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Motion Control – Custom Linear Mechanisms

February 12th, 2019

Editor

Custom Linear Mechanisms from Steinmeyer …

Welcome to Where Precision Is. You Can Turn to Steinmeyer for Design and Assembly of Custom Linear Mechanisms for your Precision Positioning Systems
Modern mechatronic systems consist of numerous precision components that must be assembled in complex configurations. Here, every detail counts.Steinmeyer Mechatronik, a division of August Steinmeyer GmbH, offers design and assembly services for a variety of demanding applications.We have deep experience in medical devices, laboratory instrumentation, optical inspection & semiconductor positioning. Our engineers can implement your finished design or optimize your concept.

For Example …

Mask Aligner for Laser Microstructuring

High-precision positioning in semiconductor technology

The mask system provides the fine adjustment and exact alignment of exposure masks in semiconductor lithography. The XY theta adjustment has three linear axes (two vertical and one horizontal) and has a parallel kinematic structure. The two vertical axes generate vertical stroke (same movement) as well as rotation (opposite movement). Parallel alignment of the three drives enables movement in three degrees of freedom; mechanical redundancy in determination is thus ruled out.

Special materials for use in demanding environments

The mask system was specially developed for use under ultraviolet radiation and in an ultra-dry nitrogen atmosphere. These specific environmental conditions require special materials and lubricants. Thus, to minimize stray radiation, all structural parts are coated with a Bilathal coating that absorbs ultraviolet radiation. It also uses a highly specialized lubricant based on perfluoropolyether. PFPE oil exhibits excellent chemical stability and extremely low outgassing even under ultraviolet radiation. It is also thermally stable, non-flammable and insoluble in water, acids, bases and most organic solvents.

Optimized maintenance concept

For maintenance, the system can be moved laterally out of the optical axis into service positions. A magnetically pre-stressed quick-change mechanism provides quick and easy replacement of the mask in just a few steps when necessary. Maintenance of the motors and initiators, which are designed as exchangeable modules, is just as uncomplicated

Steinmeyer has decades of experience in precision assembly. All of our systems, whether single or multi-axis, are manufactured carefully. Our high standards, monitored continuously through vigorous quality systems, are evident in every assembly we produce. We pay attention to every detail.

Trust Steinmeyer With Linear Mechanism Solutions:

- We can assemble custom linear mechanisms of all sizes – from miniature actuators using 3 mm linear rails, to 3 m long lifting mechanisms.
- As an added value, our engineers will offer innovative ideas for optimizing your design.
- We can quote a completely assembled module, including sourcing of key components!
- We offer our customers the advantage of a close working relationship, enabling us to provide you with the best possible solution to meet your needs.

Contact Person for Custom Linear Modules

Bruce Gretz

Phone: 781-273-6220

Bruce Gretz bruce.gretz@steinmeyer.com

About Steinmeyer

In the realm of linear motion control, Steinmeyer is synonymous with precision, innovation, and exacting standards of quality. We are the world’s longest continuously-operating manufacturer of commercial ball screws, our main product line. As an added value, we offer customized linear modules from our highly innovative and experienced Mechatronik division. Designed and manufactured in Germany, our products are used globally in precision positioning for medical devices, lab instruments, and other mechatronic applications. Steinmeyer engineers will work closely with you to customize our offering to deliver a solution that meets your technical requirements and budget.

For further information on Steinmeyer our extensive product portfolio, call 1-781-273-6220 or visit Steinmeyer at: www.steinmeyer.com

Other Steinmeyer Motion Control Ball Screw Blog

Measure Very Small Angular Displacements Of Very Small Parts With Low Cost Digital Autocollimator

February 7th, 2019

Editor

Forestville, CA, — The AC201 2 axis high performance angular displacement Digital Autocollimator System from Equipment Solutions, Inc. is a very compact high precision instrument designed to measure very small angular displacements with high sensitivity over distances to 2.0 in. (5.06 cm). The AC201 Digital Autocollimator is therefore ideal for instrumentation, tooling, and OEM manufacturers with requirements for high precision alignment, flatness, squareness of surfaces in relation to each other, detection of angular movement, shaft straightness, motion control, and other orientation measurements. This rugged and compact 1.0 in. x 1.1 in. x 1.3 in. (2.5 cm x 2.8 cm x 3.3 cm), low cost digital autocollimator can interface with a PC.

The AC201 Digital Autocollimator has an optical angular range of ±344 arc sec (±100 mrad), and a sensitivity of 0.2 arc sec (1.0 µrad). The laser has a beam diameter of < 0.125 in. (<3 mm) and requiring only a slightly larger reflection surface. Electrical requirements are: +5.0 VDC @ 30 mA. The AC201 Digital Autocollimator can be factory configured with one of several different interfaces including Analog, USB, SPI, or quadrature encoder. The black anodized (per MIL-A-8625C) 6061-T6 Aluminum body has 2x 4-40 mounting holes and integral electronics and connections are via a Nano D9 or USB connector.

Supplied with a Windows® application software and more than 24 ASCII commands for control and operation, the AC201 Digital Autocollimators are able to perform complex data collection and analysis. They are ideal for: Vibration analysis, mechanical and optical alignments, servo control feedback, tip & tilt measurements, settling time and stage damping analysis, and measurements needed in the manufacturing and testing of miniature mirrors and lenses, linear and rotary stages, fiber optic components, robotic components, and medical analytical devices.

Click Here for

Specifications
Angular Range
Interface Drawings
Downloads

Equipment Solutions, Inc. (ESI) is a provider of engineering and manufacturing services. ESI specializes in the design and production of automation and instrumentation products including motion control components and sub systems. ESI’s products range from galvanometer amplifiers with an integrated arbitrary waveform generator, to high-resolution displacement sensors, voice coil and stepper motor stages, amplifiers and controllers.

For additional information contact Jeff Knirck at Equipment Solutions,Inc. Mailing Address – PO Box 159, Forestville, CA 95436; Shipping Address 6490 Front Street, Forestville, CA 95436; Tel: 408-245-7162, Fax: 408-245-7160, E-Mail: info@equipsolutions.com or visit the Website at http://www.equipsolutions.com

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Motion Control – New POSITAL Sensors – Precision Feedback for Collaborative Robots Available from Electromate!

February 4th, 2019

Editor

POSITAL Kit Encoder for Servomotors and Robots

Vaughan, Ontario, Canada — Motion Control Components — A very exciting development in the area of robotics is the development and growing popularity of so-called collaborative robots, or “cobots”. Cobots, in contrast to traditional industrial robots, are designed to interact with human workers in a shared workspace. They are typically smaller and less powerful than traditional factory robots and are equipped with a variety of proximity sensors, load sensors and other features designed to avoid dangerous collisions between the robots and the people working around them. This focus on safety means that cobots are easier to deploy in a normal factory setting, since they don’t required special fenced off operating areas. Cobots have been used to perform repetitive tasks in light assembly, packaging, materials handling and medical laboratories. Cobots have also been used to help workers avoid direct contact with environments not conducive to direct human interaction, such as high temperature environments, chemically aggressive reagents and toxic pathogens.

Enabling Technologies for the Cobot Revolution

Many cobots are designed to mimic a human arm, with flexible “shoulder”, “elbow” and “wrist” joints. Accurate measurement of the rotary position of these joints is central to enabling the cobots’ control system to keep track of the spatial orientation of all of its moving parts. This is typically provided through rotary encoders mounted in each of the device’s joints.

Encoders measure rotation and return a digital signal that reports the angle of rotation (absolute encoders) or rate of motion (incremental encoders) to the control system. The ‘right’ encoders for cobots need to be accurate, reliable, and compact, with excellent dynamic response characteristics. They also need to be reasonably priced. POSITAL-FRABA has responded to this challenge by developing new sensing technologies – such as magnetic and capacitive rotary encoders – that provide cobot manufacturers vital feedback for closed-loop control systems. In order to ensure that these devices meet the needs of cobot builders, POSITAL-FRABA offers products with a wide range of performance characteristics, communications interfaces and physical configurations.

POSITAL‘s kit encoders offer a unique combination of accuracy, reliability and cost efficiency. Absolute measurement versions provide 17 bit electrical resolution and multiturn position measurements with a range of more than one million revolutions.

Electrical Resolution: Up to 17 Bit, Multiturn: Up to 32 Bit
Accuracy: 0.1°
Compact Size: 36 mm diameter, 24.2 mm Height
Operating Temperature: -40 to +105°C
Auto Calibration − No Complex Equipment
Extensive Diagnostic Coverage
Various Programmable Parameters
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Advantages

POSITAL’s contact free measurement technology has no moving parts and is highly resistant to shock and vibration. POSITAL’s kit encoders are available with several non-proprietary electrical interfaces including BISS and SSI for absolute measurements. Additional protocols based on the RS485 interface can be implemented.

Absolute Multiturn & Incremental Interface
Electrical Interface: BiSS C, BiSS Line, SSI, RS485
No Battery – No Maintenance
No Ball Bearings & Compact Design
Insensitive to Dust and Moisture
High Shock and Vibration Resistance

Upgrade Your Existing Motion Control Application

Making your transition from incremental to absolute position sensing easy, POSITAL provides a full line of versions that are mechanical drop in replacement for common US Digital and Broadcom (Avago) incremental kit models.

Same Footprints as E5 and HEDS-5500 Models
Various Hub Diameters from 4 mm to 10 mm (and 1/4 to 3/8 inch)
Identical Assembly Procedure – No Training Required
Magnetic Technology Which Is Generally More Robust Than Optical
Improved Connectivity via M12 Connector Additional Available

CLICK HERE for additional information about POSITAL Kit Encoder for Servomotors and Robots.

About Electromate:

Electromate’s Core Purpose is to help Manufacturers build better machines using differentiated automation technology. They specialize in Robotic and Mechatronic Solutions for the Industrial Automation marketplace. Respected by customers as a premiere source for High Performance Automation and Motion Control Components & Systems, Electromate® specializes in AC & DC Servo and Stepper Motors & Drives, Motion & Automation Controllers, Positioning Systems & Actuators, Feedback Devices, Gearing Products and HMI’s & Operator Displays, all supported via extensive product selection, just-in-timedelivery, dedicated customer service and technical engineering support.

Motion Control – Maxon Launches Additional EtherCAT Motion Controllers!

February 1st, 2019

Editor

Motion Control – Maxon Motor – “The EPOS4 product family is now complete.”

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Fall River, MA — Motion Control Components – With the EPOS4 series, maxon is offering a reliable and extremely versatile platform of high-performance motion controllers. It addresses the needs of system integrators and fulfills the requirements of a variety of applications, such as industrial automation, apparatus engineering, and robotics. The platform is now being complemented with two new Compact EtherCAT models.

The highly successful EPOS4 positioning controllers made by maxon motor are scalable and consistently support a uniform set of functionalities and connection options. Modularity with different designs (module, compact, or encased version) ensures optimal integration in a wide variety of applications. The controllers offer excellent dynamic properties, control quality, and power density while requiring only minimal installation space. In addition, their automatic controller setting makes them ideally suited for easy control of both brushless (BLDC) and brushed DC motors.

Now with dual loop control

Maxon is expanding its family of EPOS4 products with two new EtherCAT Compact controllers (24/1.5 and 50/5). At the same time, maxon is upgrading the capabilities of the entire platform by enabling dual loop control. Dual loop control simultaneously controls motor and load feedback for optimum performance within the system. The EPOS Studio software ensures the minimum possible set-up times with its automatic Regulation Tuning feature.

Condition monitoring for added value

However, the EPOS4 has many additional capabilities: for example, the controller continuously delivers hundreds of data points about the drive system for online condition monitoring and transmits this data to a higher-level system via CANopen or EtherCAT in real time. This supports complex predictive maintenance systems that anticipate impending failures to avoid costly repairs, resulting in higher productivity and lower cost.

For more information about our EPOS controllers, please visit epos.maxonmotor.com

Contact maxon for more details info@maxonmotorusa.com

Comprehensive documentation and software are included with every delivery, and are also available for you to download from our website at www.maxonmotor.com.

Motion Control – High Precision, Low Profile, Compact 100 mm Motorized Rotary Stage Available from OES!

January 25th, 2019

Editor

Van Nuys, CA – — Motion Control – Optimal Engineering Systems, Inc. (OES) now offers a high precision, low profile, compact motorized rotary stage, the AY110-100-SC. This precision stage is just 1.772 in. (45 mm) high and the foot print is only 4.764 in. by 6.693 in. (121 mm by 170 mm). The stage has a pattern of threaded mounting holes in the rotary table and holes in the base for easy integration into new and existing applications. The diameter of the table is 3.937 in. (100 mm) and the range of travel of the AY110-100-SC Rotary Stage is a full 360o and it is capable of continuous rotation. The table is driven by a 180:1 worm gear at up to 14o per second and has a resolution of 0.0001o with a 10 micro-step per step stepper motor driver. The stage is also available with a servo motor and optical encoder. When configured with the standard stepper motor there is a knob for manual adjustment which can be replaced with an optical encoder for precision position verification

The low cost, low profile AY110-100-SC rotary stage features a parallelism of 80 microns, a backlash of 0.0005o, surface roundness of 15 microns, positional accuracy of 0.001o, and a transmission deviation of 5 microns making it ideal for: Microscopy, laser positioning and machining, inspection, assembly, testing, and other critical applications. This black anodized stage has a load capacity of 99 lbs (45Kg) and there is an indicator scale for visual sighting of the angle of rotation. The stage can be ordered plug-and-play with a fully compatible controller from OES.

About OES – Optimal Engineering Systems, Inc. (OES) is a manufacturer of motion control products including: Stepper motor controllers and drivers, solenoid electronics, and positioning stages and slides. Applications include: Animation, automated assembly systems, automation, CNC machines, flight simulation, inspection systems, linear and rotary stages, machine tools, medical devices, motion control camera boom systems, optical comparators, CMMs, pan-tilt gimbals, PCB assembly & inspection, pick-and-place, positioning stages, robotics, scanners, security cameras, telescope drive mechanisms, time-lapse photography and winders.

Some of the industries OES serves are: Aerospace, Astronomy, Chemical, Communications, Educational Institutes, University, Colleges, Government Agencies, National Labs, Manufacturing, Medical, Metrology, Military, Motion Control, Museum, News Agencies, Semiconductor and Test Equipment. Optimal Engineering Systems, Inc’s. competitive advantage is its state-of-the-art in-house manufacturing facility in North America enabling OES to supply clients with custom designed orders or high volume just-in-time deliveries globally.

For additional information, contact sales team at: OES, 6901 Woodley Ave.; Van Nuys, CA 91406; Telephone: 888-777-1826 or +1 818-222-9200, FAX +1 818-436-0446 or E-Mail: sales@oesincorp.com or visit the website at http://www.oesincorp.com

Motion Control – IP65 Integrated Stepper Motors Available from Servo2Go!

January 22nd, 2019

Editor

Greenville, DE —-Motion Control – Applied Motion’s SWM integrated steppers are IP65 rated drive+motor units, fusing step motor and drive components into a single splashproof and dustproof device. This space-saving design eliminates wiring and saves on cost over conventional motor and drive solutions.

The motion control SWM24 integrated steppers combine high torque NEMA 24 step motors with a sophisticated, 6.0 A/phase (peak-of-sine) step motor drive. Power to the drive, located at the rear of the motor, must be supplied by an external DC supply. Applied Motion offers compatible 24 and 48 volt DC power supplies for exactly this purpose.

All SWM24 integrated steppers are RoHS and CE compliant.

Features include:

Torque to 340 oz-in

Rated IP65 for wet and dusty environments

M12 connectors

Anti-resonance

Torque ripple smoothing

Microstep emulation

NEMA 24 frame size

Stored programming option for stand-alone operation

Step direction, velocity and streaming command control modes

RS-232, Ethernet and EtherNet/IP Communication options

Modbus/RTU for easy communication with PLC or HMI
Built-in incremental encoder

CLICK HERE Here for information on these IP65 Integrated Steppers

These and other Motion Control Products are available through www.Servo2Go.com

For further information on this new product or others in our extensive product portfolio, call 1- 877-378-0240 or e-mail Warren Osak at warren@servo2go.comor visit Servo2Go.com at: www.Servo2Go.com