ALAR series direct-drive
rotary stages provide superior angular positioning and velocity control with
exceptionally large apertures, load capability, and very high speeds. With the
combination of a large aperture and direct-drive motor, the ALAR series offers
significant performance benefits compared to worm-drive large aperture stages.
Now customers can get large aperture rotary stages with zero backlash and no
gear wear or gear vibration as is commonly seen in worm-drive stages. Another
benefit is that direct drive is significantly faster than worm drive, so you
get faster testing, lower cost manufacturing, and higher profits. From the standpoint
of system accuracy and repeatability, the stage will maintain its performance
over time with no need for maintenance because there are no gears to wear out.
Applications for the ALAR
include single and multiaxis electro-optic sensor testing, missile seeker testing,
antenna testing, inertial navigation device testing, photonic component alignment,
high-accuracy laser machining, and precision wafer inspection. The ALAR is also
applicable to testing in vacuum to 10-6 torr. These rotary stages can also be
configured as multiaxis gimbals.
High Speed
Conventional worm-drive rotary stages with similar apertures and payload capacity
only operate to 15 rpm or less. ALAR direct-drive stages operate from 45 to
300 rpm continuous rotation – significantly faster than worm-drive stages.
Superior Mechanical
Design
Angular contact bearings are used to maximize performance with respect to wobble,
moment stiffness, and rotating friction. A precision-machined shaft further
minimizes wobble. The ALAR works especially well in applications that require
360° continuous motion but have limited space – the stage is 65-160
mm tall and provides smooth motion without travel restrictions.
Brushless Direct-Drive
To maximize positioning performance, the ALAR series utilizes Aerotech’s
brushless, slotless motors. This motor has all of the advantages of a brushless
direct-drive motor – no brushes to wear, no gear trains to maintain, and
high acceleration and high speeds. Since it is a slotless, ironless design,
there is zero cogging, meaning there is absolutely no torque ripple. This makes
the ALAR ideal for applications requiring outstanding contoured motion, smooth
scan velocity, or precise incremental steps.
High Payload Capacity and
Large Moment Load Stiffness
The ALAR comes in two different configurations. The standard profile (SP) unit
has high payload capacity and high moment load stiffness for applications where
its rotation axis is parallel or perpendicular to gravity and the payload center
of gravity is cantilevered away from the stage. The low profile (LP) unit has
high payload capacity and is for applications where the axis of rotation is
parallel to gravity.
Accurate Positioning
Performance is assured with encoder line counts from 31000 to 74000 per rev,
resulting in resolutions from 0.02 arc-sec/count to 0.009 arc-sec/count. The
motor and rotary encoder are directly coupled to a common shaft. Accuracy is
±3.9 arc-sec and bi-directional repeatability is ±0.5 arc-sec.
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