Physik Instrumente developed a high-performance 6-DOF hexapod motion and positioning system for highly dynamic compensation kinematics in aircraft construction. The project's goal was to enhance the processing and sealing precision of CFRP-components in resin transfer molding manufacturing processes, while also reducing manufacturing times and process costs.
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Category: Application
Advances in Aircraft Construction
Hexapod Enables Highly Dynamic 6-D Compensation Kinematic for Robots
Smart Vaccine Patch Production with Piezo Elements
Fight Against COVID-19
In the wake of the global COVID-19 pandemic, modern vaccination technologies are gaining importance as they promise to protect the world population from future pandemics. Vaccine patches are one of these next generation applications and piezo components or actuators can be used to precisely dispense tiniest droplets on the microneedles.
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Ultrasonic Metering in Intensive Care Devices
Fight Against COVID-19
Viruses and other infections particularly affect people with pre-existing conditions such as renal or cardiovascular diseases. In regard to the treatment and therapy of such illnesses, the demands on the medical devices used are ever increasing. Piezo technology offers various possibilities to improve them: Using piezo transducers, for example, makes intensive care devices such as infusion systems smarter and facilitates vital patient monitoring.
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Piezo Technology for Medical Ventilators and Nebulizers
Fight Against COVID-19
Chronic respiratory diseases like mucoviscidosis, asthma or chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) but also bronchitis, influenza and lung diseases related to COVID-19 require extensive medical treatment. Medical ventilators and nebulizers have a significant part in improving patients’ clinical condition and treating their illnesses. Piezo-driven devices offer high precision and efficiency as well as hygienic advantages.
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How an Industrial Safety Concept Can Be Combined with a Hexapod
Finger, hand, or body protection in automated production processes
The integration of a barrier-free safety concept into the control circuit of the hexapod, e.g. of a PILZ safety light curtain, ensures finger, hand, and body protection depending on the required safety level.
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High Dynamic and Precision in All Three Directions in Space: Positioning Systems for Genome Sequencing
Fight Against COVID-19
The Sequencing-by-Synthesis method, also known as Solexa-Illumina-method, is the most widespread method among all Next-Generation-Sequencing methods (NGS). It was used to identify the RNA fingerprint of the SARS-CoV-2 virus in January 2020 in a research institute in Wuhan. Since then, this RNA fingerprint measurement has frequently been repeated in research institutes all over the world. And today this NGS method is used worldwide day-by-day to continuously monitor the SARS-CoV-2 virus for mutations. Sub-systems for motion and positioning of imaging optics and flow cells play a decisive role in this method.
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Piezo Ceramics Enable Precise Liquid Handling for in Vitro Diagnostics
Fight Against COVID-19
In vitro diagnostics (IVD) opens up numerous possibilities for early diagnosis and detection of diseases. The requirements for fluid handling in IVD devices are extremely demanding: very small quantities of fluids with different properties must be dosed or moved with high precision. Piezoelectric components and actuators perform these tasks.
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Supporting Cutting Edge Innovation
PI is proud to be part of an innovative new light based data storage technology developed by Microsoft and the University of Southampton under Project Silica.
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Stable and Precise Positioning of Mechanical and Optomechanical Components
Piezo-Based Linear Actuators Provide Reliable and Automated Alignment of the Beam Path of Optical Assemblies
How can the beam path of optical assemblies be adjusted with high resolution and stability? Piezo-based linear actuators provide reliable and automated alignment of mechanical and optomechanical components in experiments They offer a lifetime of more than a billion steps, a step size of 20 nm and a holding force of > 100 N.
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How Can the Advantages of Hexapods Be Easily Used in Automation?
Learn in the White Paper "Controlling Hexapods via Ethercat<sup>®</sup>" How Integration into the Process Environment Works
Parallel-kinematic hexapod robots can move and position tools, workpieces, and complex components with weights ranging from a few grams to several hundred kilograms or even several tons in any spatial orientation with high precision. The PI hexapod controller with integrated EtherCAT interface now makes it very easy for users to integrate hexapods into automation systems without it being necessary to perform challenging kinematic transformations.
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