The Broadest Portfolio of Precision Motion Control Technologies

These stages are capable of providing nanometer size steps. PI offers different concepts for different applications, from the ultra-precise and fast piezo flexure stages for small travel ranges to large air bearing stages and exotic maglev systems.

Hexapod parallel positioners provide extremely versatile multi-axis motion in all degrees of freedom. They are based on a 6-axis (XYZ, Pitch, Roll, Yaw) actuator system, arranged in parallel between a top and bottom platform. PI Hexapod positioners and motion simulators have many advantages over conventional multi-axis stages, such as improved dynamics, smaller package size and higher stiffness.

Air bearings provide frictonless motion with excellent guiding precision (flatness/straightness) over long travel ranges, and with high load capacity. PI's air bearing stage designs are based on several decades of experience.

PI offers several piezo-based positioning concepts. Flexure-guided stages provide the highest precision and speed, but are limited to typically <1 mm travel range. Several piezo motor concepts are offered for long travel ranges. Ultrasonic piezo motors provide higher speed, PiezoWalk motors excel in force generation, and stick-slip motors are very compact and cost effective.

Motorized positioning stages and actuators are based on mechanical bearings, stepper motor, servo motor or linear motor drives. Position encoders are used for feedback. PI offers a large selection of motor controllers.

The PI group has extensive knowledge in the design and manufacture of highly precise rotation stages and positioning systems. Customers use our rotary stages in a variety of applications such as beamline instrumentation, fiber-optical alignment, semiconductor inspection, bio-medical instrumentation and X-ray crystallography.

Because one drive principle does not fit all applications, PI provides a number of different miniature stage concepts. From classical stepper and servo motors to high-speed linear motors and a variety of self-locking piezo motors with emphasis on precision, dynamics, cost and force generation.

PI currently offers a variety of automation and high precision actuators based on several drive technologies. Voice coil linear motors provide high speed long travel and long service life. Piezo flexure actuators can move in microseconds to milliseconds with ranges to 1 mm. Ultrasonic piezo high-speed motors cover ranges to 150 mm and acceleration to 10 g, based on a self-locking, non-magnetic drive principle. Serve and stepper lead and ballscrew actuators cover many traditional applications and piezo ratchet drives replace conventional manual micrometers.

PI designs and manufactures all of its piezo actuators from the ground up. Piezo materials are manufactured at PI's Ceramic division. PI's PICMA multilayer stacks have been life tested by NASA/JPL for 100 billion cycles. Stacks and benders are available in both cofired multilayer (low voltage) and classical, glued designs.

Piezo motors provide several advantages over conventional motors: smaller, lower energy consumption, self-locking at rest, high force compared to size, intrinsically vacuum-compatible and non-magnetic, very fast response down to the microsecond range.

Super-resolution microscopy and electron microscopy depends on high precision motion systems with nanometer resolution, fast response, and extreme position stability. PI offers a number of solutions with flexure based piezo drives, self-locking ultrasonic motor stages, and fast nano-focus drives in both standard and vacuum versions. Controllers are compatible with all major image acquisition packages.

PI offers piezo and voice-coil-based tip/tilt stages and steering mirrors, from miniature standard units to large custom designs for astronomy and aerospace. For fastest response and highest resolution, they make use of frictionless flexure guides and high-speed solid-state piezo drives or linear magnetic motors.

Fiber alignment / photonics test automation systems come in different flavors from compact XYZ motorized fiber positioners to fully automated 6 degree of freedom hexapod alignment systems with controller and software. Integrated closed-loop piezo scanners provide extremely fast response for the shortest possible alignment times.

Closed-loop piezo positioning and motion controllers are the key to high performance piezo motion. PI provides a very large spectrum, from miniature OEM modules, to compact digital-servo bench top controllers and high-end multi-axis controllers with advanced servo algorithms specifically developed for solid-state piezo ceramic drives.

These controllers are optimized for PI’s motorized positioning stages. Models for magnetic DC-servo, micro-stepped motors as well as for several kinds of ceramic linear and rotary motors are available. Hexapod controllers handle all coordinate transformation and path planning. User friendly software, drivers, and examples are included.