Accurate in the nanometer range

In recent years, nano-accuracy has become widely available for miniaturization, automation, manufacturing and inspection of components, among others. For this target group, Groneman BV from Hengelo has integrated the product program of ALIO Industries into its assortment. This American company has over twenty years of experience in high-accuracy motion systems including hexapods and linear and rotary slides.

Groneman's product range can be roughly divided into drive technology, control technology and connection technology. Drive technology comprises various couplings, (cardan) shafts, (safety) brakes with care and monitoring modules, lifting screw spindles and, finally, shrink discs and clamping bushings. Each of these are high-quality components primarily intended to protect machines from damage, production downtime and unintended adjustments.

The main challenge in control technology is the automation of production processes. For this purpose, solutions are available to position products and build pick and place systems. In addition, the offer includes motors, controllers, actuators and transmissions. Under the heading of joining technology, Groneman has included self-tapping threaded bushings and inserts for joining various materials, as well as products and solutions for securing and sealing threads.

ALIO Industries

A special member of the control engineering department are the "nanometermotion" products of ALIO Industries, with which Groneman is deliberately entering the market of high-accuracy applications. This American company has been providing motion control solutions since 2001, continuously focusing on better solutions for high-accuracy drives in the nanometer segment. The premise here is that the 6 degrees of freedom from accuracy (6 DOP) is somewhat different from traditional solutions, which often look at only 1 degree of accuracy. With this premise, the company is developing solutions such as Hexapod robotic systems with three or six axes, air bearing systems and nano-precision linear and rotary systems with both mechanical and air bearing guides.

Applications

The systems for which ALIO drives are developed are mostly related to high-precision positioning. For example, in aerospace, micromachining, industrial automation, medical, photonics, optics, semiconductor and biotech industries. The high accuracy of the slides is achieved by using a sophisticated design of the bottom and top of the linear slide in combination with selected precision linear bearings. These slides are assembled together with high-quality linear motors and position sensors to form the desired system.

The assortment

Groneman's ALIO product portfolio includes parallel kinematic robots with three or six axes and linear or rotary slides for both standard and vacuum use. The systems come complete with motor controllers and motion controllers. Two systems Groneman likes to highlight separately. First, these are the parallel kinematic robot systems better known as hexapods. With these, ALIO wants to revolutionize nanometer robotics. These hexapods are available in a version with three or six axes and, if desired, also in a hybrid version: a combination of XY carriage with a rotary carriage and tripod. With these, a positioning accuracy of less than a micrometer and a repetition accuracy less than 50 nm can be achieved.

The second product group in the ALIO range that deserves extra attention includes the linear and rotary slides. The linear slides have a stroke of 25 - 400 mm and deliver a force of 8 - 64 N at a maximum speed of up to 150 mm/s. With these, systems can be built with a resolution of 5 µm to 5 nm. Suitable for standalone movements, among other things, but can also be integrated into serial kinematic constructions. The standard slides can be fully tuned to a specific application and can also be coupled with various controllers.

With ALIO as backup, Groneman advises its customers on the proper selection, implementation and use of nanometermotion products. 

Advantages of ALIO systems

- Highly accurate positioning.

- Very even speeds.

- Suitable for use in clean rooms.

- Suitable for use in vacuum.

- Parallel as well as serial construction.