The Design of a Cost Effective Planar Precision Stage using Optical Mouse Sensors

Planar Ferrofluid Bearings for Precision Stages

Background The general objective of this research is to investigate the use of ferrofluids in planar bearings for precision stages. Ferrofluids are suspensions of magnetic nanoparticles in a base fluid. When in a magnetic field, these particles are attracted and the fluid is pressurized. The induced pressure can be used to carry a load. This...

Design of a zero stiffness six degrees of freedom compliant precision stage

This paper presents the first zero stiffness six degrees of freedom (DoF) compliant precision stage. To deal with problems like backlash, friction and lubrication for performing ultra-precise positioning in a vacuum environment, a novel compliant structure is proposed. All six degrees of freedom are statically balanced (i.e. near zero stiffness)...