tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11968319524968299172024-03-19T02:31:34.821-07:00PI Physik InstrumenteThis blog spotlights innovative applications of precision motion control, positioning, nanopositioning and micropositioning. We hope it is an enjoyable and informative resource, and a starting-point for cross-pollination and recombinant innovation across disciplines. Please let us know your comments and suggestions!Nanopositioning / Motion Controlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07337941712953551365noreply@blogger.comBlogger38125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1196831952496829917.post-78050822627065971352019-04-29T13:21:00.001-07:002019-04-29T13:21:19.006-07:00Advanced Servo Algorithm Adapts to Different Loads on Positioning Stage in Real Time: <br />
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ServoBoost™ is a real-time automatic
adaption to load changes for ACS motion controllers: The video shows how
an ACS motion controller with ServoBoost™ automatically maintains the
performance and stability of a high-precision motion stage despite a
significant load changes.<br />
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More Information on <a href="https://www.pi-usa.us/en/apps-tech/applications/automation/smarter-motion-positioning/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Precision Automation and Motion Control</a> Nanopositioning / Motion Controlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07337941712953551365noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1196831952496829917.post-6799189800006909232019-04-16T14:03:00.000-07:002019-04-17T07:56:30.717-07:00Piezo Motors and Interferometers: Nanometer PrecisionThe video shows how a piezo linear motor can be controlled using feedback from a laser interferometer. Resolution to 0.15 nanometers is feasible. <br />
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Learn More on <a href="https://www.pi-usa.us/en/tech-blog/sub-nanometer-resolution-piezo-linear-motor-with-interferometer-feedback-pi/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Piezo Linear Motor Control with Interferometer Feedback </a>Nanopositioning / Motion Controlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07337941712953551365noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1196831952496829917.post-53229805270742095572019-04-15T10:35:00.002-07:002019-04-15T10:41:11.922-07:00Positioning Technology Gets Smart - Active Alignment Intelligent precision motion and positioning systems can perform active alignment tasks important in optics, and photonics applications such as fiber-to-chip alignment, SiP wafer level alignment, lens optimization etc. Autonomous and simultaneous optimization, will affect a range of global industrial sectors.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img alt="https://www.photonics.com/Articles/Positioning_Technology_Gets_Smart/p5/vo170/i1117/a64412" border="0" data-original-height="932" data-original-width="650" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjuyOFw_3xvCXd-hQ78-1lp4NKD4aaXlmZCWiSS-TKLOqwcGnRu5anLIpWpIEhCZIU_5I0vkXoieFbOyQdShoZWwf8XYbBNLGDH7HKEDbWP9DqvY7FucXBdhu3rc9JPvnjzfldRHTyijrh2/s640/Active_Alignment_Lenses_PI.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="Even the smallest camera lenses today consist of multiple elements that need to be aligned for optimized resolution and performance" width="444" /></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Even the smallest camera lenses today consist of multiple elements that need to be aligned for optimized resolution and performance</td></tr>
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More information on <a href="https://www.photonics.com/Articles/Positioning_Technology_Gets_Smart/p5/vo170/i1117/a64412" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">active alignment and intelligent positioning technology</a>.</div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjM82QZ7-tGkwNXh2nrINvSOpoS6dgNYOR8q7547NqaaXdmx_E3mgNLBuKOxB3MWWKD-UZq4rZk0Ej9czdfQmLjhRd5bMO2b63sJFaK79l42G0R8kIkg32iUfgjTI4THM-pyJkiMzlWGTk1/s1600/SiP_Wafer_Alignment.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="433" data-original-width="650" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjM82QZ7-tGkwNXh2nrINvSOpoS6dgNYOR8q7547NqaaXdmx_E3mgNLBuKOxB3MWWKD-UZq4rZk0Ej9czdfQmLjhRd5bMO2b63sJFaK79l42G0R8kIkg32iUfgjTI4THM-pyJkiMzlWGTk1/s400/SiP_Wafer_Alignment.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Silicon photonics wafer prober integrates a fast active photonics alignment system based on hexapods and parallel-kinematic piezo scanners for high-throughput optical probing of on-wafer silicon photonic devices. Courtesy of Cascade Microtech, division of FormFactor Inc.</td></tr>
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<br />Nanopositioning / Motion Controlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07337941712953551365noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1196831952496829917.post-88106570581969884512019-04-15T07:56:00.000-07:002019-04-15T07:56:06.344-07:00Advances in Compact Precision Motorized Linear StagesAdvances in drive and encoder technology have made it possible to design compact positioning equipment, such as used in scientific and industrial applications that can combine high precision, with load capacity and affordability.<br />
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The L-505 linear translation stage family is available with
integrated linear encoders down to 5 nanometers resolution. Applications include photonics, optics assembly and high resolution microscopy.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEguBjNt9xghEE1VLb9nS-wgm-J35djG0Hz19mKlniJbloTXNt_58NaqsS0tD5A1r34KAH-elpknaYeFbEXWcImfq9ZSUXgRdxPv2oj3RbPgiHfAvgi66QA7AwwoLvEx4PHnV9sii0cyNGNG/s1600/L505_Miniature_Linear_Stage_Family_V1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1081" data-original-width="1600" height="270" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEguBjNt9xghEE1VLb9nS-wgm-J35djG0Hz19mKlniJbloTXNt_58NaqsS0tD5A1r34KAH-elpknaYeFbEXWcImfq9ZSUXgRdxPv2oj3RbPgiHfAvgi66QA7AwwoLvEx4PHnV9sii0cyNGNG/s400/L505_Miniature_Linear_Stage_Family_V1.jpg" width="400" /> </a></div>
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Technical specifications on the <a href="https://www.pi-usa.us/en/products/positioning-stages-linear-rotary-motorized-precision/precision-motorized-linear-stages/l-505-compact-linear-stage-1201910/" target="_blank">miniature precision linear stage</a></div>
Nanopositioning / Motion Controlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07337941712953551365noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1196831952496829917.post-90565062028589149212016-04-06T13:15:00.000-07:002019-04-15T07:57:33.347-07:00New White Papers and Blog Posts at www.pi-usa.us/blog<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>Many new White Papers and articles on precision motion and positioning have been added to our new BLOG on the PI USA website.</b><a href="https://www.pi-usa.us/en/tech-blog/" target="_blank"> www.pi-usa.us/blog </a></span><br />
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Nanopositioning / Motion Controlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07337941712953551365noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1196831952496829917.post-90508235365771910772015-03-09T14:15:00.000-07:002016-04-19T13:35:21.756-07:00A Forceful Answer to the Latest Challenge in Precision Industrial Motion ControlA host of applications can benefit from high-throughput, high-precision position control combined with accurate force control and metrology. These include:<br />
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<li>Delicate, fast automated assembly procedures where position vs. force is important;</li>
<li>Materials testing of compliance, damping or other physical characteristics;</li>
<li>Production testing of touch- and force-sensitive and haptic components;</li>
<li>Precision pick-and-place of sensitive componentry at high speeds.</li>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmXg9HTRaIhsI1FP0-FVoQtyl-ama8yU7s-nuo-oi24zSla2nsDUqaA87NM9uqlrLaOObvUqNY2iW8nIK7UN0yXHdc5u2tBMG2fouSB4APqDrUWY2aqPLUYbGb7yFvOjUFpUxGHVQN5e2m/s1600/V-273.430.431.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="182" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmXg9HTRaIhsI1FP0-FVoQtyl-ama8yU7s-nuo-oi24zSla2nsDUqaA87NM9uqlrLaOObvUqNY2iW8nIK7UN0yXHdc5u2tBMG2fouSB4APqDrUWY2aqPLUYbGb7yFvOjUFpUxGHVQN5e2m/s1600/V-273.430.431.jpg" width="320" /></a>Until now, no integrated solution has been available that addresses the needs of OEM and industrial applications of this sort-- especially their throughput and uptime requirements, but also including sensitivities to the milli-Newton level, submicron positional resolution, and smooth, automatic transitions between position- and force-control regimes.<br />
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Besides offering ultraprecision position control with up to 250mm/sec speeds, PI's innovative new <a href="http://www.pi-usa.us/products/Linear-actuator-linear-pusher/precision_actuator_overview.php#VC">V-273 PIMag Voice Coil Linear Actuator</a> and compact <a href="http://www.physikinstrumente.com/product-detail-page/c-413-900710.html">C-413 PIMag Controller</a> provide a revolutionary combination of capabilities for high-throughput generation of precision forces and positions. </div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjHlwlnJNZSA6jbYCHzD8KtUH3kh5D-3IKqZeefcRNBdZGsbP0rCiZtFK-7On6gSuixrFEZn2osJjFUwip9XcKdjn-CYnqftLZ1BYI1lvq9X9Mvoc3qTJpqneD61g1hTAoNMwjcpX-yp5YP/s1600/Screen+Shot+2015-02-06+at+11.06.57+PM.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="73" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjHlwlnJNZSA6jbYCHzD8KtUH3kh5D-3IKqZeefcRNBdZGsbP0rCiZtFK-7On6gSuixrFEZn2osJjFUwip9XcKdjn-CYnqftLZ1BYI1lvq9X9Mvoc3qTJpqneD61g1hTAoNMwjcpX-yp5YP/s1600/Screen+Shot+2015-02-06+at+11.06.57+PM.png" width="320" /></a>High-speed interfaces including real-time DIO, and high-speed TCP/IP Ethernet and USB 2 interfaces are available. A 100nm position encoder is integrated into the mechanism; a force sensor with 5 milli-Newton resolution is optional. The C-413 controller allows swift position or force control and offers combined force-and-position control. An integrated data recorder provides sub-sub-millisecond acquisition for later retrieval, or the standard DIO interface is programmable and can provide triggering of motions or external equipment based on position or increment. <br />
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C-413 is supported by PI's extensive software offering, including PI MikroMove (a comprehensive Windows GUI) and comprehensive dynamic libraries for Windows, Linux and OS X. Alternatively, since this unit utilizes the same General Command Set that all PI controllers do, you can communicate with it via simple ASCII strings-- ideal for legacy automation controllers often found on factory floors. Broad and deep support for LabVIEW is provided, and also offered is support for National Instruments' CompactRIO Programmable Automation Controllers. The system is readily controlled via its standard TTL DIO interface or available 24V EMI-resistant DIO interface, suitable for the noisiest factory floors. If desired, an integrated ground path to the tip can be configured.<br />
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We introduced this new system with <a href="http://www.photonicsonline.com/doc/from-the-show-actuators-for-test-and-assembly-0001">a compelling demonstration at BIOS/Photonics West</a> in San Francisco, where it ran all week generating nearly a quarter million mN-precision force/position transitions with speeds to 250mm/sec, with in informative graphical application that explained what was going on. A brief close-up video of the force-actuator tip is presented below; it includes a 120 fps segment that vividly shows the fast, smooth, force-controlled motions of this remarkable new actuator as it gently impacts a glass substrate, each step concluding with the precisely calibrated force set-point.<br />
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V-273 is just part of a rapidly-growing family of catalog and custom solutions offering different travels and force capabilities. <a href="mailto:Ask-an-Engineer@pi-usa.us?subject=Question%20for%20Engineering:">Contact</a> one of our global offices for expert consultation, responsive support, and cost-effective recommendations for your application.</div>
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Nanopositioning / Motion Controlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07337941712953551365noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1196831952496829917.post-68450935550651046292013-09-11T12:14:00.000-07:002016-04-19T12:37:01.870-07:00Many Tacks to Attack the Stack When faced with a multi-axis motion application, many users stack motion stages, and in fact that is <br />
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a fine approach for assemblies of just a few axes. But as applications become more complex, so do the equivalent stacks-of-stages, and very real and practical considerations begin to come into play:<br />
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<a href="http://www.pi-usa.us/products/images/Hexapod_Systems_Overview_YouTube.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><br /></a></div>
<ul>
<li><b>Stiffness</b>. Some stage manufacturers publish stiffness specifications in terms of axial deviation per unit force, but this is of little utility in estimating the dynamic performance of a stage ...or a stack. A more pertinent metric is the resonant frequency, as it integrates both the effective coefficient of stiffness of a mechanism and the summed mass of its construction. (Accordingly, knowing F<sub>res</sub> means you can easily estimate the possible step/settle time for a well-tuned closed-loop stage: approximately [3 F<sub>res</sub>]<sup>-1</sup>). In our experience, most high-quality conventional linear stages will exhibit resonant frequencies on the order of 75-120Hz, unloaded. Stack them, and the resulting structure can have significantly limited responsiveness and long settling times.</li>
<li><b>Inconsistent dynamics</b>. The bottom stage in a stack carries the mass of the entire stack, and so on up to the top stage, which carries only the application load. So tuning is a laborious, axis-by-axis process, with different settings for each axis... and consequently different responsiveness.</li>
<li><a href="https://www.youtube.com/embed/zE7so4-vfMo?rel=0" target="_blank"><img alt=" https://www.youtube.com/embed/zE7so4-vfMo?rel=0" border="0" src="http://www.pi-usa.us/products/images/Hexapod_Systems_Overview_YouTube.jpg" /></a></li>
<li><br /></li>
<li><b>Inflexible rotation-centerpoint placement</b>. Stacked stages place the center of their tip/tilt and rotation motions at the geometric centers of each rotation-stage and goniometer bearing. These can sometimes be arranged to coincide at a desired point in space (for example, at the focal point of a lens) via custom adaptor plates and fixtures, but this takes time and effort and is inflexible should application needs change. And significant changes can alter the dynamics of the stack, necessitating a re-tuning of each axis... again.</li>
<li><b>Cabling</b>. Cables are a fact of life in motion control, and managing them deserves more attention than it often gets. To begin, cables can be a conduit for vibration that can impact an entire application setup in un-obvious ways. Even one's choice of <a href="http://www.pi-usa.us/blog/tracking-down-nanometer-instabilities-every-detail-matters/" target="_blank">draping the cables off an isolation platform</a> can influence an application's overall stability and performance in profound ways. As a stage moves, any cable being dragged along can contribute to parasitic motions and other errors. Stiff cables can do so even if arranged in a non-dragging manner. Cables can break and snag and come loose, contributing to premature failures that can be hard to diagnose. And generally, these problems scale with the number of axes in a user-stacked system. (Manufactured stacks sometimes benefit from integrated cable management.) </li>
<li><b>Central aperture</b>. Many applications--especially in optics--benefit from transmissive construction of the motion stack. This is difficult or impossible to achieve with a stacked structure of many axes.</li>
<li><b>Size, weight and fragility</b>. Simply stated, stacks can be substantial in height and mass. And since the bottom stages bear the burden of the entire tall stack, their bearings are vulnerable to brinelling and other damage from inadvertent forces. Besides inviting damage from elbow-knocks when set up, this often necessitates disassembly for shipping, adding cost and hassle and introducing variability when reassembled. </li>
<li><b>Orthogonality and parasitic errors</b>. Stacked axes interact in complicated ways; for example, runout in the X axis is seen as unwanted motion in the Y and Z axes; angular deviation of an axis similarly imparts motion in the travel-directions of the other axes, with magnitude proportional to the distance to the moving axis. And in stacks, that multiplicative lever-arm can be large.</li>
</ul>
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<h3>
Solution: Attack the stack</h3>
It may seem like hyperbole, but <i>all</i> these issues can be avoided by utilizing principles of <i><b>parallel </b></i><br />
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<a href="http://www.pi-usa.us/products/Micropositioning_Stage_Hexapod/hexapod-6-axis-stage.php#mini" target="_blank"><i><b><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1iJxoo_uvZBNiz-WnlTIzIvODjOTDiTLXaAPB_REXDQzzKxFtrXrBqwuooOasPK-_b7VdOmmDg8qlhpr0zkcr_i5RCip7doz5d5r1k9dF5TouV-U7RGAUivqCcDfe1m3hgYFBUs_LIAAx/s1600/M811-arrows_6-Axis_and_Hexapods.jpg" /></b></i></a></div>
<i><b>kinematics</b></i>. Instead of a tall stack of all the necessary axes with the workpiece perched on top, such systems support a single workpiece in parallel by a tripod or hexapod structure, forming a much stiffer yet lighter-weight structure than is possible by stacking. The best examples of the breed utilize non- or minimally-moving internal cables with conveniently integrated cabling to the controller. User tuning requirements can be eliminated while providing precision and accuracy that can surpass the performance of some of the best available <i>single</i>-axis stages.<br />
<br />
<h3>
Today's easy-to-use controls</h3>
In prior years, the main obstacle to choosing this class of mechanism was the challenge of controlling the workpiece in a user-friendly way, using familiar Cartesian coordinates (X, Y, Z, θ<sub>X</sub>, θ<sub>Y</sub>, θ<sub>Z</sub>). This changed with the introduction of PI's first hexapod two decades ago. That instrument utilized a fully-integrated industrial PC-based digital controller running clever firmware that transparently managed the coordinate transformation process, providing unprecedentedly flexible control in all six degrees of freedom with a <i>programmable rotational center-point</i>, settable by a single software command.<br />
<br />
<h3>
One Stop, Many Solutions </h3>
These innovations set the tone for PI miCos' broad array of parallel kinematic mechanisms: innovative solutions that can actually cost less than stacks of six stages of commensurate performance. Today's offering benefits from years of continuous advancement in mechanical design and controls engineering. Our newest controller integrates an ultra-modern, industrial-class real-time operating system and provides such features and options as TTL motion triggers, analog position-waveform definition, standard internal data recorder with optional analog input, and a high-speed network interface for integration into factory automation systems and remote access. Its sophisticated software support includes comprehensive LabVIEW libraries, MATLAB support, a convenient GUI for setup and test, and well-documented dynamic libraries for Windows, Linux and OS X.<br />
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<h3>
Two families of parallel kinematics</h3>
Today, PI miCos offers two basic architectures for six-DOF mechanisms: six-legged hexapods, and three-legged SpaceFabs:<br />
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<h4>
<a href="http://www.pi-usa.us/products/Micropositioning_Stage_Hexapod/hexapod-6-axis-stage.php#mini">Hexapods</a><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-RzZdZtsvElHKEm-Ngf9F9C8cHLli474N5-Pdrv_VtXUKxpNUo8lNQ7a5jRmOjVz_Hulsn3P89MFRU-PF33ZBIbH3KK9qv_4ajLafzub9NLQwWZ7PkSJ9eazN4LKEqqymlhThcxMPbG12/s1600/M850-high-load_6-Axis_and_Hexapods.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="142" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-RzZdZtsvElHKEm-Ngf9F9C8cHLli474N5-Pdrv_VtXUKxpNUo8lNQ7a5jRmOjVz_Hulsn3P89MFRU-PF33ZBIbH3KK9qv_4ajLafzub9NLQwWZ7PkSJ9eazN4LKEqqymlhThcxMPbG12/s200/M850-high-load_6-Axis_and_Hexapods.jpg" width="200" /></a></div>
</h4>
The hexapods utilize a variety of motion technologies for the actuator legs, ranging from brushed or brushless DC servo-motors to high-force PiezoWalk™non-magnetic actuators. Both fixed- and extendable-strut designs are utilized depending on application needs. <br />
<h4>
<a href="http://www.pi-usa.us/products/Micropositioning_Stage_Hexapod/hexapod-6-axis-stage.php#SpaceFAB">SpaceFabs (Planar Pods)</a><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgDkHr9ExmJsuW1WKcQRuaXKGWNajNrwmAeSpgXXKydf_y_uAv3FeoCEUME8nacj2atJ7ZUwfagne_QI0QUCZx4zRmRzrfRNrQaBKQ8kJiHL9Md40xoNBrvr_ZoY9DGotWgD7CCELEbFc75/s1600/Vacuum_SpaceFab_SF-450PS_350.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="138" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgDkHr9ExmJsuW1WKcQRuaXKGWNajNrwmAeSpgXXKydf_y_uAv3FeoCEUME8nacj2atJ7ZUwfagne_QI0QUCZx4zRmRzrfRNrQaBKQ8kJiHL9Md40xoNBrvr_ZoY9DGotWgD7CCELEbFc75/s200/Vacuum_SpaceFab_SF-450PS_350.JPG" width="200" /></a></div>
</h4>
These innovative tripod mechanisms utilize three fixed-length legs and three XY actuation modules which provide extended transverse travels for the assembly. Motion technologies can include piezomotors, rotary and linear DC servomotors, and stepper motors.<br />
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</div>
<h3>
Many roles for stacks</h3>
Let's be clear: we like stage stacks. We sell lots of stage stacks. Stage stacks are entirely appropriate for applications of all kinds. But that's the benefit of having a deep toolbox and a global team with broad and deep experience across a multitude of disciplines: we draw on that experience in consultation with our customers, choosing (or custom-developing) optimal solutions and cross-pollinating from related applications in other fields. <br />
<br />
<h3>
Bring us your "impossible" requests!</h3>
Maybe they are impossible... or maybe they just require a fresh approach, or a trick from another application field. Mission-critical PI miCos technology is at the heart of much of today's highest tech, from semiconductor manufacturing, to photonics packaging and test, to genomics, to single-molecule biophysics, to ultra-resolution microscopy. Put our experience to work on your problems!<br />
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Nanopositioning / Motion Controlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07337941712953551365noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1196831952496829917.post-78599285809504476332013-04-22T22:13:00.000-07:002016-04-19T13:22:51.026-07:00PI miCos: A high density of solutions for the rarified world of vacuum<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijUkmj8f-RgZveRZXT9RPeTMWkb-jFhnbzCaCAfOWXJG5xCwGEPGqkdofHyE7GTxQjd5uwliwhkNOK_WvRnNiEeuIEOg-bz6qgiLpbLSC3BqSE0_xd360rcgMmpnAvDa88QJpfaQrEs5CO/s1600/Screen+Shot+2013-04-22+at+9.24.35+PM.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="176" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijUkmj8f-RgZveRZXT9RPeTMWkb-jFhnbzCaCAfOWXJG5xCwGEPGqkdofHyE7GTxQjd5uwliwhkNOK_WvRnNiEeuIEOg-bz6qgiLpbLSC3BqSE0_xd360rcgMmpnAvDa88QJpfaQrEs5CO/s200/Screen+Shot+2013-04-22+at+9.24.35+PM.png" width="200" /></a></div>
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_SH0iSSJMYTqvud3b5hoPsiHERLnH0zM65hMKuvEklp_XvIJDutQ4H7iy6hw_0d6yAlxB3C3sMCJ2SVcyCcLyEM2HPTCDVCKnCkjUVsvVsfREoBsuOIFVIQck4smc8Dsylam86cfD7q4L/s1600/Screen+Shot+2013-04-22+at+9.06.45+PM.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="223" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_SH0iSSJMYTqvud3b5hoPsiHERLnH0zM65hMKuvEklp_XvIJDutQ4H7iy6hw_0d6yAlxB3C3sMCJ2SVcyCcLyEM2HPTCDVCKnCkjUVsvVsfREoBsuOIFVIQck4smc8Dsylam86cfD7q4L/s320/Screen+Shot+2013-04-22+at+9.06.45+PM.png" width="320" /></a>Since the last millenium, serving research and industrial needs for positioning equipment for vacuum and cryogenic applications has been a key focus for PI miCos. These many years of expertise have yielded some of the most sophisticated design, manufacturing and support capabilities for the field available anywhere. A host of off-the-shelf and customized configurations are offered, as are highly configured integrated assemblies of multiaxis motion for environments to 10<sup>-9</sup> mbar. A small sampling is presented below.<br />
<br />
In addition to having built impressive design and fabrication capabilities, PI miCos has deployed dedicated applications teams to support key fields, such as our recently-announced Beamline Instrumentation Group, which has its own field-specific website at <a href="http://beamlineinstrumentation.com/">BeamlineInstrumentation.com</a>. Also see our earlier post, <a href="http://physik-instrumente.blogspot.com/2013/01/little-motions-for-big-physics.html">Little Motions for Big Physics</a>.<br />
<br />
Besides <a href="http://www.pi-usa.us/blog/precision-motion-and-positioning-equipment-on-mars-rover-curiosity-still-going-strong/">the PI miCos positioning equipment currently hard at work on Mars</a>, a host of more Earthly applications can benefit from these capabilities, including:<br />
<ul>
<li>Diffractometry</li>
<li>Ellipsometry</li>
<li>Particle beam instrumentation</li>
<li>Synchrotron beamline equipment</li>
<li>Microlithography</li>
<li>Nanoimprint lithography</li>
<li>E-beam, ion beam and Auger microscopy...</li>
</ul>
As high-vacuum applications continue to spread throughout the research and technology world, constant innovation and continuous improvement of design and manufacturing processes are needed just to keep up. Partnering with a source of acknowledged expertise will help your application be productive sooner and keep costs down. Have a tough vacuum positioning application? See our web resources and tutorials <a href="http://www.pimicos.com/web2/en/0,9,100,vc_stage.html">here</a> and <a href="http://www.pi-usa.us/products/precision_positioning_pi-micos/Vacuum_Precision_Positioning_Stages_Mc.php">here</a>, and consult your local PI miCos applications professional today.<br />
<br />
<br />
<table border="0" style="width: 100%;">
<tbody>
<tr><td><img alt="" src="http://www.pi-usa.us/products/precision_positioning_pi-micos/_img_vacuum/vacuum_rotation_stage_PRS_135.jpg" /></td><td><b><a href="http://www.pi-usa.us/products/precision_positioning_pi-micos/Rotary_Stage_Datasheets_Mc/High_Vacuum_Rotation_Stage_PRS.pdf">Ultra-High-Vacuum Rotation Stage with High Precision </a></b><br />
<ul>
<li>Reproducibility to 0.0002 deg (bidirectional)</li>
<li>Rotational Velocity to 200 deg/second</li>
<li>Payload to 50 kg</li>
<li>Optional High Resolution Encoder</li>
<li>Clear aperture up to 120 millimeters</li>
</ul>
</td></tr>
<tr><td><img alt="" src="http://www.pi-usa.us/products/precision_positioning_pi-micos/_img_vacuum/Vacuum_Linear_Stage_upm160_uhv.jpg" /></td><td><b><a href="http://www.pi-usa.us/products/precision_positioning_pi-micos/Linear_Stage_Datasheets_Mc/High_Vacuum_Precision_Linear_Positioner_UPM160.pdf">Ultra-High-Vacuum Positioning Table with Extreme Accuracy UPM-160 UHV </a></b><br />
<ul>
<li>Positioning Range to 205 millimeters (8 inches)</li>
<li>Unidirectional Position Reproducibility to ±0.02 microns</li>
<li>Max. Velocity 100 mm/second</li>
<li>Payload to 35 kg</li>
<li>Linear scale encoder (center mounted)</li>
</ul>
</td></tr>
<tr><td><img alt="" src="http://www.pi-usa.us/products/precision_positioning_pi-micos/_img_vacuum/Vacuum_Linear_Stage_lin_ls180_uhv.jpg" /></td><td><b><a href="http://www.pi-usa.us/products/precision_positioning_pi-micos/Linear_Stage_Datasheets_Mc/High_Vacuum_Precision_Linear_Stage_LS110_LS180_pdf.pdf">Ultra-High-Vacuum Positioning Table LS-180-UHV </a></b><br />
<ul>
<li>Positioning Range to 508 millimeters (20 inches)</li>
<li>Unidirectional Position Reproducibility to ±0.05 microns</li>
<li>Max. Velocity 200 mm/second</li>
<li>Payload to 100 kg</li>
<li>Precision Limit Switches</li>
<li>Available linear scale encoder (center-mount)</li>
</ul>
</td></tr>
<tr><td><img alt="" src="http://www.pi-usa.us/products/precision_positioning_pi-micos/_img_vacuum/Vacuum_Linear_Stage_ls110_uhv.jpg" /></td><td><b><a href="http://www.pi-usa.us/products/precision_positioning_pi-micos/Linear_Stage_Datasheets_Mc/High_Vacuum_Precision_Linear_Stage_LS110_LS180_pdf.pdf">High-Vacuum Positioning Table LS-110-UHV </a></b><br />
<ul>
<li>Positioning Range to 305 millimeters (12 inches)</li>
<li>Unidirectional Position Reproducibility to ±0.05 microns</li>
<li>Max. Velocity 90 mm/second</li>
<li>Payload to 10 kg</li>
<li>Precision Limit Switches</li>
<li>Available linear scale encoder (center-mount)</li>
</ul>
</td></tr>
<tr><td><img alt="" src="http://www.pi-usa.us/products/precision_positioning_pi-micos/_img_vacuum/Vacuum_Linear_Stage_pls85_angle_hv.jpg" /></td><td><b><a href="http://www.pi-usa.us/products/precision_positioning_pi-micos/Linear_Stage_Datasheets_Mc/High_Vacuum_Linear_Positioner_Stage_PLS85.pdf">High-Vacuum Precision Positioning Table PLS-85-HV </a></b><br />
<ul>
<li>Positioning Range to 155 millimeters (6 inches)</li>
<li>Unidirectional Position Reproducibility to ±0.05 microns</li>
<li>Max. Velocity 100 mm/second</li>
<li>Payload to 10 kg</li>
<li>Precision Limit Switches</li>
<li>Available linear scale encoder </li>
</ul>
</td></tr>
<tr><td><img alt="" src="http://www.pi-usa.us/products/precision_positioning_pi-micos/_img_vacuum/Vacuum_Linear_Stage_mt65_uhv.jpg" /></td><td><b>Ultra-High-Vacuum Positioning Table MT-65-UHV </b><br />
<ul>
<li>Positioning Range to 155 millimeters (6 inches)</li>
<li>Unidirectional Position Reproducibility to ±0.05 microns</li>
<li>Max. Velocity 100 mm/second</li>
<li>Payload to 10 kg</li>
<li>Precision Limit Switches</li>
<li>Available linear scale encoder</li>
</ul>
</td></tr>
<tr><td><img alt="" src="http://www.pi-usa.us/products/precision_positioning_pi-micos/_img_vacuum/Vacuum_Linear_Stage_mts65.jpg" /></td><td><b><a href="http://www.pi-usa.us/products/precision_positioning_pi-micos/Linear_Stage_Datasheets_Mc/High_Vacuum_Miniature_Linear_Stage_MTS65.pdf">High-Vacuum Micropositioning Stage MTS-65 HV </a></b><br />
<ul>
<li>Positioning Range to 52 millimeters (2 inches)</li>
<li>Unidirectional Position Reproducibility to ±0.1 microns</li>
<li>Max. Velocity 8 mm/second</li>
<li>Payload to 2 kg</li>
<li>Precision Limit Switches</li>
<li>Available linear scale encoder</li>
</ul>
</td></tr>
<tr><td><img alt="" src="http://www.pi-usa.us/products/precision_positioning_pi-micos/_img_vacuum/Vacuum_Linear_Stage_vt80_fv_hv_uhv.jpg" /></td><td><b><a href="http://www.pi-usa.us/products/precision_positioning_pi-micos/Linear_Stage_Datasheets_Mc/High_Vacuum_Linear_Translation_Stages_VT80.pdf">Ultra-High-Vacuum Positioning Table VT-80-FV-HV-UHV </a></b><br />
<ul>
<li>Positioning Range to 300 mm</li>
<li>Unidirectional Position Reproducibility to ±0.2 microns</li>
<li>Max. Velocity 20 mm/second</li>
<li>Payload to 5 kg</li>
<li>Precision Limit Switches</li>
</ul>
</td></tr>
<tr><td><img alt="" src="http://www.pi-usa.us/products/precision_positioning_pi-micos/_img_vacuum/Vacuum_Linear_Actuator_mp20_uhv.jpg" /></td><td><b><a href="http://www.pi-usa.us/products/precision_positioning_pi-micos/Linear_Actuator_Datasheets_Mc/High_Vacuum_Linear_Actuator_MP20.pdf">Ultra-High-Vacuum Precision Actuator Pusher MP-20-L-UHV </a></b><br />
<ul>
<li>Positioning Range to 75 mm</li>
<li>Unidirectional Position Reproducibility to ±0.5 microns</li>
<li>Max. Velocity 3.5 mm/second</li>
<li>Force max. 125 N</li>
<li>Precision Limit Switches</li>
<li>High resolution</li>
<li>With MP-B & MP-F inserts </li>
</ul>
</td></tr>
<tr><td><img alt="" src="http://www.pi-usa.us/products/precision_positioning_pi-micos/_img_vacuum/Vacuum_Linear_Actuator_mp20s_uhv.jpg" /></td><td><b><a href="http://www.pi-usa.us/products/precision_positioning_pi-micos/Linear_Actuator_Datasheets_Mc/High_Vacuum_Linear_Actuator_MP20.pdf">Ultra-High-Vacuum Precision Linear Actuator MP-20-S-UHV </a></b><br />
<ul>
<li>Travel range 12.5 mm</li>
<li>Unidirectional Position Reproducibility to ±1 microns</li>
<li>Max. Velocity 3 mm/second</li>
<li>Force max. 20 N</li>
<li>Precision Limit Switches</li>
<li>High resolution</li>
</ul>
</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />Nanopositioning / Motion Controlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07337941712953551365noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1196831952496829917.post-24905589107273026772013-04-07T20:32:00.001-07:002013-04-07T20:33:12.101-07:00A resource for the latest for imagingThere's a lot going on in the microscopy-imaging world. It seems that each month brings publication <br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj40Bl3Gwgz2ErujnD-neJo2Sdr2XTS1FMWdo46oyFXJkK06DaIf97QuDZgAjV9oxfJM-fR15hTUkRahhb0gpMBE9Q_vGzqqUaIYt7ol29InlfL4LWy62zzh3khEoGagyb5t3gDMijzLrpb/s1600/Screen+Shot+2013-04-07+at+8.09.28+PM.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="160" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj40Bl3Gwgz2ErujnD-neJo2Sdr2XTS1FMWdo46oyFXJkK06DaIf97QuDZgAjV9oxfJM-fR15hTUkRahhb0gpMBE9Q_vGzqqUaIYt7ol29InlfL4LWy62zzh3khEoGagyb5t3gDMijzLrpb/s200/Screen+Shot+2013-04-07+at+8.09.28+PM.png" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Long-travel coarse/fine specimen <br />
positioners in a super-resolution <br />
microscope, courtesy of the <br />
<a href="https://sites.google.com/site/bewersdorflab/projects">Bewersdorf Lab</a> at Yale University</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
of another clever technique that casts our eyes ever deeper into the nanoscale world. The post-Rayleigh era of microscopy is in full bloom, and to support it have come new tools and technologies: new objectives of extreme capabilities; new cameras that waste not a single photon; new software which provides usability, enhances productivity and teases details out of the murk; and new motion technologies of surpassing precision and stability.<br />
<br />
A <a href="http://onlinedigeditions.com/publication/?i=148880&p=34">current article in Microscopy Today</a> serves as a compendium of recent motion technologies of specific interest to imaging scientists and engineers. Its central focus is piezo ceramic technology in general and its burgeoning application in one novel design after another. Familiar from layered stack actuators of astonishing resolution but limited travel, piezo ceramics are now utilized in long-travel designs spanning several broad mechanical classes. <br />
<br />
The article discusses some of the most promising of these developments for imaging applications:<br />
<br />
<ul>
<li>High-stiffness piezo walking actuators for objective positioning over 2mm with picometer positionability; </li>
<li>High-stability resonant piezomotors for fast sample positioning with submicron precision over centimeters of travel; </li>
<li>New controls techniques for ever-finer linearity and controllability of flexure-guided piezo-stack mechanisms... </li>
</ul>
<br />
Each of these newly-developed technologies represents a response to seemingly impossible application challenges. Each is an enabler of new avenues of investigation, new discoveries, and new breakthroughs. Perhaps yours will be among them! Just let us know what impossible application challenges you'd like addressed next.<br />
<br />
<br />Nanopositioning / Motion Controlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07337941712953551365noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1196831952496829917.post-74173960263673637532013-01-11T14:50:00.000-08:002016-04-19T13:12:34.870-07:00Little motions for Big Physics<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKfedEsEiNYNrJMG454wcqP_LKq7tw0IRE-9oV98goOKWYWZtq_TlDaZBlnhE326p4ui7m19egTBRz6AanvMM2I1dXeVjGSaYkZCzOP7iGjh1YnBfnCqA5oBfiuh54eYVncDwkNevrK81b/s1600/SSRF.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="232" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKfedEsEiNYNrJMG454wcqP_LKq7tw0IRE-9oV98goOKWYWZtq_TlDaZBlnhE326p4ui7m19egTBRz6AanvMM2I1dXeVjGSaYkZCzOP7iGjh1YnBfnCqA5oBfiuh54eYVncDwkNevrK81b/s320/SSRF.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">China's ultra-modern <a href="http://ssrf.sinap.ac.cn/english/">Shanghai SynchrotronRadiation Facility</a></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
PI was recently honored to participate in the <a href="http://medsi2012.csp.escience.cn/dct/page/1">7th International Conference on Mechanical Engineering Design of Synchrotron Radiation Equipment and Instrumen-tation</a>-- the biennial MEDSI conference of users and engineers at the world's particle accelerators. We'd been invited to present a half-day tutorial on "Nano-Precision Mechanisms for Beamline Components" --a surprisingly broad and nuanced field of nanopositioning technology.<br />
<br />
The meeting was hosted in the stunning city of Shanghai by the Shanghai Institute of Applied Physics (SINAP), and our first words should be to thank the Institute again for their extraordinary hospitality as well as for their polished management of an informative and enjoyable technical conference and exhibition.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjXexAGvSolzkuvLeWpJMMvbJ5sqYPEjAnrzmyqofgdj6nt_mvzHw7thJlqhQ64WwjC1P2x80f9KKDpI5t7ZG1uC5ihjLoyfim8UQLjo4zRoL7ZcUNRyrA89qZ1FCmqEAP7I-zzBJj6hq_n/s1600/IMG_1246.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="239" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjXexAGvSolzkuvLeWpJMMvbJ5sqYPEjAnrzmyqofgdj6nt_mvzHw7thJlqhQ64WwjC1P2x80f9KKDpI5t7ZG1uC5ihjLoyfim8UQLjo4zRoL7ZcUNRyrA89qZ1FCmqEAP7I-zzBJj6hq_n/s320/IMG_1246.png" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Big Physics indeed-- the view from inside<br />
the <a href="http://ssrf.sinap.ac.cn/english/">Shanghai Synchrotron Radiation Facility</a>.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
Today's synchrotron applications are notable for their diversity and importance across fields as varied as <a href="https://www.google.com/search?q=synchrotron+lithography">semi-conductor process development</a> and <a href="http://www.pnas.org/content/73/1/128.full.pdf">life sciences</a>. As one example, their intense X-ray output is now a fundamental tool for <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/X-ray_crystallography">investigating fine, complex structures</a> in 3D at an atomic scale. In fact, groundbreaking research in <a href="https://www.google.com/search?num=10&hl=en&site=&tbm=isch&source=hp&biw=1319&bih=684&q=protein+crystallography">protein crystallography</a> using synchrotron radiation to reveal the architecture of proteins won Stanford professor Roger Kornberg the <a href="http://www.blogger.com/www-ssrl.slac.stanford.edu">Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 2006</a>. This is proving to be foundational to our advancing understanding of disease processes, with import ranging from biophysics to the design of advanced antibiotics.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJeAylBC8s0h1pX8UE3Rfwei2B_8LXlbEBv1LcJ562BTd_XEK9n6tXvM8kGNO3rbq3h5e7ZXB3E5HtaN2551QCZrlAzy9nlYH9xLTwWTLlsrx5w1pFAc-1UehxIGkALXxuYeSg4ctdejo8/s1600/sciencenobel.gif" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJeAylBC8s0h1pX8UE3Rfwei2B_8LXlbEBv1LcJ562BTd_XEK9n6tXvM8kGNO3rbq3h5e7ZXB3E5HtaN2551QCZrlAzy9nlYH9xLTwWTLlsrx5w1pFAc-1UehxIGkALXxuYeSg4ctdejo8/s1600/sciencenobel.gif" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Kornberg's Nobel-winning<br />
investigation of protein structure <br />
was published in the <a href="http://www.sciencemag.org/content/292/5523/1863.abstract">April, 2001 issue of Science</a>.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
Synchrotron facilities are a global aspect of Big Physics today, with major operations on all continents. We were happy to see familiar customers from around the world attending the conference-- this is truly a field of global importance spanning many scientific specialties. Here on the Internet, notable reading resources include the Australia Synchrotron's <a href="http://www.synchrotron.org.au/index.php/aussyncbeamlines/macromolecular-crystallography/macromolecular-crystallography">tutorial on macromolecular crystallography</a> and the New Zealand Synchrotron Group's concise <a href="http://www.synchrotron.rsnz.org/science/techniques.php">overview of synchrotron techniques</a>... and much more.<br />
<br />
Precise optic and sample positioning--often in vacuum and often requiring sub-nanoscale controllability--is fundamental to the science performed at synchrotron facilities. Indeed, the MEDSI presenters' applications incorporated a wide range of motion mechanisms and methodologies including scanning, wavelength selection, gap adjustment, steering and focusing, seismic isolation and alignment automation. <br />
<br />
Many of these applications involve exacting and specialized requirements: extreme stability, non-magnetic construction and complex configurations of multiple axes including mixes of motorized and piezoelectric actuation. Accordingly, as we were preparing our tutorial we included input and content from our global organization, which includes <a href="http://www.beamlineinstrumentation.com/success-stories.html">focused domain expertise at PI miCos</a>. The resulting tutorial was truly the result of an intensive worldwide effort spanning many weeks.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiIchbkbN7l4KZel2gx8fpw9VuE-JJHe0hM29mNsc1NjZ41I5BcNWgx6Qxw9FZmNDj8FaYAGJQJDEoV7K9O0nk1DanacCbe3dyBFeJ1RCDIPCsKTkYnzOM5JEUgkLNAfFLmHUOCj70poG9i/s1600/micos_synchrotron.001.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="209" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiIchbkbN7l4KZel2gx8fpw9VuE-JJHe0hM29mNsc1NjZ41I5BcNWgx6Qxw9FZmNDj8FaYAGJQJDEoV7K9O0nk1DanacCbe3dyBFeJ1RCDIPCsKTkYnzOM5JEUgkLNAfFLmHUOCj70poG9i/s320/micos_synchrotron.001.png" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">From the <a href="http://www.pi-usa.us/pdf/PI_Beamline_Instrumentation.pdf" target="_blank">PI miCos catalog</a>, a 5m spectrometer<br />
subassembly for synchrotron <br />
applications. Click to enlarge.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
Our thanks to our hosts, the PI and miCos colleagues who contributed, and to the many dozens of conference participants who shared their expertise and enthusiasm for this exciting, important and productive field. Special thanks are also due to our colleagues at <a href="http://www.pi-china.cn/">PI Shanghai</a> for all their helpfulness, knowledge and friendship. For the first-time visitor, it was a treat to see how this member of PI's worldwide network has evolved and expanded into a formidable design and manufacturing resource for our customers in the area and worldwide. And finally, thanks to the sparkling city of Shanghai, with its friendly, industrious people and endless fascinations.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiTRdxQJoY6k-6F4TPpPlwXeKzVdxe4-yVAHAoM7VWuu16BzMiJTSrNpTD01S4zxLGC69grtNC6xHfeybR94I93HXAKW-6jVJtNMn6r8xo2IUUL4RCEUbu-LNk2RbNAxt85my7H6QgEBTDP/s1600/IMG_1297.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="195" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiTRdxQJoY6k-6F4TPpPlwXeKzVdxe4-yVAHAoM7VWuu16BzMiJTSrNpTD01S4zxLGC69grtNC6xHfeybR94I93HXAKW-6jVJtNMn6r8xo2IUUL4RCEUbu-LNk2RbNAxt85my7H6QgEBTDP/s400/IMG_1297.png" width="400" /></a></div>
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Nanopositioning / Motion Controlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07337941712953551365noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1196831952496829917.post-59836604099769657782012-09-21T15:14:00.001-07:002016-04-19T14:11:33.583-07:00For our anniversary, a wealth of new solutions for youWhat better way to celebrate the one-year anniversary of <a href="http://www.pi-usa.us/aboutPI-USA1.php#miCos">PI's marriage with miCos</a> than to announce a host of popular miCos stages newly compatible with PI's cost-effective and easy-to-use Mercury <a href="http://www.pi-usa.us/products/Motor_Controllers/Motor_Controller_Precision_Positioner.php#MCSM">DC servo</a><a href="http://www.pi-usa.us/products/Motor_Controllers/Motor_Controller_Precision_Positioner.php#MCSM">- and stepper-motor controllers</a>?<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhSYLOprJALLV4alEIKvvEq85CXM7s8t1G_P5p2UjpLyV-6_X2i7Cc0GtWQbD1jPq92fDB4yS8LVJn2SkpH7x6kXphkk3SD213WcH4TR6bmPPhJGVzKHzSJhQVY2pAgNB1FuoLZq3OjYE4j/s1600/pi_c_863_i4c_o.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="226" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhSYLOprJALLV4alEIKvvEq85CXM7s8t1G_P5p2UjpLyV-6_X2i7Cc0GtWQbD1jPq92fDB4yS8LVJn2SkpH7x6kXphkk3SD213WcH4TR6bmPPhJGVzKHzSJhQVY2pAgNB1FuoLZq3OjYE4j/s320/pi_c_863_i4c_o.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
This development brings the write-once benefits of PI's General Command Set (GCS) to the burgeoning world of miCos' superb linear and rotary stages. GCS is the command set used across PI's modern product line of motion, nanopositioning and hexapod controllers, and it allows code built for one PI model to be used alongside or ported readily to other controller and stage models. In addition,<br />
<ul>
<li>Initial setup is greatly facilitated by automatic configuration of standard parameters based on an extensive database indexed by stage model numbers, while custom parameters remain easy to implement in non-volatile form. </li>
<li>PI's standard tuning and diagnostic tools are supported out of the box. This makes customization straightforward and safe.</li>
<li>Your productivity will benefit from PI's extensive and well-documented support for <a href="http://www.pi-usa.us/products/Software/index.php">programming environments as diverse as LabVIEW, MATLAB</a> and textual languages like C and VisualBasic. Rich and well-supported options for Linux as well as Windows are also offered as part of the Mercury's standard feature-set.</li>
</ul>
Since many applications involve a variety of motion form-factors, having a single programming platform to deal with and a single global support resource to rely upon has proven to be highly beneficial to our customers. And since software is the face of instrumentation when architecting an application and as well as in everyday use, having a consistent, well-wrung-out set of development and support tools is increasingly important. So we think this is big news-- and good news, especially for anyone contemplating a complex application, or one that might need to scale.<br />
<br />
The Mercury controllers deserve a special spotlight of their own. Highly popular for their combination of performance and value, they feature responsive RS-232 and USB interfaces for snappy communications, with built-in networking for painlessly creating multi-axis configurations. <br />
<br />
C-663 supports stepper motor stages while C-863 supports DC servo-motor stages. Each features a bank of programmable TTL lines that let you trigger motion or trigger external equipment or processes, and you can easily configure them via a single GCS command to provide deterministic, real-time position increment indication or instantaneous in-motion/on-target status. The Mercury controllers' integrated amplifiers support mechanisms with surprisingly powerful motors while also providing compatibility with our stages featuring onboard ActiveDrive™ amplifiers. <br />
<br />
PI miCos stages newly compatible with C-663 and C-863 include:<br />
<br />
<center>
<table border="0" style="width: 300px;">
<tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center; vertical-align: top; width: 300px;">PLS-85<br />
<img class="gs-image" height="69" src="https://encrypted-tbn2.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcQ3_ltzGmibpf5ljzjgDKr0dUNMbVt7mLtNu8Gvrjh02D4zVIrOIgPyAHA" width="97" /></td><td style="margin-left: -151px; text-align: center; vertical-align: top; width: 300px;">LS-110<br />
<img class="gs-image" height="68" src="https://encrypted-tbn2.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcRDFWxuHo2luwLO7qfjxWDmyFKx9hY9QnY6NFKa2ujOcELtOXTZgK1hgtn2" width="96" /></td><td style="margin-left: -186px; text-align: center; vertical-align: top; width: 300px;">MTS-65<br />
<img class="gs-image" height="68" src="https://encrypted-tbn1.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcSEpvsrlUPiy4FWa0o0mOiXwOXoFgeAdssq7R7gOKxmPYuY91DXuHDE7LI" width="96" /></td></tr>
<tr><td style="text-align: center; vertical-align: top; width: 300px;">LS-180<br />
<img class="gs-image" height="69" src="https://encrypted-tbn0.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcS22gEXnFMKkuSZifeaemOfcWiK1_fjG_w8ywQWaOm4jwdBJ6aNUhXpLS0i" width="97" /></td><td style="text-align: center; vertical-align: top; width: 300px;">LS-270<br />
<img class="gs-image" height="68" src="https://encrypted-tbn2.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcQ6XPgQI3dftUKoO9BMIt6ROHjF-TBSFf9wWp2H7loZWgCm4wvqtzQNKyA" width="96" /><br />
<br /></td><td style="text-align: center; vertical-align: top; width: 300px;">VT-80<br />
<img class="gs-image" height="68" src="https://encrypted-tbn1.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcTWuHth_ng0oMIgA6tSgfmXQYDQ_wqYo9nWrf5x4fgx-Sb_Egu-OrA6Ddc" width="96" /></td></tr>
<tr><td style="text-align: center; vertical-align: top; width: 300px;">LS-65<br />
<img class="gs-image" height="68" src="https://encrypted-tbn0.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcQGexovSC6lpNxXieye560KazP9EMdragw2ZyjrbdWQLF92CFseQG8T0Uk" width="96" /></td><td style="text-align: center; vertical-align: top; width: 300px;">PRS-110<br />
<img class="gs-image" height="68" src="https://encrypted-tbn3.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcSbE72tKWJ9-LGeI5dLa6-B1072KkeNalcsY0EusJSwgLjLabP2xobKZrLw" width="96" /></td><td style="text-align: center; vertical-align: top; width: 300px;">RS-40<br />
<img class="gs-image" height="68" src="https://encrypted-tbn2.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcQLz5bDS5qTzCpXVomVtBh1fPXt2NWpBWR-M713HiqyvZr5AJr-jTUVqTx4" width="96" /></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
</center>
<br />
As ever, contact your local <a href="http://www.pi-usa.us/international_offices.php">PI miCos applications professional</a> for guidance and world-class support.Nanopositioning / Motion Controlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07337941712953551365noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1196831952496829917.post-73305221393170975582012-09-04T13:27:00.000-07:002016-04-19T13:21:11.328-07:00Enabling Curiosity with PI and PI miCosLanding a rover on Mars is an amazing accomplishment. Landing one the size of a car, stuffed with scientific instrumentation, is downright astonishing.<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEggtHpLT_tGb5u-U9cNtXIKIQd9TjmPC4VldAb6_yC8e0V15fd7R-5zw6_5Hnyyn39_POAG6b_HD1STcXC_WpVSdmpEDvtegq0M-DdSKKhmAI_ugW4BsJE9U2Ogwf0Pe5yZk71SWrEQCdGs/s1600/Chemcam.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="234" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEggtHpLT_tGb5u-U9cNtXIKIQd9TjmPC4VldAb6_yC8e0V15fd7R-5zw6_5Hnyyn39_POAG6b_HD1STcXC_WpVSdmpEDvtegq0M-DdSKKhmAI_ugW4BsJE9U2Ogwf0Pe5yZk71SWrEQCdGs/s320/Chemcam.png" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Illustrations courtesy NASA</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
The initial excitement and pride over the Mars Curiosity rover's inventive descent to the Martian surface has given way to continuous, methodical scientific exploration using a variety of sensors and instrumentation. The cameras get most of the press, with their stunning <a href="http://www.theverge.com/2012/8/28/3274548/nasa-jpl-mars-curiosity-landing-site-panorama">panoramic views</a> and occasional amusing <a href="http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2193757/NASA-Mars-Curiosity-Rover-Fossilized-human-finger-ancient-sandal-Martian-animal.html">curious sightings</a>. But science is a patient discipline, and experiments which peel back the layers of Mars' composition and history are underway each day now.<br />
<br />
Performance and reliability are essential for all research and industrial applications, but the prospect of a service call more than hundreds of millions of kilometers away poses special challenges, so it was critical for every component of the Curiosity rover to have proven reliability and robust performance. We are thrilled that PI and PI miCos products are not only part of the rover's instrumentation package but already performing important science on Mars.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjxZkID0taM0e6eEHl47PmrrBftjuXQR6zk9JG9Tm1q0OxpvdxN7ct6sC-29RHlFQnO_EYORO-5k3ZnUkDe1Fyp8VFAcuBORWot7G7BFDOfik6oYvFtb7oTAXqNgrLu66yPuUOhqFrtExvW/s1600/PI_Micos_Equipment_on_Mars_Rover400+(1).jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjxZkID0taM0e6eEHl47PmrrBftjuXQR6zk9JG9Tm1q0OxpvdxN7ct6sC-29RHlFQnO_EYORO-5k3ZnUkDe1Fyp8VFAcuBORWot7G7BFDOfik6oYvFtb7oTAXqNgrLu66yPuUOhqFrtExvW/s320/PI_Micos_Equipment_on_Mars_Rover400+(1).jpg" width="304" /></a></div>
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<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
"Only through curiosity can we discover opportunities, and only by gambling can we take advantage of them."<br />
<div style="text-align: right;">
--Clarence Birdseye</div>
</blockquote>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgEM6PvrAX0LjmmJb1lVWBn5ZHMpmf9Ylv70OS4euHntGeG3aaFVxRVaAsz0WEwdmFxvqqRxm1_oO98Luqy6pDxM8KL1A57WCY2tcwdxk5fSG1vRqeKlanM4hOUyYPZJNB9fWMg8emMmOk4/s1600/chemin_exploded+(1).jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgEM6PvrAX0LjmmJb1lVWBn5ZHMpmf9Ylv70OS4euHntGeG3aaFVxRVaAsz0WEwdmFxvqqRxm1_oO98Luqy6pDxM8KL1A57WCY2tcwdxk5fSG1vRqeKlanM4hOUyYPZJNB9fWMg8emMmOk4/s320/chemin_exploded+(1).jpg" width="234" /></a></div>
PI's <a href="http://www.photonics.com/Article.aspx?AID=18114">award-winning</a> PICMA® low-voltage ceramic actuators have been the <a href="http://www.pi-usa.us/technotes/PI_Piezoactuator_Cryogenic_Temperature_Superconducting_Cavity_10_Years_LifeTimeTestReportC.pdf">gold standard for reliability</a> in nanopositioning and are the heart of PI's nanopositioning stage products since their introduction several years ago. They are the heart of our nanopositioning equipment. NASA's testing of these actuators <a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21507759">validated their performance over 100 billion cycles</a>, which aided their qualification for use as the foundation for the <a href="http://msl-scicorner.jpl.nasa.gov/Instruments/CheMin/">Chemistry & Mineralogy (CheMin) instrument</a>, now hard at work in Gale Crater. <br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEglC1mRoxndJHNZKHA1v2c0ElBIszGLsbJKbv8hksCBB0MliS0yC7M7LufYqP8Py8cvtwxJznVhc3EO2f0cLtlyQTzcBKcYI3ZUV17S1KDQNXAy6TPdubNELrzazhRD-mHfh2Cdf9h6knTX/s1600/CheMin_dual_cell+%25281%2529.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="128" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEglC1mRoxndJHNZKHA1v2c0ElBIszGLsbJKbv8hksCBB0MliS0yC7M7LufYqP8Py8cvtwxJznVhc3EO2f0cLtlyQTzcBKcYI3ZUV17S1KDQNXAy6TPdubNELrzazhRD-mHfh2Cdf9h6knTX/s320/CheMin_dual_cell+%25281%2529.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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Sixteen PICMA actuators operate a precision oscillatory material delivery system feeding transmissive X-ray diffraction and fluorescence spectrometry experiments. Thirty-two sample chambers (including five containing fixed references) are arrayed around a sample wheel; the chambers are arranged in pairs with a PICMA actuator coupling each pair. The actuators are used to load sample powder into the chambers and to unload it once metrology is concluded. Clearly, their reliability is crucial to the mission's success. Metrology is performed during the Martian night so that the CCD sensor can be efficiently cooled. This rover never sleeps!<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjdeAhZfVop2GSx69hg1i-j-QkBTLnhJGq8gZXdtMLv6-5842Z6TA55jDEDhrqMyr5F_i_nYRjIu6OrBpPjImBzkSMO1GaXtTQW6PT8tLsgsfPzSoi6IWKG2kSh7rYaR2B4RMNrMWKWWgiJ/s1600/ChemCam_block1+(1).jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="231" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjdeAhZfVop2GSx69hg1i-j-QkBTLnhJGq8gZXdtMLv6-5842Z6TA55jDEDhrqMyr5F_i_nYRjIu6OrBpPjImBzkSMO1GaXtTQW6PT8tLsgsfPzSoi6IWKG2kSh7rYaR2B4RMNrMWKWWgiJ/s320/ChemCam_block1+(1).jpg" width="320" /></a>While the <a href="http://www.pi-usa.us/products/PiezoActuators/index.php#PICMA" target="_blank">PICMA actuators</a> are hard at work performing spectrometry on Martian mineral samples, another experiment called <a href="http://msl-scicorner.jpl.nasa.gov/Instruments/ChemCam/">ChemCam</a> is busy performing the first interplanetary Laser Induced Breakdown Spectrometry (LIBS). This all-optical, non-contact technique utilizes a powerful, pulsed infrared laser to induce optical emission from interesting samples. The visible, sparking flash that results from each laser pulse is evaluated by a fiber-coupled spectrometer, with chemometric analysis providing the material breakdown of the sample. <br />
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One key advantage of this methodology is that the geologic sample being tested can be a distance from the rover. But it requires exacting control of the optical focus, and that's where a space-qualified variant of the <a href="http://www.pimicos.com/web2/data/project/mission/curiosity.html">PI miCos MT Series stage</a> comes in. This high-precision stepper-motor stage axially translates the secondary mirror of the telescope which collects the optical return from the sample while providing imaging information to place the sample within geologic context. <br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEicC2X0tkZXdLgEsf4fAmXevQ3-jttIq2P0enXtBzdM5qBC43xd2KH0pyRd1Kpb03IcQkjaHKpaQOHfnIkZIw4Ie-ROQjZxD9A5-OCz3MDBEwQaDjNoCU6NvSu1TChx__WRFkY9BHXdcBSF/s1600/mt40_space.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEicC2X0tkZXdLgEsf4fAmXevQ3-jttIq2P0enXtBzdM5qBC43xd2KH0pyRd1Kpb03IcQkjaHKpaQOHfnIkZIw4Ie-ROQjZxD9A5-OCz3MDBEwQaDjNoCU6NvSu1TChx__WRFkY9BHXdcBSF/s1600/mt40_space.jpg" /></a><br />
The shocks and vibration of launch and landing necessitated that <a href="http://pimicos.com/web2/data/download/publish/MICHEL-CNES-CCAM-Session6-v2.pdf">every component in the stage</a> from the stepper motor to the crossed roller bearings be validated and optimized to eliminate the possibility of failure or degradation. The autofocus process places stringent demands on the stage's performance-- resolution, backlash, trajectory quality and stability are all crucial for responsive and predictable operation and reliable data. The wide temperature excursions to which the stage was to be exposed in flight and on the Martian surface added significantly to the challenge. Modeling and thermal compensation technologies and sophisticated vacuum-compatible components, coatings and lubricants were utilized. This specialized variant of the commercial-off-the-shelf (COTS) stage passed all preflight tests and validated the cost-containment strategy of leveraging COTS designs.<br />
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Of course, performance, reliability and cost-effectiveness have their place here on Earth as well. Contact your local <a href="http://www.pi-usa.us/aboutPI-USA1.php" target="_blank">PI sales engineer</a> for the finest products and applications advice in the solar system.Nanopositioning / Motion Controlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07337941712953551365noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1196831952496829917.post-77184342059440910752012-07-28T17:59:00.000-07:002016-04-19T14:13:34.810-07:00Diving boards are for the Olympics<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjedCuX9fFvwXRZ5WcOIrKIyRXfsqPvb4g_BgKjkY21it6mR_-m2rRanZsK4ss65Hd55j7aHuzBk-0SeRjRSa0Ky_MOGjmqoJJN_516CaSzJU4VaTY6QakGkYeh3cOgWBRk4zI9Bltl2Gq6/s1600/diving_board.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjedCuX9fFvwXRZ5WcOIrKIyRXfsqPvb4g_BgKjkY21it6mR_-m2rRanZsK4ss65Hd55j7aHuzBk-0SeRjRSa0Ky_MOGjmqoJJN_516CaSzJU4VaTY6QakGkYeh3cOgWBRk4zI9Bltl2Gq6/s320/diving_board.jpg" width="243" /></a>It's important to have a well-functioning nanopositioning device. But it's also important to have a well-thought-out supporting structure for it. After all, any shortcomings of the structure will confer drift and instabilities onto the application.<br />
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It may seem basic, but we'd encourage even longtime nanopositioning users to read this through. We've learned some important lessons alongside some very experienced users; perhaps your application might benefit from some overlooked detail.<br />
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To begin, a stable structure means rigidity, flatness and close mechanical coupling are requirements. Let's review each of those in turn:<br />
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<li><u>Rigidity</u>. Mounting hardware must be substantial and solid. Massiveness <i>per se</i> isn't necessarily desirable, as the resonant frequency of the structure goes as sqrt(stiffness/mass), so clearly it is this stiffness-to-mass ratio that should be maximized. So a flanged, triangulated, "I-beam" or boxed supporting element would be preferable to a solid component of the same dimensions or the same mass. (On the other hand, nanopositioning devices in high-dynamic applications need a significant reactive mass to push against-- you don't want to eliminate <i>all</i> mass in the supporting structure.) <br /><br />It's also important that your nanopositioning and other equipment be mounted per their manufacturers' recommendations. In particular, don't skip bolts, and don't use double-sided tape in lieu of bolting. The <a href="http://books.google.com/books?id=uG7aqgal65YC&pg=PA335&lpg=PA335&dq=material+stability,+slocum&source=bl&ots=60PfhjWc1K&sig=CUrknV79PFvTsRsUNGJ5FJjEPYU&hl=en&sa=X&ei=oYsUULfFNdKJrQHDk4CgCQ&ved=0CDkQ6AEwAQ#v=onepage&q=material%20stability%2C%20slocum&f=false">material stability of structural elements</a> is also worth considering if drift over the very long term is important. And note that replacing screw-driven mechanisms with piezomotor-driven mechanisms has proven to <a href="http://www.pi-usa.us/pdf/Design_Criteria_Ultra_Stable_Nano-Positioning_Systems.pdf" target="_blank">significantly improve long-term stability</a> by eliminating the gradual flow of lubricants in the drive assembly.<br /><br />Structural rigidity issues often need special attention in microscopy applications, as high-throughput motion and nanopositioning equipment is often retrofitted into these systems. Thin mounting platforms, tall (sometimes hinged) structures, and long risers with little triangulation can all contribute to instability.</li>
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<li><u>Flatness</u>. A nanopositioner or other motion device will conform to the platform it's bolted-to. Poor trajectory can be one consequence of a non-flat mounting, but other odd effects can occur. We've seen stages with drift issues and "hunting" problems perform perfectly once their mounting issues were resolved. <br /><br />Similarly, over-torquing the mounting bolts can warp or even damage a stage. There's usually no reason to torque beyond "snug tight." In fact, when a motion issue occurs after a system is set up, over-tightening of the mounting bolts is one of the first things that should be checked.</li>
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<li><span style="background-color: white;"><u>Close mechanical coupling</u></span><span style="background-color: white;">. Motion devices and their loads should be mounted rigidly together with as little cantilevering as possible. Anyone who's walked the length of a diving board is familiar with how the magnitude of its flexing and bouncing increases and their frequency diminishes with distance from the platform. Similarly, long brackets and extenders are rarely a good idea in a nanopositioning application, though sometimes they're necessary for various reasons. In such cases it's important to have realistic expectations about application throughput and settling performance. </span><br /><br />Often, mounting extenders and offset loads not only lower resonant frequencies but introduce additional resonant drivers such as torque moments. An interesting example was a high-speed scanning application we reviewed not long ago; it required the device-under-test to be cantilevered off the side of a fast piezoelectric nanopositioning stage. The rapid linear motions of the stage drove a pendular oscillation of the load due to nanoscale rotational ringing the stage platform. Fortunately, the cure in this case was easy: counterbalancing the load to eliminate the torque moment proved an instant cure, even though mass was consequently being added. (Note that optimizing the counterbalance to place the <a href="http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/centre_of_inertia#English">center-of-inertia rather than the center-of-mass</a> on the stage's centerline is needed for best results.) </li>
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In addition, pay attention to cable draping (the subtle physics of which was discussed in <a href="http://physik-instrumente.blogspot.com/2012/02/nanometer-no-fan-of-fans.html">an earlier post</a>), and minimize the use of shielding boxes on your vibration-isolation platform. Cables will efficiently transfer vibrations from fans and other sources directly to your application, while shields couple acoustics and room modes from the air to your table. Recently, Steve Ryan, Vice President of <a href="http://www.techmfg.com/">Technical Manufacturing Corporation</a>, shared some insights on that point at a meeting we'd arranged with an accomplished customer working at the forefront of picoscale metrology. <span style="background-color: white;">Essentially, the room acts as an air column of fundamental frequency <i>F<sub>0</sub> = v/2L</i>. </span><span style="background-color: white;">He noted that a typical laboratory might have a wall-to-wall dimension <i>L</i> on the order of perhaps 10m, and with the speed of sound <i>v</i> at about 340m/sec that would imply a room fundamental of approximately 17Hz-- below the range of human hearing. The customer's whole-table shielding box, at the time mounted directly to the table, was coupling that subacoustic standing wave directly to the application. Sure enough, moving the shielding box to its own supporting frame significantly improved the application's stability.</span></div>
Nanopositioning / Motion Controlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07337941712953551365noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1196831952496829917.post-42471052705831791202012-02-14T13:45:00.000-08:002016-04-19T14:16:45.676-07:00See you at the Biophysical Society conference in San Diego<div class="p1">
The reasons we spotlight biophysical applications so often are straightforward: These applications are challenging and beautiful; they have resulted in many innovative approaches of possible utility to other fields, and their teachings are crucial for the advancement of science and the improvement of human life. </div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Fascinating depiction of DNA translocating <br />
through a solid-state nanopore. <br />
Courtesy <i>Biophysics Group at the Kavli Institute <br />
of NanoScience, Delft University of Technology.</i> </td></tr>
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Applications demanding resolutions at the nanoscale are becoming commonplace across many industries, ranging from semiconductor manufacturing to materials science to photonics, but biophysical applications often also require positional stabilities spanning unusually long periods of time. Sophisticated lasers, cameras, modulators or steering mirrors, position-sensitive detectors, a high-end microscope, coarse and fine stages and a host of ancillary instruments--plus a powerful computer--complete the typical setup, and everything must be meshed and coordinated, and it all must perform with superb resolution and nanoscale stability over the long duration of experiments.</div>
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This has posed significant challenges in motion technology, driving innovation on our side. One challenge has been that observation of long-term nanoscale stabilities was beyond the capabilities of classical position-metrology instrumentation. Measuring nanoscale positions dependably over many minutes remained an elusive goal until some clever work, in a biophysics laboratory, <a href="http://www.pi-usa.us/pdf/Design_Criteria_Ultra_Stable_Nano-Positioning_Systems.pdf" target="_blank">enabled its direct observation</a>.</div>
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Ingeniousness characterizes this field. By definition interdisciplinary, it has served to vividly demonstrate the process of recombinant innovation, in which tricks and technologies from different arenas get mashed together to propel advancement. Out of the biophysical field have come significant breakthroughs in <a href="http://www.stanford.edu/group/blocklab/kinesin/kinesin.html">optical trapping</a>, <a href="http://www.cell.com/retrieve/pii/S0092867410014200">super-resolution imaging</a>, and <a href="http://jila.colorado.edu/content/guiding-light">atomic force microscopy</a>, leading to revelations about cellular structure and biological molecular machines and the uncloaking of cell-membrane pores-- the mysterious gateways targeted by half of all drugs. The bustle of individual transport molecules has been directly observed as they ferry their cargoes from place to place along <a href="http://www.stanford.edu/group/blocklab/GutierrezAJP2010.pdf">gossamer fibrils</a>, their gaits and forces characterized, their startling talent for <a href="http://www.stanford.edu/group/blocklab/Larson%20Molecular%20Cell%202011.pdf">editing their own work</a> revealed. The stuff of miracles.</div>
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A beautiful, mysterious and consequential field, full of innovation. We hope you can join us at the <a href="http://www.biophysics.org/2012meeting/Main/tabid/2386/Default.aspx">Biophysical Society annual meeting</a>, 25-29 February, to see what's new.</div>
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Nanopositioning / Motion Controlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07337941712953551365noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1196831952496829917.post-33509481087944001402012-02-06T10:34:00.000-08:002016-04-19T13:16:05.336-07:00The Nanometer: No Fan of Fans<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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When you work in the nano world, details matter. Instabilities can be caused by a variety of things, ranging from floor disturbances leaking past isolation systems, to acoustic energy coupled into the application structure, to tuning issues with the motion system embedded in the application, to resonant excitation of structural elements of the setup. In real life applications, instabilities can lead to smeared images and other noisy data.<br />
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Fourier analysis is particularly helpful in revealing the root cause of the vibration problem and often points out one troublesome frequency: 60Hz--the mains frequency here in North America and many other locales--or its integer multiples.</div>
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Now, PI <a href="http://www.pi-usa.us/products/index.php" target="_blank">nanopositioning </a><a href="http://www.pi-usa.us/products/index.php" target="_blank">equipment</a> is highly shielded and CE certified, meaning it has passed a gauntlet of tests including validation of its immunity to electromagnetic interference (EMI) and of its own low EMI emissions. For example, PI controllers perform reliably in high-EMI environments like synchrotrons where other equipment fails. And PI engineers armed with a laser Doppler vibrometer and other instrumentation frequently consult with customers to identify tough environmental noise sources and develop solutions that enable application productivity. With such extensive testing experience, we have developed some insight into the possible sources of instabilities and the following template for approaching these situations. <br />
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<b><u>Executive summary</u></b><br />
Over the years we've learned that issues at the mains frequency or an integer multiple are almost always an indication of electrically-driven vibration from some element embedded somewhere in the equipment in the application or adjacent to it. Even elements not ordinarily considered "moving parts" can cause problems, such as transformers. <br />
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Of course, stating that fact is a lot easier than chasing down the root cause of such an issue. That, unfortunately, is usually quite the snipe hunt. There are several places to start:</div>
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<b><u>1) Deactivate motion equipment</u></b></div>
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Though EMI-driven motion of PI piezo nanopositioning systems is rare, it can be helpful to eliminate it as a potential cause. Sometimes you can unplug the drive amp from the piezo, allowing its sensors to remain active while eliminating any possible stimulation. (Check your system documentation-- while most PI piezo nanopositioning systems can be safely operated with the piezo drive voltage disconnected or even hot-unplugged, others can be damaged.) If the piezo or other motion equipment cannot be disconnected or turned off, comparing the system behavior with the servo off and on can sometimes illuminate matters. </div>
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<b><u>2) Check onboard and ancillary equipment</u></b></div>
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This is where most problems originate. Go through the local environment, disconnecting each piece of equipment from the AC mains, one by one, to see its impact on the disturbance at the mains frequency and its multiples. Disconnection is preferred to simply turning off since supplies and chargers can remain powered when their equipment is shut down. </div>
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Start the hunt with equipment mounted to the structure or resting on the table. Possible culprits include <b>transformers</b>, <b>chargers</b> and "wall wart" <b>AC adapters</b> (which can vibrate at twice the mains frequency), <b>fans</b> (AC-powered fans generally rotate at an integer multiple of the mains frequency), <b>disk drives</b> (which, although not AC-powered, often coincidentally spin at multiples of 60Hz, such as 7200 or 15000 rpm), even <b>fluorescent-light ballasts</b> (which can vibrate at 2X the mains frequency). <b>Pumps</b> for fluid-cooled lasers are a possibility, too, since they are often powered by motors spinning at an integer multiple of the mains frequency, and vibrations can be transferred by the piping or fluid. </div>
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Cast an especially suspicious eye at any <b>fan-cooled equipment</b> sitting on the table... illuminators and oscilloscopes are frequent culprits. It almost goes without saying that <b>computers</b>--even laptops--should not sit on the optical table if they contain fans or spinning disk drives.</div>
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<b><u>3) Review the isolation-system configuration</u></b> </div>
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<i>Placement of cables and hoses.</i> Well-designed vibration isolation systems place their isolators along the node-line of the first bending mode of the platform, generally about 20% in from the short edges of the platform. This minimizes structural excitation from the residual floor vibration transmitted through the isolators. Ideally, cables and hoses should be tied-down and draped off the table along these same lines to minimize structural excitation from cable-borne vibrations. (Note: isolators are often placed further out, at the corners, to maximize the stable load envelope height and to improve knee room, especially for small tables and isolated workbenches. The node-lines are still the best places for tieing-down and draping cables, though.) </div>
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<i>Tautness of cables and hoses</i>. Cables and hoses should be draped with generous loops and support. Taut cables transmit vibration efficiently, as anyone who has played with a tin-can-and-string telephone can attest. Clamp or tie them to the structure-- ideally at a point along a node-line.</div>
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<i>Isolator installation. </i>Ensure all isolators are floating freely in the middle of their travel. Adjust as necessary.</div>
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<b><u>4) Get rid of multiple-outlet strips</u></b></div>
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Eliminate as many multiple-outlet strips as you can. These are frequent offenders in forming ground-loops in the laboratory. Where possible, connect your AC-powered instrumentation to the same outlet or circuit. Ensure good grounding of all equipment.</div>
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<b><u>5) Eliminate acoustic and electromagnetic sources</u></b></div>
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Transformers and motors which draw substantial current can be significant sources of electromagnetic interference (EMI), including components at the mains frequency. This can couple into command and control lines, potentially corrupting instrumentation signals. Coupled low-frequency EMI can even cause direct vibrational excitation of metallic structural elements through ferromagnetism or by Eddy-current generation. For example, a power supply containing a large transformer and residing underneath an optical table can cause sub-micron-scale vibrations by coupling electromagnetically into the bottom skin of the table. <br />
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<b><u>Other fundamentals</u></b></div>
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Needless to say, regardless of any mains frequency issues, the environment for nanoscale work must be quiet overall. Siting is important, since even the best vibration isolators provide non-zero transmissibility. Basement locations well away from HVAC equipment are preferred. Foot-traffic and noise sources (including conversation) should be minimized. We have seen boom-boxes sitting on table-mounted shelving, never a good idea! A few years back, Prof. Steven M. Block of Stanford University vividly demonstrated the impact of acoustic noise on nanoscale stability by using his advanced optical tweezer setup to record "The Girl from Ipanema" being played <i>in the next room</i>-- see his demonstration of "the world's most expensive low-fidelity sound system" starting around 18:50 of his engaging NIH lecture, <a href="http://videocast.nih.gov/Summary.asp?File=13503">Optical Tweezers: Biophysics, One Molecule at a Time</a>.</div>
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<br />Read More Articles <a href="http://www.pi-usa.us/blog/category/nanopositioning/" target="_blank">relating to nanopositioning </a></div>
Nanopositioning / Motion Controlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07337941712953551365noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1196831952496829917.post-18231977716710841252012-01-08T14:53:00.000-08:002016-04-19T14:17:29.317-07:00Punching Out A Novel Optical-Tweezer Calibration Technique<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://imgc.allpostersimages.com/images/P-473-488-90/38/3804/LFMIF00Z/posters/loomis-dean-actor-jack-palance-in-boxing-trunks-and-gloves-hitting-punching-bag.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://imgc.allpostersimages.com/images/P-473-488-90/38/3804/LFMIF00Z/posters/loomis-dean-actor-jack-palance-in-boxing-trunks-and-gloves-hitting-punching-bag.jpg" height="200" width="200" /></a></div>
Consider: A punching bag is suspended by a spring. A boxer pummels it, banging it from side to side in a chaotic, random way. The boxer sways slightly from side to side. You know the frequency and amplitude of his swaying. From observing the anarchic path of the punching bag, can you determine the stiffness of the spring?<br />
<br />
This is an exact analogy to a clever, insightful and astonishingly simple recent technique for calibrating the stiffness of an optical tweezer, the force-well formed by a tightly focused laser beam which is used to trap, manipulate and track microscopic dielectric beads in fluid-filled micro-chambers in single-molecule biophysics. The coated beads can be hitched to molecular motors and DNA molecules, allowing the machinery of life to be illuminated.<br />
<br />
Clearly, in order for an optical tweezer to be a quantitative tool, its force characteristics must be known. One classical technique for calibrating a trap is to sweep the fluid chamber at constant velocity, back and forth, and observe the deviation of a trapped bead as the fluid drags it. The trap force can be calculated by applying Stokes’ familiar hydrodynamic equation to the observed deflection of the bead. <br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEifwZYmUw4scHyFiZRkj8T-qpb3VMyeff8jRymeOl2hvF8SO2FaXeAv3_Wpxa-qgW2ByZ5MxmUy4c5M0JqXUMF7GhHi0nlcUkVBrXr6PKPBVA8AgD1YQK4mL_1wQhMxZTSgZ17uUVgg7uWH/s1600/DDL_before_after.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="243" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEifwZYmUw4scHyFiZRkj8T-qpb3VMyeff8jRymeOl2hvF8SO2FaXeAv3_Wpxa-qgW2ByZ5MxmUy4c5M0JqXUMF7GhHi0nlcUkVBrXr6PKPBVA8AgD1YQK4mL_1wQhMxZTSgZ17uUVgg7uWH/s320/DDL_before_after.png" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Dynamic Digital Linearization enables Stokes<br />
calibration of optical tweezers by<br />
eliminating following errors.</td></tr>
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In theory, only the drag coefficient of the fluid and the diameter of the bead need to be known. But this technique requires a sophisticated level of control of the piezoelectric microscope stage on which the fluid chamber is mounted. The stage must perform a triangle wave motion, but the finite system bandwidths inherent in any electromechanical system ordinarily cause distortion of the actual waveform. The corners of the positioning waveform become rounded, and following-error accumulates, meaning the stage position deviates from the desired instantaneous position as the waveform proceeds. The overall amplitude of the waveform is rolled-off, and most importantly: the critical constant-velocity portion of the waveform isn’t as constant-velocity as needed. Fortunately, the availability of <a href="http://www.pi-usa.us/blog/methods-to-improve-piezo-dynamics-accuracy-and-linearity-preshaping-ddl-apc/">Dynamic Digital Linearization</a> has salvaged this technique for a generation of researchers. With <a href="http://physik-instrumente.blogspot.com/2011/04/how-to-push-rope-enabling-accurate-on.html">this unique technology</a>, an advanced nanopositioning controller can virtually eliminate following-error in motions using its built-in waveform generator. The Stokes calculations can be applied with confidence.<br />
<br />
But back to our punching-bag. Reduce it to the nanoscale, and it is our dielectric bead. The pummeling boxer is Brownian motion, and his slight side-to-side sway is a nanoscale, sinusoidal position waveform applied to the fluid chamber by the piezoelectric microscope stage. The spring is the optical trap.<br />
<br />
If this can serve, then several advantages emerge versus the Stokes-calibration approach. First, the sinusoidal waveform is a single frequency and can be selected to avoid driving structural resonances in the microscope assembly that might otherwise be problematic given the high-frequency Fourier components of the sharp-cornered triangle wave used in Stokes calibration. Its amplitude is very small. No constant-velocity region is required, and moderate following errors and rolloff are no issue since all needs to be known is the position-waveform amplitude in all axes, which a parallel-kinematic stage with direct motion metrology can provide. And the analysis can be performed entirely in the frequency domain using the positional trace of the bead. Brilliant!<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7P95LKX6J1ji9iysiM-3jw5q1SwcjtobBuynqFd6bKKtKJWsZdRGUJhL9srdYbYPun1hlUcebslT6QYjhRn7G2eblcW0Pk5BQF2N1xcN3fH-lQzNg3vt_8a8Jk9CsqwJlc8Li0aU0T8O1/s1600/Screen+Shot+2012-01-08+at+2.09.20+PM.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="223" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7P95LKX6J1ji9iysiM-3jw5q1SwcjtobBuynqFd6bKKtKJWsZdRGUJhL9srdYbYPun1hlUcebslT6QYjhRn7G2eblcW0Pk5BQF2N1xcN3fH-lQzNg3vt_8a8Jk9CsqwJlc8Li0aU0T8O1/s320/Screen+Shot+2012-01-08+at+2.09.20+PM.png" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span">From Fig. 2 of the </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;">Tolić-Nørrelykke</span><span class="Apple-style-span"> paper, showing the <br />
power spectral density of the bead's motion.</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
The technique was published as <a href="http://www.mpipks-dresden.mpg.de/mpi-doc/julichergruppe/julicher/COOTWPDITBFP06.pdf">“Calibration of optical tweezers with positional detection in the back focal plane”</a> in the Review of Scientific Instruments by Tolić-Nørrelykke, Schäffer, Howard, Pavone, Jülicher and Flyvbjerg after a collaboration which spanned Europe. As they detail in their paper, the forces acting on the bead are well understood and separable: there is the chaotic Brownian motion, and then there is the drag-induced sinusoidal motion as the fluid chamber is oscillated at the nanoscale. Observe the motion and calculate its power spectral density (PSD). The PSD will show the white-noise spectrum of the Brownian motion, with a spike at the sinusoidal frequency. From the power in the spike, the stiffness of the trap can be derived from the straightforward physics of a damped, simple harmonic oscillator. The bead dimensions and fluid viscosity need not be known.<br />
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<br />
As an aside, there is a tantalizing resemblance between this PSD and the frequency-domain plot sometimes proffered as illustrating the positional resolution of some nanopositioning devices. The difference is that this plot comes from actual motion data, not sensors indirectly inferring position via flexural strain deep in the mechanics. (One could immobilize the platform of such a stage, and the sensors would still see strains as the piezos actuate.) And the plot floor also represents actual limits—in this case, the inescapable Brownian motion of the bead—rather than filtered electrical strain-sensor noise, which is sometimes hyped to imply sub-picometer positional stability that is, unfortunately, not a possibility in the real-world ambient environment of any laboratory on Earth. At the nano scale, we’re all punching bags.<br />
<br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;">(The author would like to thank Armin Hoffmann of the University of Alberta for bringing the Tolić-Nørrelykke paper to our attention.)</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;"><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;"><br />
</span>Nanopositioning / Motion Controlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07337941712953551365noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1196831952496829917.post-8077703835818934792011-12-23T12:26:00.000-08:002016-04-19T14:19:00.513-07:00Best wishes--and a little gift!--from PI<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-yWLNs_EW0hk/TvTjP3OwkrI/AAAAAAAAADw/ht7sXFi9a8U/s1600/Season%2527s+greetings.001.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="235" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-yWLNs_EW0hk/TvTjP3OwkrI/AAAAAAAAADw/ht7sXFi9a8U/s320/Season%2527s+greetings.001.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
Thank you for a productive year filled with fascinating applications. Please enjoy our free Piezo University app from the <a href="http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/piezo-university/id461948962?mt=8">Apple App Store</a> and the <a href="https://market.android.com/details?id=com.piezo.layout&feature=search_result#?t=W251bGwsMSwxLDEsImNvbS5waWV6by5sYXlvdXQiXQ..">Android Market</a>!<br />
<br />
Learn more on <a href="http://www.pi-usa.us/piezo_motion_tutorial/index.php" target="_blank">piezo motion basics</a>Nanopositioning / Motion Controlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07337941712953551365noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1196831952496829917.post-19832792556272822342011-12-01T21:52:00.000-08:002016-04-19T14:20:11.484-07:00"The Imaging Suite is the Microscope"<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgryTFxLsXt78hrtpPwMwHHVnrH7Li7usUonNjepOi3nUy7XYfMc6ltFUi44rGdYhtiywsdsZXsSQNxjFwAXkUSeVRNObBdCfhH930qn6fNpMoqxkjnY6zQJnM4XP6wB6mHtrau-RZZtyK1/s1600/amlab+cropped.001.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgryTFxLsXt78hrtpPwMwHHVnrH7Li7usUonNjepOi3nUy7XYfMc6ltFUi44rGdYhtiywsdsZXsSQNxjFwAXkUSeVRNObBdCfhH930qn6fNpMoqxkjnY6zQJnM4XP6wB6mHtrau-RZZtyK1/s320/amlab+cropped.001.png" width="224" /></a></div>
Looking back at our publications in 2011, a favorite article was "Microscopy in 2011: The Imaging Suite is the Microscope," which appeared in <a href="http://new.americanlaboratory.com/914-Application-Notes/1572-Microscopy-in-2011-The-Imaging-Suite-is-the-Microscope/">American Laboratory</a>. It touched on some important themes, including key applications in super-resolution microscopy, recent advancements in fast focus automation, and the importance of software in instrumentation.<br />
<br />
That last point, regarding the importance of software, is familiar to the point of obvious for users. Software is the face of instrumentation to them. When great hardware supports great software and vice versa, productivity results. In contrast, hardware inadequately supported by software represents a frustrating waste of time for users.<br />
<br />
Nowhere is this clearer than in the field of microscopy, where the classical limitations of optics are growing obsolete in the face of clever imaging and control techniques that tease resolution out of the application, and where the newly databased nature of discovery depends on coordinated, automated and networked control and communications of microscopes, staging and cameras. <br />
<br />
We coined a phrase for this: "The Post-Rayleigh Era of Microscopy."<br />
<br />
What this means: To the user, the face of the microscope is increasingly the computer screen. The knobs and buttons are increasingly virtual. The users themselves are increasingly remote. And the images are increasingly the result of sophisticated image acquisition and processing algorithms.<br />
<br />
As the article discusses, a corresponding lesson is that today, equipment manufacturers and their users are both participants in a larger ecosystem which includes software vendors-- and in microscopy's case that means providers of imaging suites like MetaMorph, Micro-Manager and ScanImage. Accordingly, forging partnerships with software developers has been a priority for us. It's all in pursuit of productivity for our mutual customers.<br />
<br />
Another reason the article was delightful for us was that American Laboratory, with its annual purchasing-plans surveys, was the very first publication to spotlight the advent of the personal computer as a top capital equipment line-item way back in the mid-'80s. The cycle was propelled by instrumentation programming suites like National Instruments' <a href="http://www.ni.com/labview/">LabVIEW</a>, introduced in 1986, and which instituted a clever graphical flowchart paradigm for composing automated applications called virtual instruments. NI's slogan was, "The Software Is The Instrument." <br />
<br />
Indeed. And the imaging suite is the microscope today.<br />
<br />
<b><a href="http://www.pi-usa.us/blog/category/imaging_microscopy/" target="_blank">Read more articles on precision motion systems for microscopy and imaging</a></b>Nanopositioning / Motion Controlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07337941712953551365noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1196831952496829917.post-91466208554645090032011-11-30T13:02:00.000-08:002016-04-19T11:37:53.062-07:00Industry's first piezo physics App-- Free<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwDJHL-anmZ7FGpMVsTJxSSfqisPAU8q6Yc48q8_8iaNKsIewzhCTY55YRF4StIYy1pMSkWzk2zyNv0rXRbT49_IraPVIWpQL8FRFQl0rdPkna_JX4GP4TKd1gJuFYSahyphenhyphenC93eqBOuw4W0/s1600/app.001.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwDJHL-anmZ7FGpMVsTJxSSfqisPAU8q6Yc48q8_8iaNKsIewzhCTY55YRF4StIYy1pMSkWzk2zyNv0rXRbT49_IraPVIWpQL8FRFQl0rdPkna_JX4GP4TKd1gJuFYSahyphenhyphenC93eqBOuw4W0/s400/app.001.png" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Actual screen-snaps of the informative Piezo University app.<br />
Available free for iOS & Android.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
PI is the first nano/micropositioning company to offer its own informative, (mostly) non-commercial app for portable devices like the iPhone, iPad and Android phones and tablets.<br />
<br />
Available free from the <a href="http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/piezo-university/id461948962?mt=8">Apple App Store</a> and the <a href="https://market.android.com/details?id=com.piezo.layout&feature=search_result#?t=W251bGwsMSwxLDEsImNvbS5waWV6by5sYXlvdXQiXQ..">Android Market</a>, the new Piezo University app offers illustrated glossaries, tutorials on piezo physics and mechanical design, and links to important industry resources.<br />
<br />
All content is served live so it's always up-to-date and requires minimal storage. With its attractive, intuitive touch-enabled design and a wealth of thoughtful content, Piezo University deserves a place on your home screen.<br />
<br />
More reading:<br />
<a href="http://www.pi-usa.us/piezo_motion_tutorial/index.php">Piezo Motion Tutorial</a><br />
<a href="http://www.pi-usa.us/products/Nanopositioning_Scanning_Stages/Nanopositioning_Stage_Basics_Piezo-Driven_Nano-Positioning.php">Nanopositioning Basics
</a>
Nanopositioning / Motion Controlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07337941712953551365noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1196831952496829917.post-71974694623226794832011-10-28T07:58:00.000-07:002016-04-19T13:17:03.239-07:00Hexapod Parallel Kinematics UpdateThere are many new developments for parallel kinematic multiaxis positioners. The video below explains some of the differences between serial and parallel kinematics.<br />
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<a href="http://www.pi-usa.us/blog/category/hexapods/" target="_blank">Other articles on hexapod applications can be found here. </a>Nanopositioning / Motion Controlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07337941712953551365noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1196831952496829917.post-55641744593413652642011-10-28T06:28:00.000-07:002016-04-19T13:07:54.481-07:00See you at the Pathology Visions Conference<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Digital pathology and telepathology are new weapons in fighting disease. Its enablers are the Internet and microscopy automation. At the <a href="http://digitalpathologyassociation.org/pathology-visions-conference">Pathology Visions Conference in San Diego</a> next week, we will be discussing key aspects of fast focus automation in particular. <a href="http://digitalpathologyassociation.org/presenters">Here's the abstract</a>:<br />
<br />
<div style="background-color: lightsteelblue; margin-left: 1em;">
Advances in high-throughput, high-reliability focus automation for digital pathology<br />
<br />
Scott Jordan<br />
Director, NanoAutomation Technologies<br />
PI (Physik Instrumente) L.P.<br />
scottj@pi-usa.us<br />
<br />
Broad adoption of digital pathology depends upon reliable and repeatable slide digitization. In turn, repeatable/reliable whole slide imaging depends upon the ability to quickly find, hold and track focus. We discuss recent advances in piezoelectric focusing mechanisms and associated metrology of relevance to the community.<br />
<br />
High-speed, high reliability focus optimization plays an important role in digital pathology by enabling faster capture of more repeatable images, by maintaining crisp focus during slide scanning motions, and by enabling real-time tracking over the acquisition intervals required by some emerging microscopy techniques. These attributes make focus automation a key variable in diagnostic concurrence.<br />
<br />
Of the mechanical approaches available, piezo-actuator driven focus mechanisms combined with through-optic laser sensors offer the high-speed and high reliability required for meeting emerging demands. Piezo actuator driven mechanisms provide sub-millisecond response and can keep pace with throughput-driven methodologies. Thus they can improve process economics in digital pathology as they have in applications like gene sequencing, semiconductor lithography and interferometric metrology.<br />
<br />
Here we review:<br />
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<ul>
<li>Four types of piezo actuators</li>
<li>Reliability and speed capability of piezo actuator driven focus mechanisms</li>
<li>Focus detection technologies often used with piezo mechanisms</li>
<li>Examples of piezo deployment for high speed focus in other industries</li>
<li>Key metrics for evaluating and selecting focusing technologies</li>
</ul>
Read more articles on <a href="http://www.pi-usa.us/blog/category/piezo-actuatorsmotors/" target="_blank">piezo motion devices</a><br />
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Nanopositioning / Motion Controlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07337941712953551365noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1196831952496829917.post-39242686278674940202011-10-25T19:22:00.000-07:002016-04-19T11:51:27.481-07:00New Technology Enables Focusing from AfarWhen most people hear the word "piezo" in the context of motion control, they understandably think of the classical piezoelectric stack actuator, composed of hundreds of thin layers of specialized ceramic interleaved with electrodes and sintered together. When a voltage is applied, the stack expands. Expansion is limited to about 1% of the stack length-- thus, a 100 mm long stack provide about 100 microns of travel. Clever, frictionless lever amplifiers can be fabricated (usually using sophisticated wire electric discharge machining) to provide magnified travel. In this way a compact piezo stage can provide hundreds of microns of travel.<br />
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This basic approach has served the microscopy industry well over our many years of manufacturing our popular PIFOC™ objective positioners, specialized linear motion devices optimized to tuck unobtrusively into a turret assembly while providing fast and straight axial positioning of the objective. However, microscopes' dimensional constraints limit the amount of lever amplification such devices can incorporate. 400 microns has traditionally been the limit for PIFOCs in our catalog.<br />
<br />
Until now. Over the past several years, we've engineered new piezo technologies which provide much longer travels. Rather than rely on the simple expansion and contraction of the ceramic element, our various piezomotors utilize either ultrasonic linear actuation or various approaches to walking actuation. Each piezomotor principle has its inherent strengths for target applications but all provide theoretically unlimited travel, fieldless operation, high stiffness and holding force, nanoscale position-hold stability over long periods, and compact size.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.pi-usa.us/products/images/300x250_images/N-725_Long_Travel_Microscope_Objective_Positioner.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://www.pi-usa.us/products/images/300x250_images/N-725_Long_Travel_Microscope_Objective_Positioner.jpg" height="162" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">N-725 PIFOC® is the first piezo-objective <br />
drive with integrated NEXACT® <br />
Piezo Linear Motor, combining <br />
smooth motion, long travel ranges <br />
and fast response with extreme position stability</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
Our NEXACT® motors, part of <a href="http://www.pi-usa.us/products/Piezo_Motors_Stages/Linear-Motor-Precision-Positioning.php#NEX">our PiezoWalk® family of ceramic motors</a>, are an excellent example of all the above, plus sub-nanometer resolution. Their small size and impressive force makes them ideal for long-travel objective positioning, and they are at the heart of our new <a href="http://www.pi-usa.us/products/Microscopy_Imaging/Precision_Microscope_Stage.php#PIF">N-725 NEXACT PIFOC Objective Positioner</a>. Offering a full 1 mm of travel, this unique mechanism offers high speed and maintenance-free operation. Its long travel helps accommodate varying substrates and easy load/unload operations, making it ideal for automation applications. And now it is available in systems integrating the <a href="http://motionx.thomasnet.com/item/all-categories/focustrac-laser-auto-focus-systems/item-1004?forward=1">Motion X FocusTrac™Autofocus Sensor</a> for especially responsive and crisp autofocus actuation.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiBkSUHCy_WYdnRR8hJxSmMp2l7I91HSJqpVu5UhalpjUSmRrjIi-oWghqVRy0UAjLXFf8X0YPtoIMOHv7l97SaSHbPWiLpXt-RdVgBnRV-2krRS6VxbQ7pWR1Vh2xt4Dx5g-4grA2RGorU/s1600/Screen+Shot+2011-10-25+at+7.12.27+PM.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiBkSUHCy_WYdnRR8hJxSmMp2l7I91HSJqpVu5UhalpjUSmRrjIi-oWghqVRy0UAjLXFf8X0YPtoIMOHv7l97SaSHbPWiLpXt-RdVgBnRV-2krRS6VxbQ7pWR1Vh2xt4Dx5g-4grA2RGorU/s200/Screen+Shot+2011-10-25+at+7.12.27+PM.png" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">N-725 tracking focus of<br />
a disk spinning at 300 RPM</td></tr>
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Meanwhile, autofocus is now a capability which spans almost all PI motion device and controller combinations. Ease-of-use, stability, speed, applications flexibility and reliable focus capture from extreme out-of-focus conditions were notable design targets accomplished with all configurations. Systems integrating N-725 meet all these criteria over the full 1mm range of the device. Its sophisticated, all-digital <a href="http://www.pi-usa.us/products/Motor_Controllers/Motor_Controller_Precision_Positioner.php#NPWC">E-861 Controller/Driver</a> offers USB and RS-232 connectivity together with TTL utility and trigger lines and a joystick port. And, as a PI General Command Set device, it is supported by a wealth of proven software development tools and the leading microscopy suites.<br />
<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjsotzziPTT0eAqoNNruzCJdNret2nI4Y1vGeqJz38pCBQQZM7bl7mPQqEdDbvm5vNsOjbFi46J4NzbgT7aDStRDYI7BTPI3xDfqW9V0ETE5e9Hy0uLV6C-xKOMhmXg7K6K4ZdYNuOJ8uj2/s1600/Screen+Shot+2011-10-25+at+7.14.58+PM.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="241" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjsotzziPTT0eAqoNNruzCJdNret2nI4Y1vGeqJz38pCBQQZM7bl7mPQqEdDbvm5vNsOjbFi46J4NzbgT7aDStRDYI7BTPI3xDfqW9V0ETE5e9Hy0uLV6C-xKOMhmXg7K6K4ZdYNuOJ8uj2/s320/Screen+Shot+2011-10-25+at+7.14.58+PM.png" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Fast, automatic focus capture <br />
from 900 microns out of focus!</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
A special capability is <i>Fast Focus & Freeze </i>(<i>F<sup>3</sup></i>), PI's exclusive ability to capture and track the focal plane and then bumplessly switch to nanoscale-stable position-hold, with the ability to precisely position the objective with respect to the focal plane using the device's integrated position sensor. This is an invaluable capability for high-throughput automated Z sectioning and other quantitative studies where the focal plane serves as a datum plane. With N-725,<i> </i><i>F<sup>3</sup></i>means the initial condition can be up to 1 mm out of focus.<br />
<br />
Count the enablers: unprecedented travel, easy integration, high responsiveness, fast actuation, robust focus-capture and tracking, and <i>Fast Focus & Freeze</i>. N-725 is a revolutionary addition to the microscopist's toolkit.</div>
Nanopositioning / Motion Controlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07337941712953551365noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1196831952496829917.post-78139883899476902922011-09-05T13:47:00.000-07:002016-04-19T12:46:20.128-07:00Tip: How to Ensure the Best Resolution in Analog InterfacingA large portion of our customers' nanopositioning applications utilize analog interfacing for position-command. As we have <a href="http://physik-instrumente.blogspot.com/2011/02/original-low-latency-high-throughput.html">discussed before</a>, analog interfacing offers many compelling benefits including high speed, easy synchronizing, compatibility with our patented <a href="http://www.tinyurl.com/hyperbit">HyperBit DAC-resolution enhancement</a>, straightforward generation of complex waveforms, and ready compatibility with external-sensor and tracking schemes. <br />
<br />
But occasionally we will encounter a customer application where the analog-interfaced nanopositioning system isn't providing the resolution the customer expects. Most often, this is due to a simple issue: a mismatch between the voltage range of the customer's digital-to-analog converter (DAC) and the voltage range of the position-command input on the nanopositioner.<br />
<br />
Consider the case where a 16-bit DAC (such as is common on multifunction cards installed in the customer's computer) offers a -10 to +10V range, but the input to the nanopositioner has a 0 to 10V range. The card's "16-bit"ness means that its 20V range is spread over 2<sup>16</sup> steps... that's 65,536 steps. So the voltage resolution is 20 ÷ 65536 = 0.3mV. If the card were set to provide a range of 0 to 10V, then its resolution would be 10 ÷ 65536 = 0.15mV ...in other words, the resolution would be improved by a factor of two. The mismatch means an entire bit of resolution is lost!<br />
<br />
Many (but unfortunately not all) multifunction analog I/O cards offer a configuration option (accessible, for example, via National Instruments' Measurement and Automation Explorer utility, NI-MAX, or via NI-DAQmx subVIs in LabVIEW) for setting the analog range of the DAC. Certainly, any application benefits from matching the analog ranges as closely as possible. For those occasions when it is not supported by the hardware, consider <a href="http://www.pi-usa.us/technotes/PI_Enhancing_the_AO_Resolution_of_the_latest_NI_DAQ_hardware.pdf">HyperBit</a> as a way of recovering that lost bit... and many more.<br />
<br />
Read these papers for the latest on high-througput digital interfacing.<br />
<ul>
<li><a href="http://www.pi-usa.us/technotes/Fast_Track-Following_Servo_For_Disk_Drive_Test.pdf" target="_blank">Interfacing Fast Nanopositioners to Track-Following Servos</a> </li>
<li> <a href="http://www.pi-usa.us/pdf/NanoPositioning_High_Speed_Advanced_Interfacing.pdf" target="_blank">High-speed, low latency communications for nanopositioning in Single-Molecule Biophysics</a></li>
</ul>
<br />
Nanopositioning / Motion Controlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07337941712953551365noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1196831952496829917.post-36867222525089323882011-09-05T13:29:00.000-07:002016-04-19T12:12:00.336-07:00Introducing Digital Control at an Analog Controller Price<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.pi-usa.us/products/Piezo_Drivers_Nanopositioning_Controllers/index.php#HSDC"><img alt="E-709 Digital Piezo Motion Controller for Nanopositioning" border="0" src="http://www.pi-usa.us/products/images/300x250_images/E-709_Cap_Piezo_Controller.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.pi-usa.us/products/Piezo_Drivers_Nanopositioning_Controllers/index.php#HSDC">High Resolution Digital Servo Piezo Controller at Analog Price</a></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<div style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;">
</div>
<br />
PI's groundbreaking <b><a href="http://www.pi-usa.us/products/Piezo_Drivers_Nanopositioning_Controllers/index.php#HSDC">E-709 Compact and Cost-Optimized Digital Piezo Controller</a></b> leverages the very latest in digital electronics technology for dramatic value and performance. The unit features a very compact, panel-mount package and includes USB and analog interfaces for position commands and sensor monitoring as well as SPI for real-time interfacing in demanding industrial and research applications. <br />
<br />
Despite its small size and analog-controller price, E-709 packs a host of features formerly found only on much costlier digital controllers:<br />
<br />
<ul>
<li>A 10W peak-power amplifier</li>
<li>TTL utility interfaces for synchronization, triggering and signaling</li>
<li>A built-in data recorder</li>
<li>An internal waveform generator</li>
</ul>
<br />
This is a <i>true</i> digital controller, with a digital servo based on sophisticated, real-time algorithms. Beware the tendency of some to call any controller with communications interfaces "digital"! In a digital servo, gains and other parameters are software-settable, and the system is immune to DAC drift since the DAC resides inside the servo loop. And like all PI digital controllers, E-709 offers plug-and-play auto-calibration with our closed-loop nanopositioners. It is available in versions for PI nanopositioners with capacitive sensors or strain gauge and piezoresistive sensors, for which it offers unprecedented 5th-order digital linearization.<br />
<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.pi-usa.us/products/Piezo_Drivers_Nanopositioning_Controllers/index.php#OEMC" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://www.pi-usa.us/products/images/300x250_images/E609_Piezo-Controllers.jpg" height="190" width="320" />
</a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.pi-usa.us/products/Piezo_Drivers_Nanopositioning_Controllers/index.php#OEMC">An unpackaged OEM version offers great performance </a><br />
<a href="http://www.pi-usa.us/products/Piezo_Drivers_Nanopositioning_Controllers/index.php#OEMC">and value, with significant supportability benefits</a><br />
<a href="http://www.pi-usa.us/products/Piezo_Drivers_Nanopositioning_Controllers/index.php#OEMC">from the plug-and-play auto-calibration and</a><br />
<a href="http://www.pi-usa.us/products/Piezo_Drivers_Nanopositioning_Controllers/index.php#OEMC">remotely-accessible, software-based filter</a><br />
<a href="http://www.pi-usa.us/products/Piezo_Drivers_Nanopositioning_Controllers/index.php#OEMC">parameters and diagnostic tools.</a></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
The E-709's digital servo offers a fast 10kHz update rate and integrates not just one but two notch filters. The importance of notch filters in providing responsive positioning performance deserves more mention than it's ordinarily given, as they desensitize the servo to observable resonances in the nanopositioner and its load and supporting structure. This allows significantly higher gains to be safely employed, which translates directly into crisp performance. All PI servocontrollers have notch filters; our digital controllers actually offer two. (Surprisingly, despite the manifest benefits of notch filters in nanopositioning, they remain uncommon in the marketplace.)<br />
<br />
E-709 runs on any 24VDC source, making it ideal for OEM applications. In fact, an unpackaged version for OEM applications offers special cost-effectiveness. OEMs will also appreciate the supportability benefits of the software-settable servo parameters and plug-and-play automatic calibration. Research and industrial users alike will appreciate its utilization of PI's General Command Set, so applications written for any PI controller may be readily adapted to E-709 and vice versa. A host of software functionality is also supported, including comprehensive LabVIEW libraries and Windows .dll and Linux .so libraries.<br />
<br />
E-709 is also ideal for autofocus applications ranging from research microscopy to industrial inspection, scanning and even the latest genomics applications. For example, it interfaces in real time with Motion X's superb <a href="http://motionx.thomasnet.com/item/all-categories/focustrac-laser-auto-focus-systems/item-1004?forward=1">FocusTrac</a> through-optic focus sensors, providing precise, stable snap-in on the order of tens of milliseconds. It is compatible with our full line of classical PIFOC objective positioners and sample-positioning Z stages. It provides responsive real-time tracking, and it supports PI's unique Fast Focus & Freeze capability, where the unit can be bumplessly switched from external (focus) sensor to internal (capacitive, SGS or piezoresistive) sensor, allowing precise, calibrated, stable motions with respect to the focal plane.<br />
<br />
E-709 offers a peek at the future of nanopositioning today, at an affordable price.<br />
<br />
More reading on <a href="http://www.pi-usa.us/blog/category/nanopositioning/" target="_blank">nanopositioning.</a> Nanopositioning / Motion Controlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07337941712953551365noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1196831952496829917.post-43839266871376071752011-05-15T22:37:00.000-07:002016-04-19T12:19:23.717-07:00Attack the Stack<a href="http://www.pi-usa.us/images/hexapods.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"></a><span style="font-size: large;"><b><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Hexapods advance motion capabilities beyond convention</span></span></b></span><a href="http://www.pi-usa.us/images/hexapods.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"></a><br />
<br />
Multi-axis motion has conventionally been achieved by bolting-together multiple linear and rotary stages. And <a href="http://www.pi-usa.us/images/hexapods.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://www.pi-usa.us/images/hexapods.jpg" height="215" width="320" /></a>(speaking as a leading manufacturer of linear and rotary stages) this can certainly be an effective approach we thoroughly endorse.<a href="http://www.pi-usa.us/images/hexapods.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"></a><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br />
<a href="http://www.pi-usa.us/products/productimg/micropositioning/m810-200-bb.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"></a><a href="http://www.pi-usa.us/products/productimg/micropositioning/m824-200-bb.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"></a>But hexapods take multi-axis motion control to another level entirely: <br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<ul>
<a href="http://www.pi-usa.us/products/Micropositioning_Stage_Hexapod/hexapod-6-axis-stage.php#HSAM" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;" target="_blank"></a>
<li>PI hexapods' highly triangulated configuration and proprietary joint design results in greater stiffness than any stack of stages can provide. For example, the resonant frequency of our M-850 hexapod--our original model--with a substantial, 10kg load exceeds 90Hz transversely and 500Hz axially-- meaning this six-degree-of-freedom positioner when significantly loaded has a higher resonant frequency than many single-axis stages, unloaded!<br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.pi-usa.us/products/productimg/micropositioning/m810-200-bb.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://www.pi-usa.us/products/productimg/micropositioning/m810-200-bb.jpg" /></a></li>
<li>Parallel kinematics means a PI hexapod’s six stiff linear actuators share the load of the moving platform, and their loading is purely axial, maximizing their stiffness. By comparison, with a stack of stages, only the top stage supports the load… the next stage supports the load <i>and</i> the top stage; the next stage supports the load <i>and</i> the top stage <i>and</i> the next stage… and so on, down to the bottom stage in the stack, which supports the load and <i>all</i> the other stages. This is a key reason for the superior stiffness and higher resonant frequency of hexapods, with direct impact on system responsiveness.</li>
<li></li>
<li><iframe allowfullscreen="" class="YOUTUBE-iframe-video" data-thumbnail-src="https://i.ytimg.com/vi/zE7so4-vfMo/0.jpg" frameborder="0" height="266" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/zE7so4-vfMo?feature=player_embedded" width="320"></iframe><br />
<br />
</li>
<li>You need never tune a PI hexapod. On the other hand, each of the axes in a stack of servo stages will have its own tuning requirements, and optimizing for your load can be a significant chore for stacked configurations and can even risk damage. <br />
<br />
</li>
<li>Well-designed hexapods have no moving/sweeping cables to rub, wear and foul. After all, cabling tends to be the most unreliable part of conventional motion systems, so this advantage goes directly to reliability and <a href="http://www.pi-usa.us/products/productimg/micropositioning/m824-200-bb.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://www.pi-usa.us/products/productimg/micropositioning/m824-200-bb.jpg" /></a>MTBF. In addition, cable-borne vibration, rubbing and tugging will inevitably reduce the minimum incremental motion, repeatability and stability of stage stacks.<a href="http://www.pi-usa.us/products/productimg/micropositioning/m824-200-bb.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"></a><br />
<br />
However, not all hexapods are created equal-- you will find some manufacturers whose cables drape and dangle, forming an untidy mess all the way to the controller. Besides raising reliability and stability issues, this is an invitation to electromagnetic interference. PI’s popular hexapods have exactly two cables going from high-quality connectors on the hexapod's base to the controller: one for the hexapod’s integrated, high-efficiency drive amplifier (no extra box required), and the other for control signals. Each cable has one connector on each end, for simple and reliable connections and painless setup.<br />
<br />
</li>
<li>The center-of-rotation for rotation stages and goniometers are fixed in space. By comparison, the center-of-rotation for PI hexapods may be placed anywhere in space with a single, simple software command. And, PI hexapods speak in human units: millimeters for the X, Y and Z axes (with resolution to 0.1 micron) and degrees for the pitch, yaw and roll axes (with resolution to 0.1 millidegree). This is all kept easy-to-use by the sophisticated digital controller which transparently handles all the coordinate transformations.<br />
<br />
</li>
<li>PI hexapod controllers offer advanced microrobotic capabilities like automatic vectoring and our General Command Set, which is both inherently multi-axis and easy-to-use. Powerful macro capabilities are built-in. <a href="http://www.pi-usa.us/products/Micropositioning_Stage_Hexapod/hexapod-6-axis-stage.php#HSAM" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;" target="_blank"><img alt="http://www.pi-usa.us/products/Micropositioning_Stage_Hexapod/hexapod-6-axis-stage.php#HSAM" border="0" src="http://www.pi-usa.us/products/images/300x250_images/M850-high-load_6-Axis_and_Hexapods.jpg" height="250" width="300" /></a>Comprehensive and well-documented LabVIEW libraries, Windows .dll and Linux shared object libraries come standard and support the instrument’s high-level multi-axis capabilities, yet the sophisticated mnemonic command set can be utilized directly if desired. Up to two additional axes of servo-controlled motion can be optionally provided by the controller. Two channels of optical or analog data acquisition can similarly be provisioned internal to the controller. RS-232 and TCP/IP interfaces are standard, with GPIB a cost-effective option. And PI hexapods provide a repeatable absolute coordinate system that is consistent from power-up to power-up; beware alternative configurations which rely on springs to support the load or address hidden backlash issues in the drivetrain.</li>
</ul>
While PI hexapods offer many advantages over stacks of stages, one thing in common is a great diversity of available configurations. Specialized PI hexapods are available, ranging from vacuum-compatible models (for which the naturally low-surface-area hexapod configuration offers additional benefits compared to stage stacks), to ultra-stable models designed to carry high-bandwidth <span style="font-size: small;">active-optic</span> packages in professional telescopes, to the popular F-206, optimized for high-throughput photonic packaging automation.<br />
<br />
PI has many years of experience in designing and manufacturing hexapods for the world's most demanding applications. As a consequence, PI makes more hexapods than all competitors combined. Our experience benefits your application with superior performance, reliability, software and global support. PI hexapods range in size from smaller than a coffee can to the size of a small car. If you don’t see what you need for your application, count on responsive support from a PI applications engineer at any of our worldwide offices.<br />
<br />
Read more articles about <a href="http://www.pi-usa.us/blog/category/hexapods/" target="_blank">Hexapod applications</a> <br />
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://www.pi-usa.us/products/Micropositioning_Stage_Hexapod/hexapod-6-axis-stage.php" target="_blank"><img alt="http://www.pi-usa.us/products/Micropositioning_Stage_Hexapod/hexapod-6-axis-stage.php" src="http://www.pi-usa.us/products/images/Hexapod_product_family_V3.jpg" /></a> </div>
<span style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-size: small;"> </span><br style="mso-special-character: line-break;" /> <br style="mso-special-character: line-break;" /> </span>Nanopositioning / Motion Controlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07337941712953551365noreply@blogger.com0