June 27, 2019 – Precision motion specialist PI (Physik Instrumente) adds an integrated XY stage to its positioning stage roster, all powered by ultrasonic piezo-linear motors. The patented motors provide smooth motion, high resolution and rapid step and settle response while the self-clamping drive principle locks the platform in place without power, an advantage in applications where position stability and low power consumption matter.
The U-723 XY stage provides 0.8” travel per axis, with a footprint of 42x42mm (1.6x1.6”).
Its profile of 21mm (~0.8”) and design allows for integration into tight spaces. In addition to high resolution (10 nanometer linear encoders) it provides motion up to 200 mm/sec and rapid step/settle performance.
To take advantage of the operating principle, providing performance with settling times in the millisecond range while maintaining high resolution and smooth operation, ultrasonic motors benefit from control strategies, such as automatic switchover between several static and dynamic PID parameter sets and adaptive frequency tracking. PI offers a number of ultrasonic motion controllers (C-867 and C-877 product families) available in desktop, rack-mount, and OEM configurations. An ASIC chip containing the motion control algorithms is also available for OEM customers. A software package is included: drivers and example programs for LabVIEW, dynamic libraries for Windows and Linux, MATLAB are available. Interfaces include TCP/IP, USB, RS-232 and analog.
