Design and experimental validation of low stiffness aerostatic thrust bearings

Linear aerostatic bearings are frequently used in high precision stages for their advantageous bearing properties, with low friction and absence of stick-slip being most notable. To improve relatively low out-of-plane stiffness of air bearings, pre-loading is applied. A common method of pre-loading is by utilizing vacuum, where a constant vacuum...

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)...

Attenuating vibrations with negative stiffness

Many high-tech equipment demands a vibration free environment and can only operate at vibration levels much lower than typical ground vibrations. This high level of vibration isolation is difficult to achieve with conventional suspension solutions, especially in the range of low frequencies in the order of 1 Hz. The goal of the Kolibri project...