Volna Engineering Mission

For the past thirty years, Volna Engineering has provided one-of-a-kind solutions to difficult measurement and tooling problems for the aerospace and defense industries.  Significant trademarks of Volna Engineering design embody the principles of "kinematic coupling," as follows:

• Any free solid body has six possible degrees of freedom in space -- three of translation and three of rotation.
• If a body has six degrees of constraint, then it has no freedom.
• If a body has more than six, then a condition of stress exists.
• Removal of constraints, one at a time, allows additional degrees of freedom for a specific task in any machine or measuring instrument.
• A machine element with one necessary degree of freedom and more than five degrees of constraint will have uncertain performance (hysteresis), higher friction, and higher cost.

If you are currently planning a device, product, or machine that must possess high precision performance for the least cost, consider the use of "kinematic coupling" design principles.  Contact Volna Engineering for consulting fees and possible fabrication details.  One day seminars are encouraged.

Products of Kinematic Design

The following photos of Volna Engineering products are examples of kinematic design that have successfully stood the test of time with undiminished performance:

• Gyro Test Table
• VTAS Nonmagnetic Head Tracker Accuracy Test Station
• VTAS Roll Pitch Helmet Fixture
• Head Tracker Accuracy Test Station
• Air Bearing Nonmagnetic Flight Simulator

Other Products

• Environmentally Controlled Portable Astronomical Observatory

Customers

• Chung Shan Institute of Science and Technology, Taiwan
• Honeywell
• Kavouras
• Micro Component Technology Corp. (MCT)
• Minnesota Mining & Manufacturing (3M)
• Unisys
• U.S. Air Force Wright Patterson AFB
• U.S. Navy, Bremerton, WA

Volna Engineering Facility

Volna Engineering is a sole proprietorship founded in 1968 in Minneapolis, Minnesota, by William M. Volna, a graduate mechanical engineer.

The 4,000-square-foot company-owned facility contains a wide selection of lathes, milling machines, grinding machines, and welding equipment.  Computer-aided design is used in all design drawings and documentation.

Recently, in a separate facility, Volna Engineering has added an optical fabrication shop with a 16-inch diamond curve generator, several Strasbaugh polishers, a 16-foot optical bench, a 21-inch vacuum coater, and a 35-inch vacuum coater.

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