Drives & Controls - March 2001

Precision motorised positioning systems meet automation needs

High precision motorised positioning systems appropriate to precision automation applications in manufacturing and test are new from PI.

In particular, two unique products are based on Hexapod designs. The M-850 six axis robot (pictured above right) provides up to 100mm of linear travel with a step resolution of 1 micron and up to 60 degrees of rotary motion with 5 microradians resolution. Applications of the robot include micro manufacturing, device testing and micro surgery. Meanwhile, the F-206 automated alignment system is a compact version of the m-850 appropriate to fibre alignment, photonics packaging, optical device testing, MEMS positioning and micro-machining applications.

Also new from PI is the IntelliStage stepper motor driven linear positioner with built in controller and a new series of compact motor driven stages. Operation of the IntelliStage requires no more than an RS232 link to a host PC. Integrating the controller into the stage minimises space requirements, improves system reliability by reducing component numbers, and provides simple plug and play operation. By contrast, a new design of compact motor driven stage offers a small footprint. The M-110 and M-111 stages provide up to 15mm of travel with a resolution of 0.05 microns.

• PI
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