F-206 Six-Axis Parallel Kinematics Positioning System
The The Latest Information on 6-Axis Hexapod Systems is Available Here
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| F-206 Six Axis Alignment & Positioning System |
F-206 Platform is controlled in all six Degrees of Freedom |
Applications
The F-206 is considerably more compact and accurate than conventional multi-axis stage stacks. Its novel parallel kinematics design (see Principles of Operation) and powerful all-digital controller auto-matically compensate for unwanted and parasitic motions. It is immune to orthogonality and crosstalk issues that are a formidable assembly and service concern for stacked units.
There are none of the servo-tuning and dynamical setup procedures necessitated by the widely varying effective loads of stages in a stacked assembly, so the F-206 is truly a plug-and-play motion system that requires no servo adjustment or tuning. Its operation is fast and crisp, with identical dynamics regardless of the direction of motion.
Features
Principles of Operation
The basic operating principle of the F-206 is related to the hexapod principle. Unlike hexapods with variable length struts ("legs") the F-206 features con-stant length struts. This concept provides the follow-ing advantages over "classical" variable strut length hexapods:
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| Principle Design of F-206 Parallel Kinematics |
Virtualized Rotation Capability
A highly useful feature is the F-206's fully virtualized rotation capability. Since its motion is not defined by fixed bearings but rather by sophisticated real-time 6-space control algorithms, you can define any point in space to be the center of rotation with a single software command. This is ideal for angular alignment of fibers since it is easy to set the pivot point to prevent "walking" of the fiber as its tip/tilt orientation is optimized.
All commands and operations are high-level using human-readable units (mm, degrees) and coordinates (X, Y, Z, Q X, Q Y, Q Z
). The F-206 automatically manages its path planning and coordination of its six motors. An integrated photometer and built-in automatic alignment procedures add to its power in photonic packaging applications.Software
Control of the F-206 is facilitated by the controller's open software architecture providing a variety of high level commands for minimized communication overhead & bandwidth. Other F-206 features are:
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| HexControl Software showing Optical Device Scan |
Controller
Manual Control Option
The F-206.MC6 option is a useful addition for simplifying test and setup procedures. It consists of a board that plugs into the F-206 controller and a control pad with six digital "potentiometer" knobs (one for each degree of freedom). The control pad allows manual step-by-step operation of the platform with a programmable step size.
External positioning input (via the RS-232 interface) can be mixed with manual positioning input. Both operate on the same position registers of the F-206 controller.
