the Classification and Designation of

Surface Qualities.

Force 

Demonstrated capability of providing SI

(International System of units) traceable force as

called for by ISO 14577-1,2, and 3 (Metallic materials — Instrumented indentation test for hardness

and materials parameters). 

Control

Participation in the Optoelectronics Assembly

Subcommittee of the IPC, several standards for the

handling, attachment, alignment and testing of optoelectronics are currently being drafted. 

FY 2005 Measurement

Services

Calibrations 

• Linescale Interferometer calibration of 

length scales 

Special Tests 

• 2D grids and Overlay Measurements (internal) 

SRMs

• SRM 2800 – New Optical 

Microscope micrometer 

• SRM 2059 – New Photomask Linewidth 

(in process) 

• SRM 2120/RM 8120 – SEM Linewidth 

(in process) 

• SRM 2090/RM 2090 – SEM magnification 

• SRM 2091/RM 8091 – SEM Sharpness 

• SRM 5000 – Optical Overlay 

• SRM 5001 – 2D Grids 

109

Programs of the Manufacturing Engineering Laboratory

Nanomanufacturing
110

Programs of the Manufacturing Engineering Laboratory

Nanomanufacturing

Themes

2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009

Principal

Activities

Deliverables

Impacts

Nanomanufacturing

Developing the nanometrology infrastructure for nanomanufacturing

Improve imaging and metrology (SEM, AFM, optics)

Extend nanofabrication (E-beam, atom-based, imprint, nanomachining)

Facilitate control and assembly (high precision stages, optical tweezers) 

New metrology SEM Extended SEM modeling Validated SEM modeling Reference SEM

Optical hardware and modeling for 65 nm node Extension to 32 nm node Scatterfield microscope

New Litho. STM Improved etching Improved tips Evaluated nanotube tip 3 nm test features

Article on XSM Traceable AFM artifact Stitching technique Techniques Comparison AFM Meas. Service

Article on nano-force 10 piconewton resolution instrument Intrinsic force standards

2x2 MEMS-based positioning stage 6 degree of freedom fiber optic sensor

Nanodevice with nanowire Particle count standard OT Instrument with 3D visualization

SPM Oxidation mask 1&2D calibration structures Sub-50 nmstructure via imprint Standard template

Machining survey Metrology Frame pub. Micro/nano imprint pub. Nano-machined nanoimprint mask

New

measurement

capabilities

Standards,

reference

materials

Improved

equipment

performance

measures

Improved

modeling

Improved

SPM

lithography

Calibration

services,

standards
smart machining Smart Machining Systems

Goal

Develop, validate, and demonstrate the metrology, standards, and infrastructural tools that enable U.S.

industry to characterize, monitor, and improve the accuracy, reliability and productivity of machining

operations, leading to the realization of autonomous smart machining systems.

Customer Need & Intended Impact

Machining systems are used for discrete part and tooling fabrication and

hence are integral to the manufacture of durable goods. Annual U.S.

expenses on machining operations total more than $200 billion, about 2 % of

Gross Domestic Product (GDP). A study conducted by the Association for

Manufacturing Technology (AMT) in 2000 indicated that the advancements 

in machine tools and related manufacturing technologies created benefits 

worth a total of nearly $1 trillion in the U.S. over the period 1994-1999. 

These benefits resulted from gains in productivity, declines in inventory 

requirements, and manufacturing related product improvements for price, 

quality and energy efficiency.

Over the last two years there has been an intensive effort originated by three

NIST/MEL programs, Smart Machine Tools, Predictive Process Engineering and

Intelligent Open Architecture Control that have evolved toward a common

theme of Smart Machining. These MEL efforts joined with the National Science

Foundation (NSF) and Integrated Manufacturing Technology Initiative (IMTI) to

organize and conduct a Smart Machine Tool Workshop in December 2002

bringing government, industry and academia together to identify the U.S. needs

in technology development in the area of smart machine tools and machining

systems. As a result of this workshop, U.S. manufacturing industry represented

by Association for Manufacturing Technology (AMT), National Center for

Defense Manufacturing and Machining (NCDMM), National Center for

Manufacturing Sciences (NCMS), National Coalition for Advanced

Manufacturing (NACFAM), National Tooling & Machining Association (NTMA),

Society of Manufacturing Engineers (SME), and TechSolve, established the

Coalition on Manufacturing Technology Infrastructure (CMTI) in 2003. This coalition produced a technology roadmap for the Smart Machine Platform Initiative

(SMPI) in March 2004. The original three MEL programs strongly influenced the

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Program Manager:

Alkan Donmez

Total FTEs: 

9

Annual Program Funds:

$2.757 M
structure and content of the SMPI technology

roadmap. The Smart Machining Systems (SMS)

program continues this evolution and is closely

aligned with the SMPI technology plan. 

CMTI indicates in its 2004 Technology Plan that

productivity and quality gains achieved by the U.S.

manufacturing industry over the last decade are

challenged by low-wage countries. As a result,

outsourcing of manufacturing in economically 

critical industries such as automotive, aerospace,

consumer products, and heavy equipment is

increasing. On the other hand, advanced technologies and engineering innovations are bred in

advanced manufacturing environments facilitated 

by significant amount of interactions. Losing these

manufacturing environments, the U.S. is in danger 

of losing its edge in advanced technology and 

innovations as well. 

CMTI identified an urgent need to reverse this 

trend by “reinvention of the basic manufacturing

environment, enabling dramatic improvements in

the productivity and cost of designing, planning,

producing, and delivering high-quality products

within short cycle times.” CMTI further identified

five primary thrust areas to address the challenges

facing the U.S. manufacturing sector that produces

metal parts and fabrications:

a. Process definition and design

b. Smart equipment operation and process control

c Fundamental process and equipment 

understanding

d. Health monitoring and assurance

e. Integration framework

Metrology and standards are identified as key

enablers of these thrust areas. The Smart Machining

Systems (SMS) program aims to facilitate the development and validation of such measurement and

related technologies and standards. 

A successful program will enable cost effective

manufacture of first and every part to specification

and on schedule by the smart machining systems.

Such systems will complement and enhance the

skills of machine operators, process planners and

design engineers in the manufacturing enterprise by

sharing the knowledge and information among these

functions to optimize the design and manufacturing

processes to their fullest. Loaded with high fidelity

process and performance models and optimization

tools, smart machining systems will behave in a

predictable and controllable manner. This will 

eliminate trial-and-error based prototype development and reduce time to market, and thus advance

the capability of U.S. industry to respond to the

global pressures of mass customization of high

quality products. 

An advanced manufacturing environment is

conducive to engineering innovations. Reversing the

trend of outsourcing to low-wage countries will

enable U.S. industry to regain its competitive edge

in innovations and productivity. This competitive

advantage will minimize the adverse effects of trade

imbalances on the U.S. economy. 

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Programs of the Manufacturing Engineering Laboratory

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Technical Approach &

Program Objectives

To enable cost effective manufacture of

first and every part to specification and

on schedule, a smart machining system will

have the following characteristics:

• It will know its capabilities/condition and will

communicate this information

• It will monitor and optimize its 

operations autonomously

• It will assess the quality of its work/output

• It will learn and improve itself over time

These characteristics require a science-based 

understanding and unambiguous representation of

material removal processes and machining system

performance.

There are three programmatic focus areas: 

(1) performance characterization and representation;

(2) process optimization and control; and 

(3) condition monitoring. 

Development of dynamic and global optimization

tools and methodology that will integrate the 

physical understanding of all system components

will be the unifying theme of all these focus areas. 

To meet program goals and objectives as well as

communicate the applications of developed

concepts and tools to stake holders, the program 

will focus on three types of projects: development of

fundamental methods and data; development of

demonstration platforms; and high-risk projects 

with potential paradigm changing outcomes.

Demonstration platforms will also serve to promote

stronger collaboration with equipment/software

vendors leading to better outreach. 

Objective #1:

Dynamic

optimization

Develop a

generic methodology and associated data and

modeling specifications to carry out

dynamic process optimization,

based on design requirements, integrating all related

process and equipment knowledge and information. 

As stated in SMPI Technology Plan, the ability to

account for and accurately predict or describe the

propagation of errors in a machining platform is vital

for estimating and emulating real-world performance, but represents a major gap in the current technology. Although significant information related to

performance of machine tools, machining processes,

cutting tools, and materials already exist, there is no

unified methodology to combine all this information

to generate optimum machining conditions with

expected outcomes. Furthermore, very little of this

information is standardized, making the optimization

even more difficult to generalize. 

Accomplishing this objective will enable sciencebased process design and quality control, which are

key requirements for smart machining systems. 

A generic optimization capability based on welldefined cause and effect relationships will also be an

enabler for reasoning and learning capability of

smart machining systems.

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Programs of the Manufacturing Engineering Laboratory

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Objective # 2: Equipment characterization 

Develop measurement methods, models and standards to characterize and communicate the machine

tool performance under operating conditions.

Information about machine tool performance forms

one of the primary foundations necessary to enable

manufacturing the first and every part to specifications. Traditionally machine tool performance is

determined using a series of tests conducted under

quasi-static conditions. There are series of national

and international standards describing these tests.

These performance parameters are used to buy and

sell machines as well as to predict the capability 

of machine tools for specific family of parts. 

The differences between the national and international standards cause the vendors and the users of

the machines tools great difficulty and confusion

about the claimed performance parameters for

contractual and capability estimation purposes.

Harmonization among these standards is considered

a first priority for this objective. Furthermore, the

relationships between the quasi-static performance

parameters and obtainable part tolerances are not

very well defined because under operating conditions the performance of the machine is not the

same as for the quasi-static conditions. The AMT

roadmap targets an 80 % improvement in accuracy

of machine tool between 1995 and 2010. Machine

tool vendors and users have already exhausted their

options to improve the performance based on quasistatic machine behavior. Measuring and modeling of

performance under operating conditions are the

main enablers left to improve machine performance. 

Objective #3: Next generation NC 

Develop, implement and demonstrate all necessary

STEP-NC compliant interfaces and data specifications for seamless operation of model-based

machine control.

Smart machining systems need a rich set of 

information to fully exploit their capabilities. 

Current Numerical Control (NC) programs are

written in “G codes” which express primitive tool

paths. These programs do not include information

about as-is or to-be geometry, features, tolerances,

material properties, fixture location, material

removal rates or other information developed during

the design and process planning stages. This information is stripped out when converting to G codes,

severely limiting the ability of the controller to optimize machining or react to disturbances. Fine tuning

processes to maximize performance with current

methods is very expensive, tedious and time

consuming, and cost effective only for very large

part lots. Mass customization and penetration to

small manufacturers remain elusive. STEP-NC, an

international standard - ISO 14649 “Data model for

computerized Numerical Controllers,” is the

enabling standard that provides the potential for

using the digital product model as machine tool

input. STEP-NC extends STEP (ISO 10303) – the

STandard for the Exchange of Product model data

into the NC world.

Boeing and Fanuc recently carried out a case study

to demonstrate the impact of incorporating more

information into NC process. In this study, Fanuc

augmented their G code language with codes signifying the tolerances associated with subsequent tool

motions. Boeing’s process planners used these G

codes to indicate where roughing passes and final

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Programs of the Manufacturing Engineering Laboratory

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finishing passes were taking place. Fanuc’s

Computerized Numerical Controller (CNC) adjusted

its dynamic parameters, such as speed through

corners and the amount of blending allowed, and

demonstrated a 30 % reduction in machining time.

This simple example underscores the drastic

improvement that can be achieved in smart

machining, when proper information is utilized by

the controller. 

Information/data generated by process and 

equipment models and effectively utilized by the

controller will enable parts to be machined

more quickly with fewer dry runs,

prototypes and scrap; improved

surface finish and material

properties such as work hardening and residual stress;

and less variation in parts

over large lots. These 

benefits will accrue to 

large-volume manufacturers,

who can achieve a higher

percentage of time-in-cut; 

and also to small-volume 

manufacturers, who can save time and

cost on prove-outs. 

Objective #4: Condition monitoring 

and reliability 

Develop and validate measurement, sensing and

analysis methods and associated data specifications

and metrics to verify that machine and the process

are operating within expected design limits.

Unscheduled downtime of manufacturing equipment

is one of the most important impediments to

achieving cost-effective, timely production schedules. A recent study by the maintenance and

Reliability Center of the University of Tennessee

revealed that current estimated industrial

maintenance expenditure in the U.S. is

estimated to be $500 billion to $700

billion. The same study estimated

that development and implementation of condition-based

and pro-active maintenance

technologies could save 

$100 billion to $200 billion

annually. One example for such

high cost of maintenance is that

in a large aerospace manufacturing

plant, typical life for a machine tool

spindle averages between 40 and 400 hours

of operation and the plant consumes 1000 spindles

per year. If one considers the cost of stopping the

production and replacing the large spindle unit at

this frequency, even without a damaged tool or the

workpiece, it is apparent that the cost savings will 

be enormous with a smart machining system that

monitors its own condition.

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Programs of the Manufacturing Engineering Laboratory

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Several industrial partners are very interested in

collaborating with us in the area of condition monitoring of spindles. Timken, producer of spindle bearings, and Ford Motor Company, a major spindle

user, are providing equipment to help us to do

research in this area. The spindle test stand that Ford

is considering loaning to us is a very unique facility

to emulate the real life operation of variety of

spindle types used in machine tools. With this test

stand we will be able to carry out controlled experiments to correlate the deterioration of spindle

performance and spindle condition data. The use of

such a test stand allows tuning and improvement of

algorithms and sensor applications for spindle condition monitoring and condition based maintenance.

Such a system will avoid unscheduled downtime

and enable cost savings mentioned above

Objective #5: In-situ metrology

Achieve a breakthrough in advanced metrology to

enable direct measurement of the pose of the cutting

tool or measuring probe relative to workpiece with

an uncertainty better than 5 m and 2 arcseconds in a

1 m3 cubic workzone.

Most accuracy problems in machine tools and

Coordinate Measuring Machines (CMMs) are 

related to indirect measurement of the tool or probe

positions with respect to the workpiece. Due to 

large Abbe offsets introduced by stacked slides

configurations of traditional machine tools these

indirect measurements cause large uncertainties in

the measurements. 

Because of these uncertainties and the uncertainties

introduced by the machining process, machined

parts have to be inspected to verify that they are

within the design specifications. Post process inspection is very costly non-value added activity requiring

CMMs or other custom designed inspection systems.

Eliminating this activity would save significant time,

money and other scarce resources such as skilled

labor. We know that Boeing and Caterpillar are very

interested in implementing independent measurement systems in their machine tools. Although it is a

high risk effort, achieving this objective will, at a

minimum, enable direct on-machine measurements

and certification of machined parts. Furthermore, a

successful system would allow for breakthrough

improvements in machine accuracy. It dramatically

lowers current requirements and costs for accurate

slideways, carefully controlled heat sources, a thermally invariant and stiff machine tool structure, and

a solid foundation. Finally, such a system will significantly lower the requirements for stable environmental conditions, one of the highest hidden costs to

achieving precision.

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Major Accomplishments 

Calibrating Kolsky Bar Temperature

Measurements with Pure Aluminum and

Zinc Samples

Performed experiments where pure aluminum 

and pure zinc samples were melted to aid in the

calibration of the pyrometers and thermal imaging

cameras used in Kolsky bar apparatus. The melting

point experiments provide two known temperatures

to record and confirm the calibration of the 

instruments.

Cutting Temperature and Force

Measurements of Aluminum and Titanium

Alloys Performed

Measured machining temperatures and forces for

orthogonal cutting of titanium (Ti6A14V) and

aluminum (AL7075-T651) using dual-spectrum,

high-speed video and three-axis force measurement.

Preliminary analysis of the results indicates that 

the lower thermal conductivity of the ceramic tool

material appears to have the predicted effect of

directing more of the heat from the cutting process

into the chips. Comparisons between measurements

and model-based predictions indicate generally

favorable agreement for cutting forces, with opportunities for improvement in prediction of thrust forces

through improved friction modeling. 

Development and Deployment of New

Optical Configuration of High-Speed

Infrared Camera 

A new optical configuration for the high-speed

infrared video camera involving a new reflective lens

with a larger depth of field was developed. This new

configuration yields a significant improvement in

depth of field over the prior configuration, yielding

sharper images of target objects with rough surfaces

allowing us to image the rough side the chip at the

tool-workpiece interface. 

National and International Standards for

Machine Tool Performance

We continued to provide the Secretariat for

ISO/TC39/SC2 “Test Conditions for Machine Tools”

and for the American Society of Mechanical

Engineers (ASME) B5/TC52 “Performance Evaluation

of Machine Tools.” Accomplishments include: 

1) New revision of ASME B5.54 “Methods for

Performance Evaluation of Computer Numerically

Controlled Machining Centers;” 2) Contributions 

for major restructuring, modernization, and 

harmonization of ISO 230-1 “Geometric Accuracy;”

3) Publication of ISO 230-9 addressing measurement uncertainty of obtained performance parameters; 4) Development and extensive experimental

evaluation of test methods and performance 

parameters for errors due to the heat generated by

high-speed axis motions for the revision of 

ISO 230-3; 5) Conducted tests for evaluation of 

environmental vibration effects on machine tool

structure and provided results for inclusion in

ISO/CD 230-8 machine tools test code for 

determination of vibration values; 6) Experimental

study on the application of a laser vibrometer to 

test error motions of ultra high-speed spindles; 

7) Collaborative report to ISO and ASME on test

procedures for the alignment of machine axes, with

a focus on four- and five-axis machining centers; and

8) Eight ISO Draft International Standards (DIS) and

three Committee Draft standards (CD) on machine

tool test methods. 

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Machine Tool Data Standards

We continued to provide the Secretariat for the

ASME B5/TC56 Standards Committee “Information

Technology for Machine Tools.” Accomplishments

include: 1) Ballot ready draft standards ASME

B5.59-1 (performance test data) and

ASME B5.59-2 (machine tool

properties); 2) Reports of the

activity to ISO TC39

(machine tools) and TC184

(Industrial automation

systems and integration)

gaining support for an

ISO activity; 3) Updated

reference schemas,

example files, and style

sheets, to facilitate implementation, field-testing, and demonstration of the standards; and 

4) Demonstration of self-knowledge of

the turning center testbed through a description of its

properties and performance data according to the

information model in B5.59-1 and B5.59-2.

Smart Transducer Standards

We still lead the development of suite of standards

associated with smart transducer applications.

Accomplishments this year include: 1) The Institute

of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) 1451.4

standard “Smart Transducer Interface for MixedMode Communication Protocol” was re-balloted and

approved as a standard on May 2004. It will be

published by IEEE in 2004.; 2) Developed the IEEE

1451.1 neutral model (data and object models) in

JAVA and published them in the IEEE 1451 opensource repository.

Prediction of Workpiece Errors

Developed prototype capability to translate machine

tool performance parameters into error bounds for

the form and dimensional errors of elementary

machined features. The developed techniques

range from an error-budget approach

based on the laws of uncertainty

propagation to detailed Monte

Carlo simulations, and take

into account the effects of

uncertainties in machine

errors. Measurements were

performed on a machining

center to assess and model

key geometric and thermal

error sources. The results

were used to predict the error

bounds of features on a series of

parts machined at different times.

STEP-NC Performance Testing

Developed interpreters for two components of STEPNC, the underlying data model (ISO 14649) and 

the STEP-integrated model (ISO 10303 AP-238) to

investigate the computational burden for parsing

data files in real time. Tests indicated that the

performance of the interpreters was comparable, 

and that no significant penalty executing the STEPintegrated model was incurred. 

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STEP-NC Conformance Testing

In collaboration with The Boeing Co., test procedures

were designed to determine if STEP-NC data for

complex curved parts can be executed the same way

on NC machine tools from various manufacturers.

The data includes materials, cutters and tolerances

as well as traditional geometry and features. NIST’s

5-axis machining center with a Siemens 840D CNC

complements several Boeing machines in both

machine configuration and NC control. The tests

uncovered numerous discrepancies between

machines, and Boeing is implementing short-term

workarounds while the underlying problems are

being resolved.

STEP-NC Data Visualization 

Software Written

The software to visualize tool paths resulting from

the execution of STEP-NC (ISO 14649) machine tool

programs was developed. The new visualizer can be

used to draw tool paths for the other supported

programming languages, making it more 

broadly useful.

FY2005 Projects 

Robust optimization of machining

(Objective #1)

A mathematical framework will be developed to

define dynamically adjusted objective and constraint

functions for optimizing the whole machining 

operation taking into account machine performance,

process capability, part design specifications, 

time and cost.

Physics-based modeling of

machining (Objective #1)

A dynamic property model (constitutive model) for

the material to be used in the optimizer demonstration case for the first project will be developed. 

The project will continue experimental work in 

(1) orthogonal machining with force, thermal 

and visible video measurements of tool and chip

interface, and (2) dynamic material property 

measurements with pulse heated Kolsky 

bar apparatus.

Machine tool performance characterization and improvement

(Objectives #2 and #5)

This project will focus on the following major 

activities: (1) national and international standards

development, (2) development and field testing of

standardized information models and associated

data formats for machine tools, (3) implementation

of Bayesian approach to machine tool performance

modeling and quality control, (4) predictive tolerance analysis of machined parts, (5) exploration of

advanced metrology enabling machine self calibration, in-situ part inspection, in-situ dynamic tool

characterization, and improved feedback on 

realized pose of the cutting tool.

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Next generation NC for smart

machining systems (Objective #3)

Data and interface requirements for adaptive control

implementations to extend the capabilities of

existing NC standards will be identified and documented. There will be two parallel activities: (1)

review STEP-NC data model and its support for

adaptive control, (2) install Siemens STEP-NC software onto the 5-axis machining center controller to

carry out initial testing of its capabilities. Tests will

include Roy-G-Biv’s Extensible Markup Language

(XML) based controller interface, XMC, for modelbased control data exchange.

Model-based machine tool control

(Objectives #2 and #3)

This project will be the demonstration platform for

the development of techniques to improve the efficiency of turning operations at Picatinny Arsenal and

its supplier base through the application of openarchitecture model-based machine control to both

new and existing machine tools.

Smart spindles: Testbed verification

(Objective #4)

The requirements for real-time spindle condition

monitoring and diagnosis system will be investigated. This will be based on sensing and signal

processing scheme, which involves preliminary optimization of sensor placement, under static and

dynamic radial loading conditions.

Typical Customers and

Collaborators

Industry:

• Alibre 

• Alcoa

• AMT

• API

• Boeing

• Bosch-Rexroth 

• Caterpillar

• Cincinnati Lamb

• DaimlerChrysler 

• EDS PLM 

• Esprit

• Ford Motor Company

• General Dynamics 

• GE Fanuc 

• General Motors 

• Gibbs & Assoc

• Hardinge Brothers

• Heidenhain

• IBM

• IMTI

• IQL

• Knowledge Based Systems

• Lion Precision

• Max Spindle 

• MIMOSA

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Programs of the Manufacturing Engineering Laboratory

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• Northrop Grumman

• Okuma

• Optodyne

• Pratt & Whitney 

• Renishaw

• Roy-G-Biv

• Siemens

• STEP Tools Inc 

• Third Wave Systems

• Unova

• VulcanCraft

Government:

• Army Picatinny Arsenal 

• Los Alamos National Labs

• NASA

• Oak Ridge National Labs

• Sandia Labs (potential)

Universities:

• University of Florida

• University of Maryland

• University of North Carolina at Charlotte

• Southern University

• University of Massachusett

• University of Aachen, Germany 

• Pohang Institute of Science and 

Technology, Korea 

• University of Loughborough, UK 

• University of Auckland, New Zealand FY2005 

Standards Participation

• ANSI/ASME B5 Machine Tools (Member)

• ANSI/ASME B5/TC52 Machining & Turning

Centers (Secretariat)

• ANSI/ASME B5/TC56 Information Technology for

Machine Tools (Chair and Secretariat)

• ANSI/ASME B89.3.4 Axes of Rotation (Observer)

• ISO TC 39 Machine Tools (Member of the 

US Delegation)

• ISO TC 39/SC2 Test Conditions for Machine Tools

(Secretariat)

– ISO TC 39/SC2/WG1 Geometric Accuracy of

machine tools (Member)

– ISO TC 39/SC2/WG3 Test Conditions for

Machining Centers (Member)

– ISO TC 39/SC2/WG6 Thermal Effects on

Machine Tools (Convener)

– ISO TC39/SC2/WG7 Reliability, capability and

availability of machine tools (Member)

– ISO TC39/SC2/WG8 Vibration of machine 

tools (Member)

• ISO TC 184/SC 1/WG 7 Data modeling for 

integration of physical devices (Member)

• ISO TC 184/SC 1/WG 8 Distributed installation in

industrial applications (Member)

• ISO TC 184/SC4 Industrial Data (Member of the

US Delegation)

• ISO TC 108/SC 5/WG 6 Data Processing and

Analysis Procedures for Condition Monitoring

and Diagnostics of machines, Including Formats

and Methods for Communicating, Presenting and

Displaying Relevant Information and Data

(seeking active participation)

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Themes

2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008

Principal

Activities

Deliverables

Impacts

Smart Machining Systems

Life cycle cost 

reduction through

• Time-to Market

• Productivity

• Quality

Process and machine knowledge

Process optimization and predictive planning

Monitoring and adaptive control

Validation and learning

Physics-based process modeling Dynamic optimizer

Machine tool performance models, methods, and data

IT needs for smart machining

In-situ metrology

Bayesian approach to performance modeling

Model-based control of turning Model-based control of 5-axis milling

Next generation NC for smart machining

Smart spindles

Dynamic optimization 

framework

Optimization

uncertainty budget

Demo of process 

Optimization system

Demo remote MT 

monitoring

Demo STEP-NC adaptive 

control on 5-axis milling

Demo Model-based control 

of 5-axis milling

Correlation of spindle

perf to condition data

Data spec. for 

cond. monitoring

Health/reliability

metrics for MTs

Machine tool performance evaluation methods and standards & resource data standards

Performance models and part error bound estimation

Improved

 Accuracy

Performance based

 resource allocation

Optimal use of

 resources

Improved Quality, 

Reduced Inspection

Lower barriers to 

engineering innovations

Reduced

Downtime, CBM

First Part Correct First and Every Part Correct
special activities

123

Special Activities

Special

activities
special activities Special activities

MEL is more than the sum of its programs and projects. Our staff works on issues that concern the U.S.

manufacturing community by developing new measurements and traceable metrology methods to help

U.S. manufacturers compete with their foreign competitors, participating in standards setting activities, and

improving manufacturing operations, enhancing international competitiveness, and enabling technology

breakthroughs. Most of our work fits in one of our eight strategic programs; however, some activities take

place outside the scope of these programs. This section describes these special activities, which take one of

many forms: exploratory projects, competence projects, leading the U.S. efforts to participate in international

manufacturing activities, supporting a government-wide effort to leverage government funded R&D programs

in manufacturing, and taking the leading in a NIST-wide program to support manufacturing through information technology efforts.

Each year the NIST Director sets aside $10 to $12 million for a Competence Program that funds several projects that represent the best ideas of the many innovative, high-risk ideas of NIST’s scientists and engineers.

These projects often span the traditional activities of the individual NIST laboratories. Before they are funded,

the proposals undergo a rigorous peer-review by both internal and external technical reviewers – reviewers

from a variety of our Nation’s technological industries. Funded proposals display a high level of risk, innovation, and technical quality, a clear research-oriented strategic plan with goals, and a demonstrated and important tie to NIST’s mission and its 2010 strategic plan to build new competence at NIST. In 2004, the NIST

Microforce Realization and Measurement Competence Project, lead by MEL’s Jon Pratt, concluded. A brief

summary of the accomplishments by Jon’s team appears on page 126. In 2005, a new competence project

titled “Phase-sensitive Scatterfield Optical Imaging for Sub-10 nm Dimensional Metrology,” led by MEL’s

Richard Silver, will begin. A description of the project included in this section will be found on page 131.

In 1998, the MEL Management Council introduced a mechanism to examine new areas of research – the MEL

Exploratory Project. Each year, a small portion of laboratory funding is allocated for these projects to test the

feasibility of a new idea or technology. Exploratory projects focus on topics that are within the mission of

MEL, but outside the scope of any current individual MEL or NIST strategic program. Exploratory Projects,

typically lasting one year, experience varied outcomes. They could be deemed a success and brought to a

natural conclusion at the end of the first year, they could be considered for expansion into a future strategic

program, or they could be incorporated into an existing program. A brief summary of both newly-awarded

and recently completed Exploratory Projects can be found starting on page 134.

From 2001 until 2004, six federal agencies involved in manufacturing research and development joined

together to improve the exchange of information on their technical programs and collaborate to enhance the

payoffs from federal investments in manufacturing. This group, the Government Agencies Technology

Exchange in Manufacturing (GATE-M), initially focused their efforts on two topics of joint interest: intelligence

124Special Activities

Special Activities
in manufacturing, and nanoscale and microscale

systems and technologies. To foster information

exchange, GATE-M participants conducted detailed

interagency reviews of programs. MEL served as the

lead agency working with the other agencies planning and coordinating the group’s activities. In

FY2004, MEL led the transition from GATE-M to a

new Interagency Working Group (IWG) on

Manufacturing Research and Development (R&D).

The IWG operates under the auspices of the

National Science and Technology Council and is

chartered by the White House Office of Science and

Technology Policy (OSTP). The current group,

chaired by the Department of Commerce and vicechaired by the director of MEL includes at least 14

federal agencies. More details on this group can be

found on page 159.

NIST is committed to working with partners in the

international community to improve manufacturing

operations and enhance international competitiveness and technology breakthroughs through the

Intelligent Manufacturing Systems (IMS) Program.

IMS participants from Australia, Canada, the

European Union and Norway, Japan, Korea,

Switzerland, and the U.S. cooperate in research 

and development projects, share costs, risks, and

expertise to advance the next generation of

advanced manufacturing and processing technologies. The U.S. Secretariat that facilitates the participation of U.S. organizations is located in MEL. A

description of the IMS program can be found starting

on page 162.

The Systems Integration for Manufacturing

Applications (SIMA) program is an intramural effort

underway at NIST to support the application of information technologies to the manufacturing domain.

Initiated in 1994, program members work with

industry to develop technology solutions that enable

integration of the systems used in the engineering

and manufacturing of various kinds of products. The

SIMA Program Office, managed from within MEL,

oversees research projects conducted throughout

NIST. These activities improve manufacturing

productivity on the shop floor and impact research

conducted to devise new products and processes,

the design of products and processes, the engineering analysis of prospective solutions, the planning of manufacturing operations, the scheduling of

production operations, the engineering of production capabilities, and the myriad of other information-intensive activities performed in industry today.

A brief description of this program can be found on

page 166. 

125Special Activities

Special Activities
competence projects Competence Projects 

Microforce Realization and Measurement 

Competence Project

Introduction: 

The Microforce Realization and Measurement Competence is proud to report

the creation of the NIST Small Force Metrology Laboratory (SFML), the first

and at present only laboratory in the world capable of providing accurate force

standards to researchers and manufacturers that employ micro and nanomechanical tests for product development, fabrication, and quality control.

Forces from millinewtons down to nanonewtons, commonly measured in

industry and academe using devices such as Instrumented Indentation Machines

(IIMs) and Atomic Force Microscopes (AFMs), can now be realized in the SFML

with traceable relative uncertainties less than 0.01 % at loads near a

micronewton. NIST’s ability to measure these forces in a fashion traceable to the

International System of Units (SI) removes a significant impediment to the

creation of quantitative commerce from qualitative science. 

The following briefly summarizes the achievements of the Microforce Realization

and Measurement Competence team, highlighting the one-of-a-kind Electrostatic

Force Balance — a device that accurately realizes an SI micronewton in terms 

of voltage, impedance, and length metrology. The report reviews the objectives

and the significant outputs and outcomes of the project, the current allocation 

of resources, the collaboration’s past, present, and future, and concludes by 

forecasting a vital future for the SFML as it supports quantitative nanomechanical

testing that spans the physical, chemical, and life sciences.

126Competence Projects

Special Activities

Contact:

Jon R. Pratt

jon.pratt@nist.gov

Collaborators: 

John A. Kramar, MEL,

David B. Newell, EEEL,

Douglas T. Smith, MSEL
Goal:

Develop methods and apparatus to realize and

measure forces between 10-8 N and 10-2 N

setting an international standard in the new arena

of microforce metrology

Objectives: 

The project goal as stated in a presentation made

to former NIST Director Ray Kammer was:

In support of this goal, the team’s objective has been

to derive small force standards from the electrical

and length units, rather than mass, length, and time,

and to do so in a fashion traceable to both the SI

and to quantum invariants, taking our cue from the

Electronic Kilogram experiment. Within the first

year of the project, the project team chose the

specific objective of realizing an electrostatic force

of nominally 10-5 N with relative uncertainty less

than 10-4. They achieved this using the centerpiece

of the SFML, the Electrostatic Force Balance.

The Electrostatic Force Balance (EFB) is a mechanical null balance, designed and fabricated at NIST,

that is very similar to conventional analytic balances

or mass comparators, but employs a null force

calculable from the gradient of a field characterized

using length, voltage, and capacitance measurements traceable to both SI standards and quantum

invariants. The EFB is capable of acting as a primary

standard of force below 10-5 N, and has freed the

group from the difficult task of further subdividing

the Kilogram below a milligram, although for forces

above 10-5 N they continue to use deadweight loads

whenever practical. 

Outputs:

The competence project has created foundational

metrology for micro and nano mechanical

testing upon which the future of many nanotechnologies will rest. These are:

• A primary standard of force in the micronewton

regime that is reliable at the unprecedented level

of parts in 104

• Prototype artifact transfer standards capable of

transferring the unit of force at the micronewton

level with uncertainty below one percent

• Methods and apparatus for the traceable calibration of force in IIM equipment

• Methods and apparatus for the traceable calibration of force in AFM equipment

The foundational metrology is embodied by novel

equipment, capabilities, and skills housed in the

SFML that combine to create an effective resource

for the world’s scientists and technologists tackling

problems that require the quantitative measurement

of small forces. The team has become competent at

the realization and measurement of these forces in a

way that did not previously exist, as evidenced by

the following firsts. 

1. For the first time, it is possible to assess the

performance of instrumented indentation 

equipment in an objective fashion:

R.M. Seugling and J. R. Pratt, “Traceable Force

Metrology for Micronewton Level Calibration,”

Proceedings of the American Society for

Precision Engineering, 19th Annual Meeting,

Orlando, Fla, 2004.

127

Special Activities

Competence Projects
2. For the first time, it is possible to compare the 

results of AFM experiments against a NIST 

calibrated reference:

J. R. Pratt, D.T. Smith, D.B. Newell, J.A. Kramar,

and E. Whitenton, 2004, “Progress towards

Systeme International d’Unites traceable force

metrology for nanomechanics,” Journal of

Materials Research,19(1), pp. 366-379.

G.A. Matei, E.J. Thorsen, J.R. Pratt, D.B. Newell,

and N.A. Burnham, “Thermal Method of

Cantilever Calibration over a 200 kHz

Bandwidth,” submitted to Nanotechnology,

August, 2004.

3. And, for the first time, it has been demonstrated

that an experiment in the spirit of the NIST

Electronic Kilogram can yield an effective

Electronic Milligram with greater certainty than

currently available from direct mass calibration:

J. R. Pratt, D. Newell, J. A. Kramar, and R. M.

Seugling, “Realizing and Disseminating the SI

Micronewton with the Next Generation NIST

Electrostatic Force Balance,” Proceedings of the

American Society for Precision Engineering,

19th Annual Meeting, Orlando, Fla, 2004.

These achievements resulted in the 

following recognition:

• Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and

Engineers(PECASE), 2003; Pratt

• Department of Commerce Silver Medal Award,

2004; Pratt, Kramar, Newell, and Smith

•Invitation to the National Academy of Sciences

2004 Keck Futures Initiative; Pratt

Outcomes:

The world’s

first small

force metrology laboratory has become the international benchmark, and has profoundly influenced

the proposed National Physical Laboratory (NPL)

Low-force Measurement Facility in the United

Kingdom (Low-force Measurement Facility

Mechanical Design Report, September 2004, NPL),

and spawned similar activities at the Korean and

Taiwanese standards laboratories. 

The SFML provides the foundational metrology for

standards activities in instrumented indentation and

quantitative AFM measurements of adhesion and

provides the first real means to achieve industrial

compliance with ISO, ASTM and VAMAS (Versailles

Project on Advanced Materials and Standards) standards–standards that were written in anticipation of

the NIST SFML and its unique capabilities. 

Nanomechanical testing tools are used in every

manufacturing sector for the development and selection of materials and material properties. The market

for these tools is dominated by US companies, one

of which is already using the results of SFML data to

improve its manufacturing processes, leveraging our

work to convince semiconductor manufacturers that

instrumented indentation is in fact quantitative and

can be relied on for fabrication and quality control,

not just process development.

128Competence Projects

Special Activities

Jon Pratt and 

the NIST 

Electrostatic

Force

Balance
Resources: 

As of fiscal year 2005, the SFML has been incorporated into the MEL Nanomanufacturing

program, which supports the project at the level of

about 0.6 FTE (full-time equivalents). This programmatic support is leveraged at the division level in the

Manufacturing Metrology Division, which supports

approximately 0.3 FTE, and the Precision

Engineering Division, which supports approximately

0.25 FTE, and at the MEL laboratory level through

the award of PECASE funds to the principal investigator, Dr. Pratt, amounting to another 0.3 FTE, for a

total of approximately 1.5 FTE, with allowances

made for other objects spending. As is often the

case, critical staffing must be augmented with

National Research Council (NRC) postdoctoral

researchers, which the project has successfully

recruited.

The other participating laboratories, the Materials

Science and Engineering Laboratory (MSEL) and the

Electronics and Electrical Engineering Laboratory

(EEEL), no longer provide direct support, though

their researchers maintain access to the SFML and

continue to contribute to the project in an advisory

capacity. This is important, since EEEL provides vital

metrological support to the EFB, and because MSEL

scientists are customers for the small force calibrations facilitated by the SFML. For instance, MSEL is

the point of contact for ISO, ASTM, and VAMAS

standards activities in instrumented indentation and

adhesion that ultimately rely on the SFML for

traceability.

Collaborators: 

The collaboration between MEL, MSEL, and EEEL

was highly effective at both a technical and

strategic level. The technical expertise required to

create the EFB drew on all the participants’ accumulated knowledge of advanced manufacturing, precision engineering, and experimentation, to say

nothing of the institutional knowledge of mass,

length, voltage, and capacitance metrology that was

ably communicated and brought to bear on the

problem by the respective laboratories. 

From a strategic standpoint, the connection of MSEL

to the vast nanomechanics community provided a

clear, tangible customer upon which to focus. Now,

though the project is firmly rooted in MEL, the SFML

continues to be a resource for MSEL’s nanomechanics and nanotribology groups, as they work to

support various ISO, ASTM, and VAMAS standards

activities around the globe. 

129Competence Projects

Special Activities
The future: 

Given these successes, it is no surprise that the

project will continue, and that it is anticipated

to play a significant role in expanding MEL’s

Nanomanufacturing program beyond the program’s

core expertise in nano-scale dimensional metrology. 

The vision for the project’s future is to continue

serving a base constituency of IIM and AFM users at

NIST, other National Metrology Institutes (NMI’s),

National Laboratories, original equipment 

manufacturers (OEM) instrument manufacturers,

large industrial research laboratories, and academia

by developing and refining our dissemination skills,

so that all these potential customers can enjoy traceability to an accepted international standard. This

means working diligently to improve our efforts at

developing transfer artifacts, an area where our

European colleagues at PTB (Physikalisch-Technische

Bundesanstalt, Germany) and NPL have experience

and may be able to help NIST’s developments. 

The team believes that as force realization

approaches the level of molecular and atomic force

(nanonewtons for covalent bonds), it will be possible

to realize so-called intrinsic force standards. Thus,

they intend to continue pushing their capabilities to

measure even smaller forces, with a new EFB under

construction and projected to measure a

nanonewton with uncertainty at the percent level. 

Going even further, if optical forces can be accurately cross checked to the SI (piconewtons), we 

see a huge potential to support nascent work in 

bio-nanotechnology and the associated field of

mechanochemistry, where researchers examine the

energy of reaction in terms of work done using

single molecule tests with force loading, typically

applied using optical trapping techniques. This field

is exploding and may finally lead to the unraveling

of the very physics of life, providing insight into the

mechanisms of protein folding and DNA (deoxyribonucleic acid) binding. 

To bring SI force to this molecular level, measure

intrinsic standards, and keep pace with the 

accelerating field of bio-nanomechanics, however,

will require an effort comparable to that already

expended on the microforce realization competence, with additional contributions likely needed

from other areas of physics and chemistry. Thus,

development of this capability will serve as the

centerpiece of a new NIST Competence proposal 

to be submitted in 2005. 

130Competence Projects

Special Activities
Phase-sensitive Scatterfield Optical Imaging

for sub-10 nm Dimensional Metrology 

Summary:

This competence project will advance optical microscopy to unprecedented

levels of performance through theoretical and experimental development of

a new technique we call “scatterfield optical imaging.” This new method promises to make possible optical measurements of nanometer-sized features using

high-throughput, low cost optical methods with the potential for an enormous

impact on innovation and quality control in semiconductor manufacturing and

nanotechnology as well as providing the measurement basis for new calibration

standards well beyond the state-of-the-art. 

Concepts and the Research Challenge:

Technical Summary

By developing experimental and theoretical-based analytical techniques,

initial simulations indicate it is possible to measure sub-10 nm sized features

using new, advanced optical methods. The ability to measure linewidth, feature

overlay, and defects in nanoelectronic devices using optical methods presents a

solution with enormous impact. It is anticipated that features as small as 5 nm

may be measured, a factor of 50 extension beyond the practical Rayleigh limits

of conventional visible-light microscopy. The feasibility of the basic approach,

which uses structured illumination, high-resolution Charged-Coupled Device

(CCD)-array processing, engineered target designs, detailed theoretical modeling

of electromagnetic scattering, and phase-sensitive data analysis, has been

demonstrated. Significant interest in the proposed technique by elements of the

semiconductor industry and evolving nanomanufacturing industry suggests applications of this new measurement science and technology could have a major

impact on manufacturing quality, process control, and throughput.

Introduction

Although optics are often thought to lose its effectiveness as a metrology tool

beyond the Rayleigh resolution criterion, we have evidence that optics can

be used to image and measure features smaller 10 nm in dimension. The resolution obtained by conventional optical microscopy is usually considered to be

limited to approximately half of the wavelength of the light used for illumination.

131Competence Projects

Special Activities

Contact:

Rick Silver

richard.silver@nist.gov

Collaborators: 

Thomas Germer (PL),

Nien Fan Zhang, 

Charles Hagwood (ITL) 
However, another optical metrology method, interferometry, can routinely achieve sub-nanometer

resolution using visible light. The key to understanding the difference between these two methods

is related to the complexity of the electromagnetic

fields (illumination) and the targets used in the measurement. In the case of interferometry, single plane

waves, that is, waves having a simple sinusoidal

oscillation in space and time, are reflected from

planar, mirrored surfaces, with the phase information

preserved. For microscopy, the illuminating fields

are much more complicated and the samples often

have significant three-dimensional character. 

Optical imaging and metrology with resolution well

beyond the wavelength is a possibility as a result of

a new optical configuration and design, increased

computation speed, high-resolution CCD array technology, improved signal processing of large arrays,

and reliable theoretical scattering models. The ability

to “engineer” the illuminating field is key to this

advanced measurement technique. It involves low

numerical aperture (NA) illumination optics, annular

or polar illumination schemes, or high angle to onaxis plane wave illumination. Another key technological advance is the realization that phase information, accessible by stepping through the ideal focus,

provides a sensitive, complex optical signature for a

given sample and optical configuration. The sample

or target design also plays a central role in the

ability to increase optical sensitivity to dimensional

changes. A target structure which enhances the

amplitude of the scattered fields and accessible

information content can be optimized with accurate

simulation tools.

The new proposed

measurement technique has

some conceptual ideas parallel to scatterometry and

other aspects parallel with interferometry, but

adapted to a flexible optical configuration, a unique,

new powerful capability exists. The parallel with

interferometry is the fundamental use of the phase

information. Measuring the intensities through focus

(different heights relative to the sample) is sampling

the phase information by measuring different slices

of the electromagnetic fields. In scatterometry, typically a beam is collimated and the zero or first-order

reflected intensity is captured. In this new configuration, the entire scattered field (all accessible

orders) is collected and imaged. A major advantage

of this methodology is that, unlike scatterometry,

having optical imaging components (lenses) allows

the image to be magnified, allowing targets of only a

few micrometers in size to be measured as opposed

to the 50 μm by 50 μm targets measurable by scatterometry. In addition, the optical design allows a

broad array of tailored illumination schemes to be

used. This becomes a very powerful tool when

combined with well-engineered target designs. 

132Competence Projects

Special Activities

Nanometer sized

features may

be measured

optically by

scatterfield

optical imaging

techniques
A key enabling technology that these improvements

rely upon is the unprecedented accuracy by which

we can now calculate the electromagnetic scatter

from features. The exact profile of the scattered field

is extremely sensitive to small changes in the shape

and size of the scattering feature. Once one can

accurately calculate the scattering function and

propagate it in the optical system, one can in 

principle measure features near to nanometer

dimensions. It is no longer necessary to be limited

by the concept of image-based edge detection

microscopy in optically-based dimensional

metrology. This is a radical departure from traditional

methods of optical imaging.

Impact

The impact from the successful implementation

and development of this new measurement

science will be enormous. Optics has some significant advantages over other high resolution imaging

techniques such as scanning electron microscopy

(SEM) and atomic force microscopy (AFM). SEM

requires high vacuum with expensive instrumentation and can be destructive in making measurements. AFM has significant throughput and reliability

challenges. Optical metrology, on the other hand, is

massively parallel, with high throughput, relatively

low instrumentation cost, and is non-destructive. If

we demonstrate the ability to accurately measure

sub-10 nm features with nm sensitivity to changes in

shape, the impact will be significant.

There is a current push in semiconductor manufacturing to use tighter closed-loop process control –

this trend will likely be followed in nanomanufacturing applications. This is known as integrated

manufacturing and several companies are developing limited hardware for these applications. The

approach described here can have a major impact

on integrated manufacturing capabilities. 

133Competence Projects

Special Activities
134Exploratory Projects

exploratory projects Exploratory Projects

The MEL Management Council annually sets aside funds for exploratory projects. The MEL Management

Council (MELMC) wanted to give employees an outlet to explore new technologies, ideas or ideas of

research that were outside of the current scope of the MEL Strategic programs. Exploratory projects are

also an excellent opportunity for the MEL staff to submit their ideas on new technical areas in which MEL

might become more involved in the future. The short duration of the exploratory project (i.e., approximately one year) is sufficient time to test the feasibility of the new idea or technique. Topics are within the

mission of MEL, but outside the scope of any current individual MEL or NIST strategic program. Since

benefits from these projects should accrue to MEL as a whole, emphasis is also placed on project ideas that

cross division or laboratory lines. 

In FY2005, the MELMC received 35 pre-proposals that included over 50 different authors, including representation from all five MEL divisions, two other NIST Laboratory Operating Units, and four external collaborators. Goals, accomplishments, and plans for follow-on work are described below for each of the

FY2004-FY2005 exploratory projects. Following the current Exploratory Projects, you will find descriptions

of the recently concluded exploratory projects.

Special Activities
135Exploratory Projects

Advanced imaging for nanoparticle 

drug delivery systems

Nanoparticle drug delivery systems (NDS) are a generic technology that

is currently under intense development by the healthcare community

for a broad range of applications. The NDS payload may consist of not only

gene-carrying DNA but, for instance, regulatory proteins that turn on or off

specific cellular processes. The dimensional properties of these systems

profoundly impact the efficacy of treatment, e.g., stability of an NDS in the

bloodstream and its transfection rate (the ability of an intact NDS to cross a

cell membrane). Reliable methods for imaging molecular components and

sub-assemblies of these soft materials with resolution well below 100 nm are

therefore in demand for quality control during clinical and pre-clinical trials

of prospective treatments as well as for fundamental understanding and

control of NDS self-assembly. 

Special Activities

Contact:

John Dagata

john.dagata@nist.gov
MEL is presently collaborating with Esther H. Chang,

Professor of Oncology, Georgetown University

Medical Center (GUMC), Washington DC and

Synergene Therapeutics, Inc., Washington DC to

demonstrate high-resolution imaging of individual

components and associated complexes of the

constituents of a NDS (Tf-Lip-p53) and imaging of

the transfection process with fixed and live cells. 

The technical approach employs MEL’s extensive

knowledge of simultaneous topographic, electric

force, and phase imaging capabilities of a Scanning

Probe Microscope (SPM) to assign a unique 

signature to each material, and then to optimize 

the sensitivity of SPM operation under appropriate

preparative and physiological conditions. 

This development will be done in parallel with

confocal fluorescent imaging of the cells. We will

compare optical and SPM information of cell transfection rates with scanning electron microscope

(SEM) imaging of fixed cells using recently developed fluid imaging techniques in conjunction with

MEL’s recently acquired Hitachi S-4800 instrument

operating in very high resolution digital imaging

mode. This SEM offers a wide range of electron

landing energies and sample biasing in reflected and

transmission electron detection operation modes that

are very advantageous for these experiments. 

136Exploratory Projects

Special Activities

Scanning probe microscopy of ~300-nm diameter liposomes containing MagnaVist, a magnetic resonance imaging contrast agent: (A) magnetic force/phase image, and (B) topographic image. Liposomes

prepared at Georgetown University Medical Center and imaged at NIST. 

A B
A Bayesian Approach to Model-Based 

Quality Control of Machined Parts

The objectives of this project are to develop a new systematic method to

capture and improve knowledge on the accuracy of a machine tool and then

come up with a proof-of-concept of new method. The resulting model can be

applied to adjust the machine or to evaluate its capability to machine a specific

part. The method enables the model to learn from its mistakes while addressing

the challenges associated with the diverse and often incomplete data on

machine errors encountered in industrial environments. The method is a new

approach to Statistical Process Control (SPC) to address agile environments. A

key part of the project is the application of the method to a milling machine in

the MEL’s Fabrication Technology Division (FTD), using inspection results of parts

machined during normal operations spanning an entire year.

SPC is a technique used by industry to ensure that parts are manufactured to

specification. It relies on a statistical analysis of post-process inspection results

to identify trends in the quality of the manufactured parts. The results are used

to make adjustments to the machine tool(s) or process parameters. SPC is

successfully used when making large quantities of parts under similar conditions.

In an agile environment, however, major difficulties are encountered due to the

cost and time required for each new part design to develop cause-and-effect

relationships and to bring the process into specification. Without knowledge of

the underlying error sources and their task-specific effects, it is difficult to apply

the experience gained with one part to a different part.

The method developed in this project addresses the challenge of agile environments by monitoring trends in the machine tool errors instead of trends in the

errors of similar parts. A relatively simple model is constructed that describes

the accuracy of a machine. This error model does not necessarily rely on a

detailed performance evaluation of the machine. Instead, operator expertise can

be used to assign initial probability distributions to the various unknown parameters in the model. The resulting model captures our existing knowledge about

the machine, while quantifying our lack of knowledge. Throughout the lifetime

of the machine, any obtained information on its performance is used to tune the

estimates for the various model parameters continuously through Bayesian

regression. Examples of the respective data are inspection results of machined

parts and results of quick periodic machine performance tests. Thus the machine

137Exploratory Projects

Special Activities

Contact:

Johannes Soons

soons@nist.gov
error model learns from its mistakes and improves

over time in areas important to the user. If the

uncertainty of a prediction is too high, the model

provides the justification for targeted machine

performance measurements.

The project is a collaboration between the MEL’s

Manufacturing Metrology Division (MMD) and FTD.

To this date, the following accomplishments include:

• Selecting a three-axis milling machine to study

and validate the proposed method. The selected

machine is used by FTD to machine a large

variety of parts for its customers. We equipped

the machine with temperature sensors at a few

key locations.

• Defining a family of key error sources that will 

be studied in the project and identifying part

features that are particularly sensitive to these

error sources.

• Defining a monitoring protocol and start of data

collection. The collected data on the machined

parts includes their nominal geometry and tolerances, the process plan, tooling identification,

operating conditions, time stamps, and inspection

results obtained by FTD’s quality department.

• Identifying an initial error model of the 

machine with assigned error distributions for 

key error parameters.

• Developing prototype

software modules to facilitate

simulation studies; and 

• Developing Bayesian regression procedures 

to tune estimates for the machine error 

parameters based on the inspection results

of machined parts.

• Data for this machine will be gathered over the

next several months. Final results and analysis of

this method will be reported shortly after the

conclusion of the project in May 2005.

138Exploratory Projects

Special Activities

Uncertainties in

machine error

sources and in

the operating

conditions

affect the

machines

performance
Concept Demonstration for Emergency 

Response Simulation

The environment at an emergency response site can get quite chaotic. People

working the scene assume that someone is always in command and

response is coordinated, however, that is not always true. Emergency responders

are always training to keep up their skills and to learn how to different situations.

Simulations can help meet this need. Currently, simulations are seen as a potentially useful training tool although the emergency responders to do not want to

see it totally replace the hands-on exercises. As staff gets more exposure to

advanced virtual reality technology, they may change their belief in how useful

simulations can be in the future.

The objective of this project is to develop a concept demonstration prototype for

the System for Integrated Modeling and Simulation of Emergency Response

(SimsER), a system envisioned for bringing such capabilities to improve emergency response as conceptualized in the figure below. A demonstration prototype is sorely needed to help the emergency responders and potential stakeholders understand the value of the proposal. It will also help identify the difficulties involved in integrating such widely different simulations as a chemical

plume model (continuous, computation intensive) and a traffic evacuation model

(discrete, mid-level computation need). 

139Exploratory Projects

Special Activities

Contact:

Charles McLean

charles.mclean@nist.gov
Current developers of modeling and simulation

(M&S) tools mostly focus on developing their individual tool with proprietary inputs and outputs.

They typically would offer to custom integrate their

solution in user setups at a substantial cost. Such a

mechanism is not suitable for most of the public

jurisdictions or for use by this project. We propose

an open approach based on standard data models to

enable integration.

In the first phase of this project, a framework for

modeling and simulation (M&S) of emergency

response has been developed to define the scope

and needed interfaces between M&S tools. Since a

Geographic Information System (GIS) based tool is a

necessary component for visualization of integrated

outputs of simulation tools, interfaces and formats

for GIS data have been studied. Capabilities and

interfaces of data representation systems such as

SEDRIS have been reviewed. 

The team has also interacted with developers of

M&S tools and potential user community to capture

the requirements for integrated M&S of emergency

response. The interactions include observation of

two homeland security exercises involving use of

simulation tools (Determined Promise’04 in Suffolk,

VA, and Measured Response’04 at Purdue

University), participation on a review panel for a

project for development of such tools at U.S. Joint

Forces Command, and meeting with representatives

of San Francisco Emergency Operations Center.

Identification and evaluation of alternate architecture

for distributed simulation for emergency response is

also in progress. An initial evaluation of the current

three candidates –High Level Architecture (HLA,

developed by Department of Defense), Dynamic

Information Architecture System (DIAS, developed at

Argonne National Laboratory), and Synthetic

Environments for Analysis and Simulation (SEAS,

developed at Purdue University) has been

completed. The applicability of game engine architecture as a front-end interface for distributed multiparticipant simulation-based training is being evaluated. An emergency response scenario is being

developed that will be used as the basis for concept

demo and selection of the tools to be integrated. 

140Exploratory Projects

Special Activities
A Geometry Measuring Machine (GEMM) for

Metrology of Free-Form Optics

Precision optics require surfaces that deviate from their design form no more

than a small fraction of the wavelength of visible light. Precision optics are

the heart of the lithography process which is the foundation of the semiconductor industry. Industries as diverse as health care, aviation, defense, and electronics depend on ever more sophisticated precision optics. And yet, the efficient

manufacture of precision surfaces, especially of those with non-spherical, or

free-form, shapes, remains a serious challenge. 

This project team plans to use the Geometry Measuring Machine (GEMM) as a

universal metrology method for precisely measuring a new class of high

performance optics with free-form surfaces. Free-form optics promise marked

optical performance advantages but require a new approach to metrology.

GEMM builds on the strengths traditional methods for metrology of free-form

surfaces, interferometry and the coordinate measuring machine (CMM) offer, but

avoids their liabilities. Like a CMM, GEMM measures local surface shape at

every point of a survey grid on the part surface. Like full-aperture interferometry,

GEMM uses an interferometer which it moves over the test surface. By minimizing the area of surface measured, GEMM minimizes the retrace error

inherent with full aperture interferometry. For each GEMM measurement, parameters characterizing the local surface geometry are determined. For a one-dimensional profile this is simply the curvature. After calibration of the sensor, GEMM

will measure surfaces of any geometry without test part specific null-optics. The

measurement accuracy will match or exceed that of a CMM.

141Exploratory Projects

Special Activities

Contact:

Ulf Griesmann

ulf.griesmann@nist.gov
The key challenge in this project is the development

of a 2-dimensional reconstruction method for the

measurement of the whole surface of free-form

optics. Another challenge is that the distance

between sensor and part surface must be tracked to

be able to correct the measurements for the residual

retrace error of the micro-interferometer sensor. This

capability will not be required to demonstrate the

viability of the method but it may be necessary to

achieve high measurement accuracy. The team

developed novel ideas for solutions to both challenges, but a strong research effort is still required to

validate them.

Although the

primary deliverable of the

project is a GEMM

method for 2-dimensional

surface measurement, a prototype instrument will be

constructed. It will enable us to test the GEMM

methodology with experimental measurements, and

we will be able to compare GEMM measurements 

of actual parts with measurements made with 

interferometers. Numerical simulations of the GEMM

method and the construction of the prototype 

instrument are currently under way.

142Exploratory Projects

Special Activities

Solid model of

NIST GEMMs

Diagram
143Exploratory Projects

Microwire Electrical Discharge 

Machining for Fabricating Next 

Generation Precision Instruments

The objective of this project is to explore and evaluate the benefits and

feasibility of utilizing micro-level wire electrical discharge machining

technology for use in creating precision components, complex geometric

mechanical parts and assemblies for various nanomanufacturing research

programs in MEL and throughout NIST. This project team is exploring the

level of precision, reliability and cost benefits that can be provided by this

manufacturing technology and how it can be used to support the manufacturing service demands of MEL and other NIST research programs.

This exploratory project will assist the Fabrication Technology Division (FTD)

in establishing expertise at NIST in Microwire Electrical Discharge

Machining and in the engineering of complex geometries for devices used 

in nano-manufacturing research. With this expertise, FTD expects to

increase the likelihood of expanding their manufacturing services to 

include this high-precision manufacturing technology for use in creating

complex devices, instrumentation and mechanical assemblies needed

throughout NIST.

A number of new NIST research programs have been established to address 

the anticipated needs of the U.S. nanotechnology and nanomanufacturing

industry. To achieve the objectives defined in these research programs

requires a technical approach that includes the creation of various complex

instruments and/or micro-manipulation devices and assemblies. These new

instruments and devices include complex geometric shapes and tolerance

constraints that exceed the existing capabilities of machine tools and manufacturing processes provided by FTD.

Special Activities

Contact:

Nolan Brandenburg

brandenb@nist.gov
To date, project research has included interfacing

with microwire EDM manufacturers to assess the

capacities, precision and the cost of available

microwire EDM equipment. A study of micro and

nano-machining processes in various industries is

underway. This study will further define the market

trends in private industry. Due to workflow in FTD,

most of the research on this project will be

completed in the Spring and Summer of 2005. 

As NIST continues to create and measure smaller

standards for industries, FTD’s staff needs to be

prepared to fabricate various testing apparatus and

instrumentation on smaller and more precise scales.

As a result of this project, capacities will be evaluated and requirements to support FTD’s efforts in

nanomanufacturing will be developed. As secondary

benefit, the study allows FTD staff to evaluate 

available manufacturing technology for future 

capital improvement projects. These projects 

would ensure that the resources of FTD would

match the needs of NIST.

144Exploratory Projects

Special Activities
Analysis of Reference/Standard Test Facility

Needs for Evaluating Performance of

Intelligent Vehicle Systems

I

ntelligent vehicles are rapidly becoming an important component of the US

military and of the transportation industry. Unmanned Ground Vehicles (UGVs)

are used in mine clearing and search and rescue operations around the world

and major defense programs are gearing up to place sophisticated autonomous

UGVs in the soldier’s hands by 2015. The Department of Defense (DOD) plans

to use experimentation environments and UGV performance measurements to

specify functionality, to measure progress/maturity and to direct research. In the

transportation sector, US automotive manufacturers and the US Department of

Transportation (DOT) are striving to improve the safety of cars by using advanced

sensors and intelligent driver assist systems to reduce collisions on roads.

Increasingly, US manufacturers are using intelligent crash warning systems as a

major factor in competing with foreign car manufacturers. The US National

Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) is charged with setting safety

performance standards and relies heavily on test specifications, test data and

rating criteria. Performance measurement will help facilitate the insertion of

improved safety features on automobiles.

The main objective of the exploratory project is to strengthen MEL’s and NIST’s

ability to meet the nation’s metrological needs pertaining to performance measurement of intelligent vehicles. This effort includes investigating potential Other

Agency program areas where NIST may contribute their experience and knowledge to developing standardized measurement methods and procedures towards

the objective of evaluating the performance of Intelligent Vehicles systems and

subsystems performing realistic operational scenarios.

Several DOD programs are developing unmanned ground vehicles that 

implement intelligent behaviors. Critical to the success of these programs is an

experimental environment to speed development, lower costs and measure

progress. One of the DOD programs – The Joint Robotics Program (JRP) is

starting a program called the National Unmanned Systems Experimentation

Environments (NUSE2). Staff members from this project proposed a formal

collaboration (submitted September 30, 2004) between NIST/MEL and the

NUSE2 group to develop a system that would specify, characterize, model and

certify outdoor experimentation environments that could be used for the evaluation of intelligent autonomous and semi-autonomous robots and intelligent

145Exploratory Projects

Special Activities

Contact:

Maris Juberts

Maris.juberts@nist.gov
behaviors.

MEL’s staff will work with NUSE2 members and

other interested parties to develop a comprehensive

assessment program for fostering the development

and evaluation of autonomous navigation performance of small robots. Current robot technology

requires tedious control by the operator for low-level

tasks such as driving to goal points specified by a

user. Based on our experience and knowledge, we

believe vendors will be offering robots with path

planning and obstacle avoidance capabilities within

a few years. Therefore, the project team’s initial effort

will directed to measure the performance of

autonomous and semi-autonomous navigation,

which includes obstacle detection, hazard avoidance, route planning and execution. This effort will

lay the foundation for assessing performance of other

navigational modes of operation, manipulation tasks

and tactical missions.

Working with NUSE2 and other domain specific

experts, our group will select, and analyze and

translate representative missions into a sequence of

tasks based on a hierarchical task decomposition

methodology. The tasks will then be used to develop

specifications for an Intelligent Behavior Assessment

Course (IBAC). Using the performance metric parameters generated by a vehicle’s path and response to

the course features, the group will be able to assess

a vehicle’s performance.

In addition to the IBAC design, the project team 

will develop methods for measuring ground truth,

site characterization and for capturing robot

performance data. Ground truth will quantify system

performance and populate simulation environments.

Robot performance data is primarily position

tracking, task

execution

data and

timing.

Our research will

provide tools for 

visualizing

task execution, maintaining quality control and

publishing results. 

In addition to the work with the DOD, our group

met with Dr. August Burgett, technical director of the

NHTSA as part of the Intelligent Vehicle Initiative for

the DOT. Dr. Burgett expressed a need for determining “ground truth” high accuracy, real-time

measurement of relative and absolute position and

velocity between an instrumented test vehicle and

other moving vehicles and objects on a road. The

need is for a naturalistic (in traffic driving) approach

for evaluating the performance of vehicle-based

safety systems that use advanced sensors to reduce

vehicle accidents/collisions on roads. 

NHTSA and the Intelligent Transportation Systems

program office approved funding for our participation

in new program planning for future initiatives in their

Intelligent Vehicle Initiative program. Funding for

NIST in FY2005 is expected to be at least $350 K and

is expected to continue for four to five years until

Field Operational Tests are completed. We will

develop a next generation measurement system to

collect data for independent evaluation of the

performance of Integrated Vehicle-based Safety Systems.

146Exploratory Projects

Special Activities

USAR

Tracking

Interface
Quadrature Laser Interferometry for 

Dynamic Displacement Measurements in

Vibration Metrology

Quadrature laser interferometry (QLI) can be used to perform dynamic

displacement measurements by primary methods and has many advantages over the conventional Michelson interferometry currently used in our

accelerometer calibration services. Implementation of a quadrature laser 

interferometry system allows absolute (primary) calibrations of accelerometers

over an extended frequency range, at a continuum of displacement amplitudes

within that range, and provides means for measurements of complex sensitivity

(magnitude and phase) of accelerometers. Efforts have been made by a number

of National Metrology Institutes (NMIs) to implement QLI in vibration metrology

with varying degrees of success. Implementation of QLI presents many challenges, e.g., hardware configurations, sampling rates, and signal processing algorithms, which all influence the overall uncertainty of the measurement system. 

It is no secret that the advance of technology demands that MEL continue to

expand its measurement capabilities. This is certainly true in the area of 

vibration metrology. Consider, for example, machining technology. As spindle

speeds increase to levels unimagined a few years ago, vibration frequencies of

interest for machine tool and process performance assessment and modeling

increase as well. Another trend increasing the importance of higher frequencies

is the miniaturization of systems due to the higher resonant frequencies of 

such systems. 

The initial implementation of a quadrature laser interferometry-based system for

dynamic displacement measurements is being done on the NIST Super Shaker.

Then, based on competencies gained in this exploratory project, similar

improvements can be obtained in other measurement services equipment

currently in use, extending the range of calibration frequencies we can offer our

customers and providing them with phase data in addition to the magnitude of

the accelerometer response to vibration. 

147Exploratory Projects

Special Activities

Contact:

Kari Harper

Kari.harper@nist.gov
To develop a top performing system based on quadrature interferometry, a study of the state of the art of

implementations by other NMIs has been done. On

the basis of this study, the project team decided to

use homodyne, rather than heterodyne QLI for the

first implementation. This decision reflects both the

potential benefits of a homodyne system, its relative

ease of implementation as compared to a heterodyne system, and our budgetary constraints. 

A review has been done of recent advances in the

optical, electronic, and signal processing hardware

and algorithms that can serve as components of a

QLI system. We carried out a comparative performance analysis of available hardware and signal

processing algorithms required for such a system.

An initial set of hardware components has been

selected that meet both our budgetary and technical

requirements. These have been procured, and

elements of the prototype system are currently either

under final design, fabrication or assembly.

It is expected that the remainder of the project will

be devoted to completion of the prototype QLI

system and integration of that system on the NIST

Super Shaker.

148Exploratory Projects

Special Activities
completed projects Recently Completed

Exploratory Projects

Precise Length via Satellite: GPS-based Optical

Frequency Combs for Length Measurement

The goal of this project was to determine the feasibility of using timing signals

received from the Global Positioning Satellite (GPS) system, along with

optical frequency-comb technology, to provide new wavelength standards for

measurement with very direct traceability to the definition of the meter. In the

course of this project the project team developed and demonstrated the use of a

prototype GPS-based system for calibration of laser vacuum wavelength, identified the important areas where opportunities exist to simplify or improve the

system and thus make it more practical, and began looking at possible new

applications of the system. Preliminary results have been encouraging and

suggest that this technology will have significant impact on length metrology at

the National Metrology Institute (NMI) level. More widespread impact in

industry is also possible, but cost and complexity issues remain a barrier;

addressing these issues is a continuing need. The work begun in this project will

be continued through a NIST Competence Project starting in FY2005.

Optical frequency combs are a breakthrough technology that can provide

precisely know frequencies (or vacuum wavelengths) throughout the visible 

and infrared spectrum. The comb is a band of optical radiations at equally

spaced frequency intervals, generated by a mode-locked femtosecond laser. 

The frequency spacing of the comb components is set by the pulse repetition

frequency of the femtosecond laser. Knowledge of the repetition rate, along 

with knowledge of an offset frequency, determines the frequencies of comb

components. Thus optical frequencies at hundreds of terahertz can be 

accurately related to precise measurements of the repetition rate 

(typically hundreds of megahertz). 

149Recently Completed Exploratory Projects

Special Activities

Contact:

Jack Stone

Jack.stone@nist.gov
For the last twenty years iodine stabilized lasers have

served as the primary transfer standard in linking the

definition of the second to length metrology. For

example, the formal definition of the meter is the

length of the path traveled by light in vacuum during

a time interval of 1/299 792 458 of a second. Today

combs are beginning to replace the iodine stabilized

laser as the pivotal

link between

frequency and

length. The optical

comb technology

provides greater

accuracy, with a

very direct tie to the

definition of the

meter, and is infinitely more flexible

than previous

approaches. Almost

any visible or nearinfrared laser wavelength can be calibrated using a

comb, whereas a particular iodine stabilized laser

provides only one of a few possible standard wavelengths. The comb is still much more complicated

than an iodine stabilized laser, but if more than one

wavelength reference is required (for example, for

multicolor interferometry) then the comb is a logical

alternative to the iodine stabilized laser. 

An optical frequency comb plus a “clock” thus

provides an attractive new mechanism for realization

of wavelength standards. Furthermore, the clock

need not be a local cesium standard; more attractive

for our purposes are to make use of timing signals

from the Global Positioning System. The GPS signal,

averaged for 1 day, has a frequency uncertainty

below 10-12, more than an order of magnitude better

than the uncertainty of the iodine stabilized laser.

Thus, GPS combined with the frequency comb

provides a mechanism for traceable, world-wide

dissemination of frequency/wavelength standards

with verifiable uncertainty.

150Recently Completed Exploratory Projects

Special Activities

Setup for calibrating Iodine-stabilized HeNe laser with comb.
Fuel Cell Manufacturability

This exploratory project team identified the challenges associated with 

fundamental manufacturing technology for polymer electrolyte membrane

(PEM) and solid oxide fuel cells. The team sought to identify areas of MEL core

competency that could be leveraged to address fuel cell manufacturability

issues, highlighting measurement, standards, and infrastructural technology

areas. Within scope were manufacturing-related issues and technical challenges

associated with fuel cells for transportation (especially automotive), stationary

power, and portable power applications.

The project team researched the fundamentals of fuel cell technology and

engaged stakeholders from the community to assess the state of fuel cell manufacturability. This included sponsoring a fuel cell manufacturability workshop in

December 2003 in Dearborn, Michigan, that brought together a broad national

audience to: (1) identify critical manufacturing issues associated with high

volume fuel cell production; (2) explore the development of a broad, national

strategy for fuel cell manufacturability; and (3) provide input to the identification

of an MEL role in the area. Representatives from over two dozen fuel cell 

organizations from industry, government, and academia attended the workshop,

confirming that manufacturing plays important role in making fuel cells more

affordable and is on the critical path to commercialization.

The fuel cell industry is still very much emerging. This project confirmed that

many technical challenges exist relating to the manufacturability of fuel cells,

including the need to address manufacturing issues while fuel cell designs are

evolving. Low-volume, high-cost prototype and laboratory fabrication methods

must be transformed into full-scale, high-volume, low-cost manufacturing

processes. A critical enabler here is the development of the requisite metrology

to facilitate the control of manufacturing processes and products.

151Recently Completed Exploratory Projects

Special Activities

Contact:

David Stieren

david.stieren@nist.gov
The project uncovered sufficient manufacturing issues and measurement / standards

needs for fuel cells to warrant continued

MEL involvement in the area. Project

recommendations for MEL included:

• continuing to represent NIST on the

Hydrogen and Fuel Cell Research and

Development Interagency Task Force

being coordinated by the White House

Office of Science and Technology Policy; 

• continuing to participate in the NIST Fuel Cell

Working Group; and 

• continuing to be involved with the fuel cell

community through events, seminars, and 

colloquia to identify collaboration and resource

acquisition opportunities for MEL.

152Recently Completed Exploratory Projects

Special Activities
New Advanced Optical Methods for CD and

Overlay Metrology Beyond the 65 nm Node

Although optics are often thought to lose its effectiveness as a metrology tool

beyond the Raleigh criterion, there is now evidence that optics can be used

to image and measure features as small as 10 nm in dimension. Fundamental

imaging limits presented a real concern for optical-based measurements. Optical

methods are used extensively for level-to-level overlay metrology, defect inspection, and applications that require critical dimension (CD) metrology. With

numerous semiconductor manufacturing applications and increased growth in

nanomanufacturing, the possibility of using high-throughput, extremely sensitive,

cost effective optical metrology methods is very appealing. 

As demonstrated by results obtained in this exploratory research project, optical

imaging and metrology with resolution well beyond the wavelength is now a

possibility using a new optical configuration and design, increased computation

speed, high-resolution Charged-Coupled Device (CCD) array technology,

improved signal processing of large arrays, and reliable theoretical scattering

models. The essential optical components involve low numerical aperture optics,

multi-pole illumination schemes, and access to the pupil plane resulting in 

structured high angle to very low angle illumination. Another key technological

advance is the realization that the through-focus phase information, accessible

by imaging through focus, provides a sensitive, complex optical signature for a

given sample and optical configuration. The sample or target design also plays a

central role in the ability to increase optical sensitivity. A target structure, which

enhances the amplitude of the scattered fields and the desired information

content, in concert with the optical configuration, can be optimized for this

purpose. The importance of a structured target has also been shown in this study

to play a substantial role in final image formation and increased sensitivity at the

nanometer scale.

Scattering calculations and experiments imaging features as small as 40 nm wide

silicon line indicate this technique has very real promise for success. The calculations show the signal to noise and detection of features smaller than 10 nm to

be possible and even potentially practical. Actual optical images were acquired

with good signal to noise ratios for silicon features 40 nm in lateral dimension.

To investigate the potential of these new optical methods we have performed an

extensive set of simulations and experiments. Results summarizing the technical

153Recently Completed Exploratory Projects

Special Activities

Contact:

Richard Silver

richard.silver@nist.gov
gains with this methodology are shown below as

well as data which explores the fundamental limits

of model based optical imaging using the full 

scattered fields. 

What aspect of the investigation focused on low 

Illumination Numerical Aperture (INA) imaging

methods, similar to scatterometry, except using a

more conventional optical microscope layout. This

has significant potential to enable full field imaging

of scattered optical fields with sensitivities to high

diffraction orders. The potential gains from using

low numerical aperture illumination in combination

with model based analysis and interpretation are

shown below. 

The electromagnetic scattering models used in this

study have been developed in-house and in collaboration with Spectel Co. Optical modeling, which

NIST is considered an international leader, plays a

fundamental role in optical imaging at this scale 

Potential Impact: 

This work completed in this exploratory project has

the real potential to impact high-resolution optical

metrology. This methodology has not been previously explored, and relies on advanced high-speed

computation and new methods for optical illumination and low NA imaging. The results achieved 

here are already having an impact as other research

and development teams are now implementing 

these techniques. 

154Recently Completed Exploratory Projects

Special Activities

A graphical

representation

of nanotube

based devices

as might be

encountered

in future 

manufacturing

An experimental demonstration of the imaging capabilities at 100x magnification. 40 nm CD targets are shown on the

left with imaging wavelength of 436 nm. The upper right panel in highlights profiles of a line/space/line array

consisting of two 40 nm lines separated by a 100 nm space at a pitch of 1 micrometer
Healthcare Information Interchange Through

Shared Ontologies

I

n today’s medical practice, patient health information is codified using specialized healthcare terminologies. The uniformity of representation through codes

(as opposed to free form natural language statements) supports a variety of data

processing functions as well as information between medical record, laboratory

and diagnostic imaging systems. The healthcare terminologies in use today

include Systematized Nomenclature of Medicine (SNOMED), Unified Medical

Language System (UMLS), and Read Codes. Data interchange between healthcare institutions is supported through a number of standards including Digital

Imaging and Communication (DICOM) for diagnostic images, Health Level 7

(HL7) for components of electronic medical records, and American National

Standards Institute (ANSI) X12 for healthcare business information interchange.

Transactions that contain clinical information, such as patient referrals between

healthcare institutions, carry coded medical information that can be mapped

back to the organizations’ local medical information representation. At present

there are two major barriers to the full range of potential medical data 

interchange: 1) there are large disparities among the terms used and the codes

generated by the various healthcare vocabularies; and 2) there are no semantics

associated with the terms in the vocabularies that would allow the recognition

and reconciliation of different terms that have the same meaning. These major

barriers present a technical challenge that intrigued our project team. They

proposed that the use of shared ontologies (i.e., a formal description of the

concepts and relationships that can exist between them) would resolve semantic

ambiguities and harmonize dissimilar information models of patient care information in collaborating healthcare practices.

In the past year, the project team: 

1. Established contacts with key healthcare informatics standards development

organizations (SDOs) and healthcare organizations.

The group pursued collaborations with: the Cleveland Clinic, the Union

Hospital located in Cecil County, MD, the Health Level 7 standard 

organization and the National Institutes of Health. The group participated 

in the planning and organization of several workshops related to data 

interoperability in clinical settings.

155Recently Completed Exploratory Projects

Special Activities

Contact:

Ram Sriram

ram.sriram@nist.gov
2. Identified requirements for healthcare 

information interchange for specific scenarios. 

Referrals to specialists and referrals for 

diagnostic imaging were the two scenarios,

which involve complex healthcare information

flows, were identified as those having potential

for computer-assisted resolution of ambiguities in

terminologies and semantics. The group gathered

requirements for healthcare information interchange from the technical literature that provides

workflow and information flows for radiology

and referrals. Unfortunately, the practices at the

collaborating healthcare organizations reduced

the scope of work: Cleveland Clinic primarily

conducts referrals within their system; while

Union Hospital focuses on inpatient care and

does not use referrals; moreover both organizations employ proprietary homogeneous healthcare information systems. 

3. Identified ontologies relevant to the 

prototype scenario. 

For the radiology referral prototype scenario, the

ontologies will accommodate the DICOM

Structured Reporting (DICOM SR), the

Radiological Society of North America’s (RSNA)

RadLex terminology, as well as HL7. They

considered information models such as HL7’s

Reference Information Model (RIM) and process

models underlying clinical guidelines such as

Guideline Interchange Format (GLIF), Stanford’s

EON Guideline Model and the Object-oriented

Guideline Expression Language (GELLO).

4. Proposed an architecture for the application of

semantic mapping to healthcare data interchange standards.

The proposed architecture of the Shared

Ontology Service is a hybrid encompassing the

Mapping Ontology Service approach of Stanford

University and the common ontology approach

(e.g., UMLS); integrated with an HL7-compliant

Terminology Service and an open interface to

facilitate integration with other Ontology

Services or terminology services. The architecture will enable mappings at various levels:

activities/subactivities; inputs/outputs; resources;

and flow constraints - determined by the 

underlying metamodel.

5. Identified ontologies and semantic mapping

techniques for the selected scenario. 

The group used the UMLS Metathesaurus to

create semantic mappings. Concepts and associated expressions in the UMLS Metathesaurus are

used to create semantically equivalent translations while Parent/Child and Broader Term and

Narrower Term (BT/NT) relationships are used 

to create non-equivalent relationships 

between terms.

The work from this project will continue under the

Manufacturing Metrology and Standards for the

Health Care Enterprise program that was started 

in FY2005.

156Recently Completed Exploratory Projects

Special Activities
Measurements For Improved Communications

And Listening Equipment Effective In Noisy

Environments

I

dentifying the source and type of sounds can be quite critical to the U.S. 

military. For example, identifying the click of a bolt-action rifle of a sniper

preparing to fire could mean the difference between life and death. The

enhanced ability to detect, classify, recognize, and understand sound signals 

that must be received relies on more advanced techniques than conventional

amplification alone. Security and military applications would like to be able to

identify acoustic signatures and track ground vehicles, fixed and rotary-wing

aircraft, and cruise missiles.

In the future, advances in electronics, signal processing, the design and 

fabrication of miniature microphones and, particularly, arrays may allow 

new microphone and earphone systems to provide improved real-time 

detection of signals such as speech and acoustic signatures in the presence 

of interfering noise and reverberation, and even raise the possibility of 

“super-hearing” capability.

New and evolving equipment claims to enhanced communication, hearing, and

acoustical signal detection and tracking. These features are needed for emergency response, security, and military personnel in acoustically noisy environments. However, critical measurement capabilities still need to be developed.

These measurement capabilities are key prerequisites to the development of 

relevant protocols, performance data, and standards essential to the evaluation,

improvement and optimization of equipment for Homeland Security and U.S.

military applications. These applications range from communication, intrusion

detection, identification, tracking, and targeting of hostile personnel and vehicles, to locating the injured. This project team began laying the foundation for a

measurement service by investigating the necessary critical enabling measurement capabilities and researching applicable design, manufacture, and tests of

new acoustical array components and systems. 

157Recently Completed Exploratory Projects

Special Activities

Contact:

Victor Nedzelnitsky

vnedzelnitsky@nist.gov
Using NIST’s large anechoic chamber, the team

established the importance of measurement capabilities to determine free-field directional patterns, beam

patterns, and inter-microphone transfer functions of

arrays designed with desirable characteristics for

detecting signals in the presence of interfering

sounds. They modified and improved their current

equipment to develop an interim four-channel capability for measuring inter-microphone transfer functions and higher-resolution polar response patterns.

The team collaborated with Planning Systems, Inc.

(PSI) to: a) complete the NIST acoustical measurements that support the U.S. Army’s Acoustic Counter

Battery System Technology Demonstration program.

This program is an initiative to demonstrate a nonline-of-sight covert acoustic targeting capability to

better exploit the acoustic environment of the battlefield; and b) perform customized measurements

including free-field directional patterns, beam

patterns, and inter-microphone transfer functions for

prototypes of a classified directional array sponsored

by Department of Defense (DOD). One of the

project team members, Vic Nedzelnitsky was invited

and participated in a Defense Sciences Research

Council (DSRC) and Defense Advanced Research

Projects Agency (DARPA) study meeting on new

technologies (including acoustical technologies) and

possibilities for human sensory modulation for

jungle warfare. 

The project team plans to take advantage of 

opportunities in the future to attend meetings similar

to the DSRC/DARPA meeting to develop promising,

mutually beneficial interactions with colleagues,

customers, and partners. They plan to continue

working with PSI and other customers to further

develop our capabilities in this evolving area of

acoustic measurement science. The availability of

improved communications and rescue equipment

will benefit first responders (i.e., firefighters, rescue

and emergency medical service personnel, and

police), command and control personnel, National

Guard personnel, and the public they protect.

Improved communications capabilities, efficiency,

and coordination among law enforcement personnel

and emergency responders will save lives and

money, will better protect secure areas, and will

support forensic investigation and prosecution.

158Recently Completed Exploratory Projects

Special Activities
interagency

working group The National Science and Technology Council

Interagency Working Group 

on Manufacturing Research

and Development

Background

MEL plays a lead role in the newly formed National Science and Technology

Council (NSTC) Interagency Working Group (IWG) on Manufacturing

Research and Development. The IWG was chartered in 2004 in response to the

Commerce Department report, “Manufacturing in America,” to identify and integrate requirements, conduct joint program planning, and develop joint strategies

for the manufacturing research and development (R&D) programs conducted by

the Federal government. MEL is the NIST representative to this body, which is

chaired by the Commerce Department Under Secretary for Technology. The

IWG vice chair is the director of MEL; the MEL strategic relations manager also

has a key role in this effort. 

The NSTC was established by Executive Order in 1993 to coordinate the diverse

parts of the Federal R&D enterprise. Chaired by the President, the NSTC includes

the Vice President, the Assistant to the President for Science and Technology, and

Cabinet Secretaries and Agency Heads with significant science and technology

responsibilities.

The NSTC is charged with setting national goals for Federal science and technology investments in areas ranging from information technologies and health

research to improving transportation systems and strengthening fundamental

research. To support these goals, the NSTC prepares R&D strategies that are

coordinated across Federal agencies. Within the NSTC, the IWG is a forum for

developing addressing issues associated with manufacturing R&D policy,

programs, and budget guidance and direction. Designed to promote information

exchange among its participating agencies, the IWG builds upon the activities of

the Government Agencies Technology Exchange in Manufacturing (GATE-M).

159Interagency Working Group on Manufacturing Research and Development

Special Activities

Contact:

David Stieren,

david.stieren@nist.gov
Established and led by MEL, GATE-M put in place

mechanisms to: (1) enable the member federal agencies to exchange information about their manufacturing technical programs; (2) coordinate manufacturing R&D programs among federal agencies to

facilitate collaboration; and (3) provide a forum for

the agencies to advocate for manufacturing issues on

an interagency, national level. The MEL Director

chaired the GATE-M effort and the MEL Strategic

Relations Manager served as the GATE-M executive

secretary. 

The following agencies participate on the IWG: 

• Department of Agriculture

• Department of Commerce / NIST

• Department of Defense

• Department of Education

• Department of Energy

• Department of Health and Human Services /

National Institutes of Health (NIH)

• Department of Homeland Security

• Department of Labor

• National Aeronautics and Space 

Administration (NASA)

• National Science Foundation (NSF)

• White House Office of Management and 

Budget (OMB) 

• White House Office of Science and Technology

Policy (OSTP)

The functions of the IWG are to:

• propose policy recommendations for manufacturing R&D

• engage in interagency manufacturing R&D

program planning and budgeting

• review agency priorities and technical issues by

providing a forum for agencies to exchange

program-level information about their manufacturing R&D activities

• promote communications among the government, private sector, and academia on R&D

requirements and programs

• identify opportunities for collaboration, coordination, and leverage among agencies in specific

technical areas

• report and make recommendations to the

Committee on Technology and to OSTP regarding

Federal manufacturing R&D priorities and the

need for specific interagency activities to address

those priorities

While the IWG is focused on coordinating Federal

manufacturing R&D efforts, it will work with the

private sector to ensure that Federal activities are

well aligned with the needs of industry. The IWG

may seek advice from members of the President’s

Council of Advisors on Science and Technology

(PCAST) and from the private sector broadly, in a

manner consistent with the Federal Advisory

Committee Act (FACA).

160Interagency Working Group on Manufacturing Research and Development

Special Activities
Initial Results

I

n 2004 the IWG identified three manufacturing

R&D priority areas. Using a priority list developed

earlier by GATE-M and adding other priority topics

at their discretion, each agency identified its top

three or four priority topics. The IWG narrowed

down this list on the basis of national need, the need

for interagency collaboration, and the potential for

becoming a Federal budget priority. The IWG technical priority topics are being developed as the basis

of an IWG recommendation for a future coordinated, multi-agency budget initiative in manufacturing R&D. 

The three priority areas are:

• Intelligent and Integrated Manufacturing Systems

• Manufacturing for the Hydrogen Economy 

• Nanomanufacturing 

Interagency task teams chartered by the IWG are

preparing white papers that define the challenges

and technical approaches to them in each of the

three areas. MEL leads the Intelligent and Integrated

Manufacturing Systems team and participates on the

other two; all three priority areas are well aligned

with MEL’s programs. 

The high-level goal of the manufacturing R&D initiative is to lead the development and implementation

of advanced manufacturing technologies in these

key technology areas for the U.S. manufacturing

sector to benefit the U.S. economy. A secondary

goal is to increase the effectiveness of the overall

Federal manufacturing effort by improving planning,

coordination, and collaboration among Federal

agencies in these areas.

The IWG findings and recommendations will be

discussed with interested parties in the private

sector, including industrial associations and others

with a strong interest in manufacturing research and

development, to obtain their advice on and their

support for the proposed work. After any resulting

changes, the IWG white papers will be consolidated

into a report that will be submitted to the NSTC in

early 2005 for publication.

161Interagency Working Group on Manufacturing Research and Development

Special Activities
Intelligent

Manufacturing

Systems (IMS)

Program Goal 

The goal of the Intelligent Manufacturing Systems (IMS) program is to

develop, in a coordinated worldwide effort, the next generation of manufacturing and processing technologies. The primary work of the program is carried

out through a series of industry-led international research and development

(R&D) projects. The U.S. Secretariat that facilitates the participation of U.S. 

entities in the IMS program is located in MEL.

Introduction

I

MS grew out of an initiative from Japan proposed in 1989 by Professor

Hiroyuki Yoshikawa, then President of the University of Tokyo. His vision for

IMS was for a global system of industrial cooperation and technology sharing for

the benefit of mankind and in particular, for the benefit of entities involved in

IMS projects. The formal ten-year IMS program began in 1995 following a twoyear feasibility study (1992-1994) and is scheduled to conclude in April 2005. 

Technical Approach and Management

Each IMS project must have participants from no less than three regions.

Entities from all seven IMS regions – Australia, Canada, the European Union

and Norway, Japan, Korea, Switzerland, and the United States – are eligible to

collaborate on IMS projects and activities. 

IMS has a support structure for conducting projects that provides specific

arrangements for the protection of intellectual property rights (IPR) and enables

small enterprises to cooperative effectively and on equal footing with larger

ones. The ability to work cooperatively with leaders of technology and industry

to share costs, risks, and expertise is a necessity in today’s global environment.

IMS is the only major international research program that allows participants to

tap into a well-established global network of manufacturing innovation to help

162Intelligent Manufacturing Systems

Special Activities

Contact:

Clarence Johnson

ceejay@nist.gov

FTEs:

1.0

(program administration)

Annual Program Funds:

$370K
improve manufacturing operations, enhance international competitiveness, and lead to technology

breakthroughs via market-driven research and development (R&D). It provides access to technology that

might not be available within a region. The marketdriven character of IMS R&D means that academics

and researchers are part of an effort to transfer valuable technologies to future generations.

Five technical themes provide the broad framework

within which IMS operates. All projects must address

one of more of the following technical themes:

• Total Product Life Cycle,

• Process,

• Strategy/Planning/Design Tools,

• Human/Organization/Social; and 

• Virtual/Extended Enterprise.

IMS provides guidelines for preparing and submitting

project abstracts and proposals. All regions review

each submission for adherence to those guidelines

and the technical themes. The average length of an

IMS project from beginning to completion is three

years. Currently more than 550 companies and

research institutions including over 100 from the

U.S. are active in IMS research consortia.

The IMS International Steering Committee (ISC)

comprised of delegations from the member regions

manages the program according to the Terms of

Reference, the rules by which IMS governs itself. Mr.

Robert Cattoi, Rockwell International (retired), chairs

the ISC and Mr. Robert Kiggans, President and Chief

Executive Officer of ATI, is Head of the U.S.

Delegation. The IMS Inter Regional Secretariat (IRS)

currently located in Washington, DC, coordinates

the technical activities of IMS with the assistance of

a Regional Secretariat in each of the IMS regions

such as the one for the U.S. located in MEL. 

163Intelligent Manufacturing Systems

Special Activities
Impact of Phase I 

During Phase I of the IMS program –

• 16 projects have been completed; the U.S. participated in seven of them,

• 16 additional projects are ongoing; some are the

second phase of original projects,

• Three full proposals are awaiting endorsement

pending completion and signing of their

Consortium Cooperative Agreements,

• 14 abstracts have been endorsed and will

become full proposals shortly, 

• 19 outline proposals are in circulation and are

looking for additional partners,

• Over 300 million research dollars have been

expended to date, and

• Estimated expenditures for this year are expected

to be $55 million.

To date, 715 partners have been involved in IMSendorsed research. As the organization is industryled, over 70 % are industry partners. Last year’s

survey of all IMS projects reported that 100 % of the

project teams felt they had increased mutual trust

with their project partners, 96 % gained valuable

experience in international collaboration, 96 %

reported that their projects were and continue to be

successes, and 83 % reported that IMS provides an

“excellent” framework for project success. With 42

patent applications filed and 13 granted, 181 copyrights generated, ten licenses issued for background

and foreground, and presentations given at over

1300 meetings and symposia. IMS is already a

proven program. 

In addition to the projects generated during Phase I,

IMS sponsored other activities such as the Vision

2020 Forum held in Irvine, California, in 2000 that

identified a concept of “new manufacturing” operating as a service provider industry with new

systems of corporate architecture and highly integrated enterprise functions. Forum attendees identified ten key issues for global manufacturing in 2020.

The event was by invitation only and was attended

by representatives from all IMS regions.

The IMS Project Forum 2001 held in Ascona,

Switzerland, focused on the dissemination of the

technical and developmental efforts of the participating partners of the IMS program. Over 100 participants attended this event and twenty-five active

projects presented their activities. The Forum

provided an excellent platform for the IMS program

partners to present their research and development

activities and exchange their experiences and ideas.

The IMS Forum 2004 held in Lake Como, Italy, in

March, 2004 attracted 460 attendees who analyzed

trends and needs in manufacturing, disseminated the

scientific results of the research projects, stimulated

new projects and activities and provided IMS projects with an opportunity to have project meetings.

The attendance and results from this Forum helped

convince IMS management that a second phase of

the program was warranted.

164Intelligent Manufacturing Systems

Special Activities
Plans for Phase II of the IMS

Program

Based on the successes of Phase I of IMS and the

desire of member regions to continue the program,

the ISC is currently planning for Phase II. A working

group has completed a new Terms of Reference

(ToR) and this document is currently being submitted

to the governing authorities of the IMS regions for

approval. In the case of the United States, that

document will be submitted to NIST (the National

Institute of Standards and Technology) for legal

review. Once three regions have approved the new

ToR, Phase II of the program can begin. At the

present time, all current member regions have indicated an interest in participating in Phase II and new

member regions are expected to be added. Korea

will serve as the first chairman of Phase II and will

provide the facilities for the Inter Regional

Secretariat.

The IMS ISC has identified the following four goals

for Phase II of the program: 

1. Promote and strategically lead the advancement

of knowledge in manufacturing through various

IMS products and services. The #1 priority for IMS

is to continue to foster successful IMS projects.

2. Advance the esteem of manufacturing and in so

doing, establish the IMS brand image.

3. Encourage new-region involvement.

4. Support global manufacturing education 

and training.

IMS is the first worldwide program to address manufacturing challenges and sustainable production

systems in the 21th century. Its projects are vital in

shaping manufacturing today and through its current

projects and established research networks, will

continue to influence manufacturing science in the

future.

For further information including guidelines for

project formation, check the IMS website

(www.ims.org).

165Intelligent Manufacturing Systems

Special Activities
Systems Integration

for Manufacturing 

Applications (SIMA)

Customer Need 

The need to share computer-interpretable information among different software systems is very nearly as old as computing technology itself. Among

today’s information technology practitioners this need is typically referred to as

that of interoperability between software systems. 

When software systems lack an inherent capability to share information among

one another we say they are not interoperable. When businesses require software systems to be interoperable and they are not, problems ensue. These problems are typically manifested as data transfer errors and the extra staff time

required to manually fix or re-enter data from one system into another. The costs

resulting from such interoperability problems are high; annual costs of $1 billion

per year were documented in analysis of interoperability costs in the automotive

sector. Private sector estimates were put this figure at $20 billion per year.

Lack of desired interoperability between software systems can be found in every

industrial sector, in every software market, among different versions of the same

software, among identical versions of the same software on different platforms,

and even among identical versions of the same software on the same platform

reflecting conflicting usage of optional settings. NIST has partnered with industry

to address a variety of software interoperability problems. NIST’s efforts in the

solution of software interoperability issues are typically manifested as contributions to the technical content of voluntary standards through participation in

standards developing organizations; development of reference software implementations of voluntary standards; and development of procedures for testing

software that implements voluntary standards.

166SIMA

Special Activities

Contact:

Simon Frechette

simon.frechette@nist.gov
Such efforts have led to the adoption of software

interoperability solutions like the Structured Query

Language (SQL), the Initial Graphics Exchange

Specification (IGES), the Standard for the Exchange

of Product model data (STEP) and new business

communication standards such as ebXML. These and

similar NIST efforts are increasing the interoperability of software systems and resulting in concomitant higher labor productivity. Still, increasing

numbers of software interoperability solutions are

being sought for a multitude of industries. There are

multiple factors contributing to this growth in the

need for software interoperability solutions including

outsourcing of business functions, acquisitions/joint

ventures, increasing information technology (IT)

deployment, and increasing IT capabilities.

Technical Approach

SIMA supports technical efforts throughout all of

NIST’s laboratory organizational units. These

efforts contribute to the definition and creation of 

standards facilitating the exchange of manufacturing

data within and across all levels of the product 

realization process. Objectives include the 

establishment of: 

• Rigorous methods for defining and testing interoperability solutions. 

• Standards specifying information to be exchanged

as well as the interface mechanisms necessary to

do so. 

• Tests validating potential standards solutions and

implementations.

There are four principal reasons why industries seek

NIST’s involvement in solution of interoperability

problems:

• Neutrality – NIST has no vested interest in the

interoperability solutions being promulgated.

• Rigor/integrity/expertise – NIST has extensive

domain knowledge combined with an established

track record of contributions to interoperability

solutions.

• Breadth – NIST provides a multi-industry

perspective.

• Permanence – NIST has a long-term perspective

that is not subject to the whims of short-term

market dynamics.

167SIMA

Special Activities
SIMA Program Office

Activities

The SIMA program focuses on the development 

of domain-specific standards specifying 

information to be exchanged or shared or the 

interfaces among systems; rigorous methods to

define/test interoperability solutions; performance 

of tests validating potential standards solutions and 

implementations; standard reference data, and

internet-based mechanisms providing unique NIST

resources to industry practitioners. The SIMA

program provides unique NIST facilities and coordination of cross-domain activities. SIMA customers

include Aerospace, Automotive, Bio, Chemical,

Electronics, Engineered Materials, Industrial

Equipment, Pharmaceutical, Software Vendors,

Construction, Genomics, and Standards

Development Organizations.

2005 Projects

• Numerical Data Markup Language - UnitsML

• Infrastructure for Integrated Electronics Design

and Manufacturing

• Adaptable and Automated Testing Tools

• Visualizing Ontologies

• Interoperability of Databases for 

Inorganic Materials

• Data Standards for Structural Bioinformatics

• Development of Mathematical Content Semantics

• eBusiness Standards Convergence - eBSC

• Interoperability Standards for Capital 

Facilities Equipment

• Analytical Chemistry Data Interchange Standards

• Physical and Chemical Property Data 

Interchange Standards

• Integration of Building Environment Information

• Virtual Reality Standards & Integration of

Anthropometric Data

• Infrastructure for Neutron Reflectivity 

Component Integration 

NIST Cost Studies Available

Cost studies directed by the SIMA program have

proved extremely valuable to MEL and NIST. 

These include:

• Interoperability Cost Analysis of the U.S.

Automotive Supply Chain, 1999 (MEL)

• Economic Impacts of Inadequate Infrastructure for

Software Testing, 2002 (ITL/MEL)

• Economic Impact of STEP in Transportation

Equipment Industries, 2002 (MEL)

• Strategies for eManufacturing Standards 

(MEL), 2003

• Economic Impacts of Inadequate Infrastructure 

for Supply Chain Integration for Automotive

(MEL), 2004

168SIMA

Special Activities
Collaborations and Standards

Participation 

Researchers in SIMA-supported projects work

directly with 75 academic institutions; 36

consortia, national programs, professional and trade

associations; and over 49 individual companies.

Researchers in SIMA-supported projects are directly

involved in the development of at least 38 formal

interoperability standards. This work is conducted

through over 50 organizations, including national

and international formal standards organizations as

well as various consortia and trade associations.

NIST Interoperability Testbed 

Provides a venue for users and vendors to obtain

information on integration specifications, and to

test application interoperability during development

and implementation. Users, especially small companies, are increasingly subject to costs and risks in the

rapidly changing business environment. The testbed

combines software testing expertise and domain

expertise from multiple NIST labs. Using the testbed,

specification developers receive feedback from 

software developers and users on implementation

issues. Effective interoperability testing of

approaches and facilities has proven to significantly

reduce cost and cycle time associated with integration activities. The testbed will be offered as a webaccessible service, open to vendors, users, and

researchers. The testbed will provide a principal

mechanism for deployment of NIST integration

research and infrastructure tools to industry.

169SIMA

Special Activities
170
171

Commonly used Acronyms

acronyms

Acronyms

Commonly

used

Acronyms
A2LA American Association for Laboratory 

Accreditation

AAAI American Association for Artificial Intelligence 

AAMACS Advanced Automated Master Angle 

Calibration System

ACM Association for Computing Machinery

ADACS Advanced Deburring and Chamfering System 

ADL Architecture Design Language

AE Acoustic Emission

AE Acoustical Emission

AECMA The European Association of Aerospace 

Industries

AFM Atomic Force Microscope, Atomic Force 

Microscopy

AFMETCAL Air Force Metrology and Calibration Program

AGA American Gas Association

AGMA American Gear Manufacturers Association

AGV Automated Guided Vehicle

AIAG Automotive Industry Action Group

AIM Application Interpreted Model 

AIMS Agile Infrastructure for Manufacturing Systems

AMSANT Advanced Manufacturing Systems Applications

Networked Testbed

AMT Association for Manufacturing Technology

AMWA Association for Metropolitan Water Agencies

ANN Artificial Neural Network

ANSI American National Standards Institute 

AP Application Protocol

APDE Application Protocol Development 

Environment

APEC Asian Pacific Economic Cooperation

API American Petroleum Institute or Application 

Programming Interface

APMP Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation

ARL Army Research Laboratory

ARM Application Reference Model

ASA Acoustical Society of America

ASACOS Acoustical Society of America Committee on 

Standards

ASCII American Standard Code for Information 

Interchange

ASME American Society of Mechanical Engineers

ASPE American Society of Precision Engineers

ASRS Automated Storage and Retrieval Systems 

ASTM American Society for Testing and Materials 

(now called ASTM)

ATEP Algorithm Testing and Evaluation Program

ATM Asynchronous Transfer Mode

ATP Advanced Technology Program 

ATR Advanced Technology and Research

ATS Abstract Test Suite (related to STEP) or 

Algorithm Testing System

AWMS Automated Welding Manufacturing System

AWS American Welding Society

B2B Business-to-Business

B2B2C Business-to-Business-to-Consumer

B2C Business-to-Consumer

BCAC Boeing Commercial Airplane Company

BFRL Building and Fire Research Laboratory 

BIPM Bureau International des Poids et Mesures 

(France)

BITWO Best in the World

BMP Best Manufacturing Practices program

CAD Computer Aided Design

CAE Computer Aided Engineering

C-AFM Calibrated Atomic Force Microscope

CAID Computer-Aided Industrial Design

CALS Continued Acquisition and Life Cycle Support

172

Commonly used Acronyms

Acronyms
CAM Computer Aided Manufacturing

CAME Computer Aided Manufacturing Engineering

CAM-I Consortium for Advanced Manufacturing - 

International

CAPP Computer Aided Process Planning

CASE Computer-Aided Software Engineering

CBM Condition Based Maintenance or Condition 

Based Monitoring

CBN Cubic Boron Nitride

CC Consultative Committee or common criteria

CCAUV Comité Consultatif de l’Acoustique, des 

Ultrasons et des Vibrations

Consultative Committee for Acoustics, 

Ultrasound and Vibration 

CCD Charge-Coupled Device 

CCM Consultative Committee on Mass and Related 

Quantities

CD Critical Dimension, Committee Draft, or 

Compact Disk

CEN European Committee for Standardization

CENAM Centro Nacional de Metrologia (Mexico)

CGPM General Conference of Weights and Measures

CID Charge Injection Device

CIFP Capital Improvement of Facilities Project 

CIM Computer Integrated Manufacturing 

CIMOSA Computer Integrated Manufacturing Open 

Systems Architecture

CIPM International Committee of Weights and 

Measures (France)

CIRP College International Pour l’Etude des 

Techniques de Production Mecanique 

(International Organization for Production 

Engineering Research)

CMM Coordinate Measuring Machine

CMP Chemical-Mechanical Polishing 

CMS Coordinate Measuring System

CNC Computer Numerical Control

COGM Committee on Gear Metrology (ASME)

COM Component Object Model

COOMET Euro-Asian Cooperation Of National 

Metrological Institutions

CORBA Common Object Request Broker Architecture

CPM Core Product Model

CRADA Cooperative Research and Development 

Agreement

CSIRO Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial 

Research Organization (Australia)

CSTL Chemical Science and Technology Laboratory

CXO Chandra X-ray Observatory

DAIS. Data Acquisition from Industrial Systems

DAML DARPA Agent Markup Language

DARPA Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency

Dasa DaimlerChrysler Aerospace

DB Database

DBMS Database Management Systems

DCOM Distributed Component Object Model

DCS Distributed Control Systems

DETC/CIE Design Engineering Technical 

Conference/Computers in Engineering

DFM Danish Institute of Fundamental Metrology 

(Denmark)

DFM Design For Manufacture

DFT Design for Tolerancing

DHS Department of Homeland Security

DIS Draft International Standard

DLL Dynamic Link Libraries

DMIS Dimensional Measuring Interface Standard

DMS Distributed Manufacturing Simulation

DMSO Defense Modeling and Simulation Office 

173

Commonly used Acronyms

Acronyms
DNC Direct Numerical Control

DOC Department of Commerce

DOD Department of Defense

DOE Department of Energy

DOT DMIS Object Technology or Department of 

Transportation

DSP Digital Signal Processors 

DTD Document Type Definition 

DTM Diamond Turning Machine

DTRA Defense Threat Reduction Agency

DVM Digital Voltmeter

E2M Economically driven Environmentally 

conscious Manufacturing

EAL European Cooperation for Accreditation of 

Laboratories

ECD Electrical Critical Dimension 

ECSS Expert Control System Shell

EDI Electronic Data Interchange

EDM Electrical Discharge Machining 

EEEL Electronics and Electrical Engineering 

Laboratory

EIA Electronic Industries Alliance 

(changed from Electronic Industries 

Alliance in 1997)

EIF Enterprise Integration Framework

EMC Enhanced Machine Controller

EMI ElectroMagnetic Interference

EMMA Easily Manipulated Mechanical Armature

EMS Electronics Manufacturing Service

EPISTLE European Process Industries STEP Technical 

Liaison Executive

EPRI Electric Power Research Institute

ERM Enterprise Resource Management

ERP Enterprise Resource Planning

ETL Electrotechnical Laboratory 

EU European Union

EUROMET European Collaboration in Measurement 

Standards

EUSPEN European Society for Precision Engineering 

and Nanotechnology

EUVL Extreme Ultraviolet Lithography 

FAMU Florida Agricultural and Mechanical University

FBICS Feature Based Inspection and Control System

FCIM Flexible Computer Integrated Manufacturing

FDIS Final Draft International Standard

FEA Finite Element Analysis

FEM Finite Element Modeling

FHWA Federal Highway Administration 

FIM Field Ion Microscopy

FIPA Foundation for Intelligent Physical Agents 

FIPS Federal Information Processing Standard

FLIR Forward Looking Infra-Red

FMR Field Material-handling Robot

FOT Field Operations Test 

FSU Florida State University

FTD Fabrication Technology Division

FTP File Transfer Protocol

FY Fiscal Year (October 1 - September 30)

GDP Gross Domestic Product 

GDRS General Dynamics Robotic Systems 

GD&T Geometric and Dimensional Tolerancing

GERAM General Enterprise Reference Architecture

Model

GIF Graphics Interchange Format

GMAW Gass Metal Arc Welding

GOALI Grant Opportunities for Academic Liaison

with Industry (NSF program)

174

Commonly used Acronyms

Acronyms
GPL General Purpose Laboratory 

GPS Global Positioning System or Geometric 

Product Specification 

GUI Graphical User Interface

GUM ISO Guide to the Expression of Uncertainty in 

Measurements

HLA High Level Architecture 

HMMWV High Mobility Multipurpose Wheeled Vehicle

HPCC High Performance Computing and 

Communications

HRC Rockwell C Hardness

HTML HyperText Markup Language

HTTP Hyper Text Transfer Protocol

IAI Industry Alliance for Interoperability

IAMS Institute of Advanced Manufacturing Sciences

IAV Industrial Autonomous Vehicle

IBIS Integrated Ballistics Identification System 

IC Intelligent Control, International Comparison, 

or Integrated Circuit

ICM Internet Commerce for Manufacturing

IDEF Integrated Computer-Aided Manufacturing 

Definition

IDL Interface Definition Language

IE Industrial Engineering, Invested Equipment

IEC International Electrotechnical Commission

IEEE Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers

IFIP International Federation for Information 

Processing

IGES Initial Graphics Exchange Specification

IGRIP Interactive Graphics Robot Instruction 

Program

IGT Institute for Gas Technology

IITA Information Infrastructure Technology 

Applications (HPCC program)

IMES Initial Manufacturing Exchange Specification

IMES Initial Manufacturing Exchange Specification

IMGC Instituto di Metrologia “G. Colonnetti” (Italy)

IMS Intelligent Manufacturing Systems

IMTI Integrated Manufacturing Technology Initiative

IMTR Integrated Manufacturing Technology 

Roadmap (http://imtr.ornl.gov/)

IMU Inertial Measurement Unit

INAOE Instituto Nacional de Astrofisica, Optica, y 

Electrónica in Tonantzinla, Puebla, Mexico 

INMETRO Instituto Nacional de Metrologia, 

Normalizacao e Qualidade Industrial (Brazil) 

Brazilian National Measurement Institute in 

Rio de Janeiro

INS Inertial Navigation System 

IP Internet Protocol

IPM Intelligent Processing of Materials

IPO IGES/PDES Organization

IPR In Process Review

IR Infrared (light)

IS International Standard

ISAM Indexed Sequential-Access 

Management/Method

ISATP International Symposium on Assembly and 

Task Planning

ISD Intelligent Machines Division

ISIC/CIRA/ISAS Three combined conferences: IEEE 

International Symposium on Intelligent 

Control, IEEE International Symposium on 

Computational Intelligence in Robotics and 

Automation, and the Intelligent Systems and 

Semiotics conference

ISMT International SEMATECH

ISO International Organization for Standardization 

– not an acronym according to ISO

ISOMA International Symposium on Manufacturing 

and Applications

ISPE International Society for Pharmaceutical 

Engineering

175

Commonly used Acronyms

Acronyms
IT Information Technology or Industrial 

Technology

ITA Interim Testing Artifact

ITL Information Technology Laboratory

ITRS International Technology Roadmap for 

Semiconductors

ITS Intelligent Transportation Systems 

ITU International Telecommunication Union

JAST Joint Advance Strike Technology (a DOD 

program)

JAUGS Joint Architecture for Unmanned Ground 

Vehicle Systems (DOD)

JCGM Joint Committee for Guides in Metrology

JEDMICS Joint Engineering Data Management 

Information Computer Systems

JPEG Joint Photographic Experts Group

JPL Jet Propulsion Laboratory

JSW Joint Standards Workshop

KEMAR Knowles Electronics Manikin for Acoustic 

Research

KIC Key International Comparison

KIF Knowledge Interchange Format 

KRISS Korea Research Institute of Standards and 

Science

LARCS Laser Rail Calibration System

LDWS Lane Departure Warning Systems 

LFAD Laser-Focused Atomically Deposited

LIGO Laser Interferometric Gravitational-wave 

Observatory

LLNL Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory

LM Layered Manufacturing

LMT Large Millimeter Telescope 

LSI Line Scale Interferometer

LVDT Linear Variable Differential Transformer 

M2A Manipulation, Measurement, and Assembly

M3 Molecular Measuring Machine

MAA Metrology Automation Association

MADE Manufacturing Automation Design Engineering

Project (a DARPA project)

MANTECH Manufacturing Technology (a DOD program)

MAP Measurement Assurance Program

MBE Molecular Beam Epitaxy

MCITT Manufacturer’s CORBA Interfact Testing Toolkit

MEL Manufacturing Engineering Laboratory

MELSA MEL System Administration team

MEMS Micro-electromechanical systems

MEP Manufacturing Extension Partnership

MES Manufacturing Execution System

METK Manufacturing Engineering Tool Kit

MfgDTF Manufacturing Domain Task Force (OMG)

MfgTF Manufacturing Task Force (an OMG program)

MFPT Society for Machinery Failure Prevention 

Technology 

MIDMAP Mid-America Measurement Assurance 

Program — regional grouping of 

U.S. state metrology labs for national key 

comparisons

MISSION Modeling and Simulation Environments for 

Design, Planning and Operation of Globally 

Distributed Enterprises 

MITT Manufacturing Information Technology 

Transfer

MOB Mobile Offshore Base

ModSAF Modular Semi-Automated Forces, a standard 

military simulation tool

MPA NRW Materialprüfungsamt Nordrhein–Westfalen 

(Germany) 

MR Manufacturing Resource

MRD Materials Reliability Division 

(NIST Materials Science and Engineering 

Laboratory)

176

Commonly used Acronyms

Acronyms
MRP Material Requirements/Resource Planning

MSA Microscopy Society of America

MSEL Materials Science and Engineering Laboratory

MSI Manufacturing Systems Integration

MSID Manufacturing Systems Integration Division

MTBF Mean Time Between Failures 

MWG Technical Working Group under SIM

NADC Naval Air Development Center

NAMAS National Measurement Accreditation Service 

(England)

NAMT National Advanced Manufacturing Testbed

NASA National Aeronautics and Space 

Administration 

NSA National Security Agency

NAVLAP National Voluntary Laboratory Accreditation 

Program

NC Numerically controlled (machine tools and 

equipment)

NCAP Network Capable Application Processor 

NCMS National Center for Manufacturing Sciences

NCS A&T North Carolina State Agricultural and 

Technical University

NCSL National Conference of Standards Laboratories

NDE Non-Destructive Examination

NEMAP Northeast Measurement Assurance Program —

regional grouping of U.S. state metrology labs 

for national key comparisons

NEMS nanoelectromechanical systems 

NGIS Next Generation Inspection System

NGM Next Generation Manufacturing

NHTSA National Highway Traffic Safety Administration

NIAP NIST/NSA National Information Assurance 

Partnership

NICS NIST Identifier Collaboration Service

NIF National Ignition Facility

NII National Information Infrastructure

NIIIP National Industrial Information Infrastructure 

Protocols

NIJ National Institute of Justice

NIM National Institute of Metrology (China)

NIST National Institute of Standards and Technology

NISTIR National Institute of Standards and Technology

Interagency/Internal Report

NIST-IR NIST Industrial Robot

NITS NIST - ITI Test System

NMI National Metrology (Measurement) Institute

NORAMET North American Metrology Cooperation (with 

NRC of Canada and CENAM of Mexico)

NPL National Physical Laboratory (U.K. or India)

NRC National Research Council (U.S. and Canada)

NRL Naval Research Laboratory

NRLM National Research Laboratory of Metrology 

(Japan)

NRO National Reconnaissance Office

NSA National Security Agency

NSF National Science Foundation

NSRP National Shipbuilding Research Program 

NTA National Technical Association

NTEP National Type Evaluation Program 

NTRS National Technology Roadmap for 

Semiconductors

NVLAP National Voluntary Laboratory Accreditation 

Program

OA Other (government) Agency

OAC Open Architecture Control

OAG Open Applications Group

OAGIS Open Applications Group Integration 

Specification

OAS Organization of American States

177

Commonly used Acronyms

Acronyms
OASIS Organization for the Advancement of 

Structured Information Standards

OEM Original Equipment Manufacturer

OEOSC Optics and Electro-Optics Standards Council

OI Operator Interface

OIDA Optoelectronics Industry Development 

Association

OIML Organization Internationale de Metrologie 

Legale International Organization of Legal 

Metrology

OLES Office of Law Enforcement Standards (NIST)

OMA Object Management Architecture

OMAC Open Modular Architecture Controller

OMG Object Management Group

OMP Office of Microelectronics Programs

OpenADE Open Assembly Design Environment

ORB Object Request Broker

ORMC Oak Ridge Metrology Center

ORNL Oak ridge National Laboratory

OSD Office of the Secretary of Defense

OSRM Office of Standard Reference Materials

OWL Web Ontology Language

OWM Office of Weights and Measures (NIST)

PAC Personal Air Conditioning 

PC Printed Circuit or Personal Computer

PCMCIA Personal Computer Memory Card International

Association

PCSRF Process Control Security Requirements Forum

PDES Product Data Exchange Using STEP

PDM Product Data Management

PED Precision Engineering Division

PKM Parallel Kinematic Machines

PL Physics Laboratory

PLC Programmable Logic Controllers

PLM Polarized Light Microscopy

PMI Phase Measuring Interferometer

POAC Precision Optoelectronics Assembly 

Consortium

POSC Petrotechnical Open Software Corporation

PRT Platinum Resistance Thermometer

PSD Power Spectral Density

PSL Process Specification Language or Problem 

Statement Language

PTB Physikalisch-Technische Bundesanstalt 

(Germany)

Pt-Ir Platinum Iridium

PVDF Polyvinylidenefluoride

PWI Preliminary Work Item 

PZT A ceramic piezo-electric material used in 

actuators and ultrasonic

Q&V Qualification and Validation 

QIA Quality In Automation

R&D Research and Development

RaDEO Rapid Design Exploration and Optimization 

program

RAMM Rapid Agile Metrology for Manufacturing (an 

ATP sponsored program)

RAMP Rapid Acquisition of Manufactured Parts (a 

DoD sponsored program)

RCS Real-Time Control System

RCSA Receptance Coupling Substructure Analysis

RDF Resource Description Framework

RFP Request For Proposals

RIA Robotics Industries Association

RM Research Material 

RMS Root Mean Square

ROI Return On Investment

RP Rapid Prototyping

RRL Rapidly Renewable Lap

178

Commonly used Acronyms

Acronyms
RRM Rapid Response Manufacturing

RSS Root Sum Squares 

RST Robot Systems Technology

RSTA Reconnaissance, Surveillance, and Target 

Acquisition

RTI Run-Time Infrastructure or Real Time 

Innovations, Inc.

SAE Society of Automotive Engineers

SAIC Science Applications International Corporation

SBIR Small Business Innovation Research

SC Subcommittee (under ISO)

SCADA Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition

SCLD Scanning Capacitance Line Detector

SDAI Standard Data Access Interface

SDX Simulation Data Exchange 

SEI Software Engineering Institute at Carnegie 

Mellon University

SEM Scanning Electron Microscope, Scanning 

Electron Microscopy

SEMAP Southeast Measurement Assurance Program —

regional grouping of U.S. state metrology labs 

for national key comparisons

SEMATECH SEmiconductor MAnufacturing TECHnology 

consortium (formally changed to International 

SEMATECH in 2000)

SEMI Semiconductor Equipment and Materials 

International

SET Single Electron Tunneling

SFF Solid Freeform Fabrication

SGML Standard Generalized Mark-up Language (an 

ISO standard)

SI Systeme Internationale d’Unites (the modern 

metric system)

SIA Semiconductor Industry Association

SIF Solid Interchange Format

SIGMA Supersonic Inert Gas-Metal Atomizer

SIM Systema Interamericano de Metrologia; 

Interamerican System of Metrology 

(English translation)

SIMA Systems Integration for Manufacturing 

Applications

SIMOX Separation by Implantation of Oxygen

SIP STEP Implementation Prototype

SLA Stereolithography apparatus

SME Small/Medium Enterprise

SOI Silicon-On-Insulator

SOLIS SC4 On-Line Information Services

SPIE The International Society for Optical 

Engineering

SPM Scanning Probe Microscopy, Scanning Probe 

Microscope

SQL Standard Query Language

SRM Standard Reference Material

STEP STandard for the Exchange of Product model 

data

STL Stereolithography

STM Scanning Tunneling Microscope, Scanning 

Tunneling Microscopy

STRS Scientific and Technical Research and Services

(NIST appropriated budget)

STS Scanning Tunneling Spectroscopy

SWAP Southwest Measurement Assurance Program 

— regional grouping of U.S. state metrology 

labs for national key comparisons

SXPL Soft X-ray Projection Lithography

TACS Tactical Auxiliary Crane Ship

TAG Technical Advisory Group

TC Technical Committee (under ISO)

TCP Transmission Control Protocol

TDP Technical Development Plan, Technical Data 

Package

TEAM Technologies Enabling Agile Manufacturing 

(DOE)

179

Commonly used Acronyms

Acronyms
TEDS Transducer Electronic Data Sheet 

TEM Transmission Electron Microscope, 

Transmission Electron Microscopy

TIDE Technology Insertion, Demonstration, and 

Evaluation program of SEI

TIMA Technologies for the Integration of 

Manufacturing Applications (ATP program)

TIMS Testing of Interaction-driven Manufacturing 

Systems

TIS Tool Induced Shift

TLM Technology Learning Modules

UdeBW Universitat de Bundeswehr (German)

UGV Unmanned Ground Vehicle

UHV Ultrahigh Vacuum

ULSI Ultra Large Scale Integration 

UML Universal Modeling Language

UN/CEFACT United Nations Centre for Trade Facilitation 

and Electronic Business

USNC United States National Committee of IEC

USNWG United States National Working Group

US TAG United States Technical Advisory Group

USPRO United States Product Data Association

UTAP Unified Telerobotic Architecture Project

UTRC United Technologies Research Center

UV Ultraviolet (light)

VA Department of Veterans Affairs

VIM International Vocabulary of Basic and General 

Terms in Metrology

VLSI Very-Large-Scale Integrated... 

VRML Virtual Reality Modeling Language

W Tungsten

W&M Weights & Measures

WG Working Group

WGDM Working Group on Dimensional Metrology

WRAP West Region Measurement Assurance Program

— regional grouping of U.S. state metrology 

labs for national key comparisons

WWW World Wide Web

XCALIBIR X-ray Optics Calibration Interferometer

XML Extensible Markup Language

XRT X-ray Topography

XSLT eXtensible Style Language for Transformations

XUV Next Generation Unmanned Vehicle

180

Commonly used Acronyms

Acronyms
181

Commonly used Acronyms

Acronyms