MicaSense RedEdge Upper Enclosure: From Billet to Final Product

Manufacturing the upper and lower enclosures for MicaSense’s line of RedEdge cameras is a great example of the state-of-the art in Level Engineering’s manufacturing capabilities.

Part 1. Machining 

The upper enclosure begins as a 3 ½” x 2 ½” x 1 ¾” billet of Aluminum. This billet starts its journey in the 4th axis of our Haas CNC Mill. The fourth axis enables us to perform three operations with a single setup. In the same program, the final operation is done on the part using a soft jaw fixture. This means every time the operator opens the doors on the mill, a finished part comes out and a blank goes in, resulting in increased machine throughput.

To overcome tool mark issues on cosmetic surfaces of the finished part, we adopted a brush grinding operation in the mill. Our experience has taught us that brushing within the machining cycle is far more economical than adding additional mechanical finishing processes such as vibratory tumbling. The end result of dialing in the brushing feed rate and bristle construction is a clean, tool mark free surface ready for anodization. 

Part 2. Finishing

The fine crinkle finished aluminum on many popular electronics including Apple MacBooks is  highly desired, but quite difficult to achieve in low-medium volume production environments. Although typically specified as  a light bead blast with Type II clear anodize, Level Engineering has migrated to chemical processing after extreme attention is paid to reduce tool marks during milling. The enclosures are finished with proprietary etching and Type II clear anodize at an outside vendor. We are able to adjust our machining process and work closely with the vendor to achieve our desired finish. 

Part 3. Laser Engraving

After anodization, the enclosures are laser engraved with the customer logo and product information. We use custom 3D printed and machined fixtures, made in house, for our Epilog Mini Helix 18 laser engraver to engrave very small text in places with minimal margin for error.  ​

Part 4. Post Machining

The last step of the manufacturing process is to machine some of the anodize surface away to expose a conductive surface at the mating features.

Post Machined Part

Part 5. Packaging and Shipping

Finally, each part is heat sealed in a plastic bag and shipped to the customer. 

Finished Parts Ready For Shipping