(pressebox) (Karlsruhe, 16.02.2011) In vacuum chambers, there is very little installation space for applications. Since the object to be moved is not permanently accessible, a flexible placement of the load (e.g. a sample) is particularly important.

The new M-811.STV Miniature Hexapod from Physik Instrumente (PI) offers the perfect solution. Due to its compact design, with a diameter of only 130 mm and a height of 115 mm, the M-811.STV offers travel ranges of up to 35 mm in the XY plane and of 13 mm in the Z direction. It is especially the large tilting angles of 20° around the X and Y axis and up to 40° around the vertical axis that make this Hexapod so versatile.

The Mini-Hexapod reliably positions loads of up to 5 kg and achieves velocities of up to 10 mm/s. Each individual strut has a positioning resolution of 40 nm; positioning can be done repeatably with accuracies under 1 µm.

Like all Hexapod models from PI, the Mini-Hexapod uses a powerful digital controller via Ethernet. All positions are conveniently given in Cartesian coordinates.

Parallel-kinematics systems have several advantages over stacked multi-axis positioners. All six actuators act on a joint platform, which keeps the moved mass low. Moreover, there is no summation of the lateral runout and tilts of individual axes. The pivot point can be selected as desired via software commands and thus remains independent of the movement.

Well-known for its high quality, PI has been one of the leading players in the global market for precision positioning technology for many years. PI has been developing and manufacturing standard and OEM products with piezo or motor drives for 40 years now. In addition to its three German factories, PI has eight subsidiaries and a total of over 500 employees worldwide.