PI (Physik Instrumente) is publishing a new brochure that details its range of Hexapod Six-Axis Parallel Kinematics Robots and Positioning Systems.
The company says that a hexapod system (also known as a Stewart Platform), which is supplied with a special motion controller, has a number advantages over a stacked series of stages:
- Programmable pivot point for simple rotational alignment tasks
- Lower inertia and higher stiffness
- Better dynamic behaviour
- Smaller package size
- No accumulation of position errors, reduced runout errors
- No moving cables for better repeatability and reliability
The brochure presents a variety of standard and custom hexapod systems, featuring sub-micrometer resolution and load capacities from 2-1000kg.
PI has been designing and manufacturing hexapod positioning robots since the early 1990s. Today standard hexapods are available in various formats and sizes include servo motor-driven systems for moving large optics up to 1m diameter, to piezo-based designs for nanometre-precision control of semiconductor wafers and masks. Standard and custom systems are available in non-magnetic and vacuum-compatible versions.
These parallel motion systems are designed for applications in fields such as:
- Optics and photonics, telecommunication
- Astronomy/aerospace
- Biotechnology
- Semiconductor test and handling
- Microscopy
The hexapod brochure can be downloaded as a PDF from : www.hexapods.net/pdf/Hexapod_6-Axis_Brochure.htm.
