They are also able to measure friction coefficients, one of the most difficult problems in micromachine technology, using a micro electrostatic linear actuator. The motor was created using the same process as for ICs. Rotation of 15,000 rpm was obtained. In 1988, its micromachine research budget was distributed among eight universities, and in 1989 funding was provided to eleven universities. There are also several micromachining facilities in Europe, including Germany's Fraunhofer-Institut, Techische Universitat Berlin, Kernforschungszentrum Karlsruhe Institut fur Mikrostrukturetechnik and the Netherlands University of Twente.
Research concentrates mostly on sensors.
These facilities receive subsidies both from the EC and from their respective countries. In Japan, numerous creative studies related to micromachine technology have been made. For example, prototypes of a micro Stirling engine with high thermal efficiency as a microactuator have been developed at the U Tokyo, a microvalve using silicon at Tohoku U and a 500nmx500nm active integrated optical micro-encoder, which has 0.01 mum resolution, at NTT Applied Electronics Laboratories. These technologies, which mainly use semiconductor production techniques, represent only a small part of micromachine production technology. Research in this field is still in its infancy, and many problems remain to be solved.