Does /sci/ know anything about linear actuators/stages?
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Alright /sci/, I've looked and looked but I can't the parts I need for a project I'm working on. I'm not an engineer, so I think I'm not using the right terminology when I search. I refuse to believe this is so difficult.
Any help would be much appreciated.
My project requires positioning a 5 kg component *very* precisely over the XY plane (where Z is vertical, i.e. perpendicular to the ground/gravity), over an area not to exceed 0.5 m^2. I need to be able to position the component ANYWHERE in the 0.5 m^2 area, to within 1 cm.
Some considerations:
>Accuracy
* Accurate to within 1 cm is crucial. To within 1 mm would be outstanding.
>Time
* The move time is not critical, so it can take several seconds to re-position itself. Accuracy and repeatability is key.
>Dwell time (is this the correct term?)
* The positioning system may need to wait for a bit while the component performs an action. After which it may re-position to a new location that is not the default state. So it isn't just moving and immediately reciprocating.
* Method
My crude drawing (pic related) has the 5 kg component attached to linear slides by arms/struts/horizontal supports.
* Again, perhaps I'm going about this the wrong way, because as long as the component is in the right spot IDGAF how it gets there.
I'll post what I've found so far in the next post.
>>7950308
I looked at linear slides, all the ones I looked at simply popped out and return. I think they were intended for assembly-line applications.
XY linear stages were almost all too small.
The 3 or so that were 0.5-1 m^2 were $10,000 or more.
Linear servos weren't long enough, or were designed for hobbyists. Again, I need something better suited for commercial/industrial use.
Almost everything I saw was not meant for positioning *anywhere* on the stroke length. Rather, they were for extending to maximum length quickly, and returning back to 0 immediately.
Nowhere in between.
No lingering.
Why does such a such a product not exist for <$10,000? It's very simple from an engineering standpoint.
>>7950308
wtf are the grey connections supposed to be
![615-800-600[1].jpg](https://i.imgur.com/BZk5qxz.jpg "615-800-600[1].jpg")
>>7950334
it's not so simple...
As an engineer, you should count $10k for every degree of freedom on a factory robot, which would make what you ask, all costs included, $20k
For an XY machine, the system is overconstrained, and 5kg is heavy.
Have you considered a robotic arm like pic related?
>>7950384
It can be mounted on a frame. So it can have a track.
>>7950334
look into 1605 ballscrew on ebay, there like 1€/cm
you can also consider belt driven stage
>>7950308
>> within 1 cm
Shit anon, that's not very precise.
How about making something like those shitty diy CNC routers? You should be able to ge 1 cm precision easily. It will be slow though. Maybe you could use belts. You don't need much force right?
I really want to say that you should use pneumatic binary actuators, because they are supposed to be insanely precise.
A pneumatic binary actuator is a n pneumatic cylinders stacked on top of each other where each cylinder is half the length of the last one. Each cylinder can be in a state of 0 contracted or 1 extended. By setting cylinders to one or zero one can get precise positioning
