Project Gallery

UHV Precision Multi-Axis Manipulator

Heason Technology has sucessfully delivered a £ ¼ million precision motion solution to Synchrotron Soleil, the French national synchrotron facility and research laboratory.

Heason designed and manufactured four nano-positioning manipulators that combine as a 14 axis ultra-high vacuum and low magnetic motion system to position samples and optics for an exciting new soft x-ray scanning photoemission microscope project called ANTARES.

ANTARES will provide the global scientific community with the means to examine structures at the atomic level and will be of benefit to pioneering research in soft condensed matter in areas of interest, such as microelectronics and nano-technology.

ANTARES will benefit from a new and powerful Scanning PhotoEmission Microscope (SPEM) technique that will use the Heason Technology designed manipulators to both focus the beam and perform sample scanning with nanometre precision in combination with three independent detectors producing precise sample mapping, revealing the location of the elements, their relative abundances, and their chemical state.

ANTARES' motion requirements involve linear and rotary positioning of the sample with a 5-axis nanometre resolution manipulator in combination with three separate, 3-axis, beam modification manipulators to ensure nanometre-level linear alignment of the specialist optical system that comprises several Fresnel Zone plates, an order sorting aperture (OSA) and a pinhole.

Each of the four manipulators is arranged on an intricate adapter plate system to effectively form a single assembly which is housed inside a 550 mm inner-diameter vacuum chamber that also includes a granite isolation plate base, laser interferometer optics, and various other components including the experiments' complex detector systems.

The challenge of the design was to develop a customised solution within the severe space restriction of the 10-10 mbar ultra-high vacuum chamber, intensified by the need to limit magnetic materials throughout the manipulators' bearing and mechanical support system whilst restricting motor heat to within a desired operational temperature and range of 25º C, +/- 1º C with vacuum bake-out temperatures up to 120º C.

Such design specifications are considered to be unusual but not impossible by Heason Technology's design engineers. Heason implemented ceramic servomotor technology from its specialist partner Nanomotion to ensure the high precision motion, non-magnetic and low thermal characteristics for each manipulator axis including both rotary positioners for sample positioning. A further benefit of the technology is the Nanomotion ceramic motor's ability to hold and lock position with zero position shift when power is removed to further ensure temperature stability.

Each axis includes Renishaw optical encoders with either 0.1 or 0.05 micron feedback resolution to ensure the overall positioning specification is achieved. To maintain the low magnetic requirement, ensure the high stiffness and minimise harmonic sensitivity within the positioning system, specialised stainless steel cross roller bearings with low magnetic permeability have been employed

Click HERE to view a short video of the system in operation

Please email us for further information at motionsolutions@heason.com

Picturing the Wind

A pioneering project now underway in Denmark aims to produce real-time 3-D images of wind movements up to 200m above ground level. As Tony Sacks from Drives and Controls reported, this technology, which could revolutionise the design and economics of wind turbines, relies on advanced motion engineering developed by Heason Technology.

Risø DTU (National Laboratory for Sustainable Energy) a part of the Technical University of Denmark recently awarded a contract to Heason Technology to provide motion control systems and significant professional motion engineering services to help develop a full scale multiple LIDAR based laser scanner system. Called Wind Scanner, it is used to measure wind turbulence in three dimensions around huge wind turbines to further understand wind turbulence effects on existing turbines on wind farm sites and complex terrains worldwide; and use the information with the industry’s designers, scientists and meteorologists to develop turbines with higher efficiencies, improved safety and longer working life.

Heason Technology was awarded the contract in part for its considerable motion control system contribution to the ‘ZephIR®’ wind resource measurement system which uses a conical LIDAR scanning system. The ground based fully portable instrument, developed by Qinetiq, is now widely and successfully used to determine optimal sites for offshore and onshore wind farms, offering a significant cost and ease-of-use advantage over traditional and expensive wind measurement masts.

The motion control technologies used on Wind Scanner include ceramic servo motors and drives from Nanomotion (as developed by Heason for ZephIR’s optical scanning system), brushless servo motors and drives from Kollmorgan, and a 32-axis capable motion control system with fibre optic interface and high speed dual port RAM from Delta Tau.

Wind Scanner comprises three triangulated and fully synchronised ZephIR instruments, each modified with a 3-axis ‘steerable’ scan head designed and constructed by IPU of Lyngby in Denmark. The three instruments combine to measure the wind vector at several hundred points per second in a volume that will be able to encompass larger future-generation wind turbines – up to 150 m3.

This scope of supply for Heason included prototyping, designing and manufacturing the positioning systems with associated motion controls and all interfacing cabling. It covers the complex interfacing requirements for synchronisation between the ZephIR’s wind speed data and the steering system servo loop. The work also involved on-site assembly and functional testing in Denmark. 

Please email us for further information at motionsolutions@heason.com

Medical Pick & Place

Heason Technology's new range of low-cost Cartesian style gantry positioning systems is aimed at pick and place applications in the growing biomedical and laboratory automation market and other industries where medium precision and medium duty robotic handing for assembly or parts sorting is required.

The design is based on our own PLA range of low cost leadscrew actuators which feature an extruded aluminium housing and a robust linear motion guide support bearing system in a compact modular package that allows XY and XYZ positioning systems to be designed and built quickly and effectively. The standard range will accommodate X and Y travel to 300 mm with a 75 mm travel Z axis with custom travel available on request.
The microstepping motor driven actuator assemblies can be supplied complete with drives, motion controls, cable management, overtravel and datum switches.

Further customisation features can include motor mounted encoders for position verification, handwheels for manual positioning, pick and place grippers, and other fixtures to suit application requirements. The T-slot housings are assembled together using simple clamping nuts that allow the combined actuators to be assembled in almost any orientation. 

The positioning resolution on each axis is typically between 5 and 25 microns depending upon the microstepping motor resolution used. Positioning repeatability is specified to 25 microns and maximum traversing speeds are up to 50 mm/sec.

Please email us for further information at motionsolutions@heason.com

Overspeed Governor Test Rig

Leading manufacturer of safety devices for the lift industry Atwell International Ltd required a test platform for British Standard qualification for it’s VG Overspeed Governor. To achieve this they worked in conjunction with Heason to produce a turn-key solution for their requirement. As a motion system integrator Heason were able not only to provide suitable motion components but the ability to design & build the framework, the relevant mechanical interfaces, manufacture the electrical enclosure and also write and programme the motion software.

The platform is designed to accommodate straight forward mounting of the Overspeed Governor to couple to the rotary actuator and the linear actuator to run the Govenor at the required speed in order to simulate the lift falling and deploy the safety mechanism. The whole system is controlled via a Baldor NextMove motion controller. The result is then documented and recorded for British Standards certification.

Key Features:

• High Acceleration Servomotor
• High Accuracy Planetary Gearhead – 8 arc minutes
• Fully Enclosed with Safety Interlocks
• High Speed/Resolution feedback
• Simple of Governor Mounting
• Data Logging

Please email us for further information at motionsolutions@heason.com  

Danfysik Gap Wiggler

Heason Technology was recently awarded a contract by the Danish particle accelerator equipment manufacturer Danfysik to supply a control system and software package for micropositioning magnetic array insertion devices for the next generation NSLS-II National Synchrotron Light Source at the Brookhaven National Laboratory in New York, USA which is currently under construction and due for completion in 2015.

The project involves the supply of six complete EPICS based control systems, with each controller capable of 4 axis synchronised motion control, interfacing with the Danfysik built advanced permanent insertion devices which are known as Moveable Gap Damping Wigglers.

Insertion devices are used to generate synchrotron radiation and the damping wigglers reduce the beam emittance so as to ensure the optimum luminosity as well as provide a broadband, high intensity source of x-ray radiation. The new Brookhaven electron storage facility will have a beam intensity that is some 10,000 times larger than its predecessor and one important and topical area of science that will be explored is to investigate the potential for clean, affordable energy.

Heason Technology will undertake the design, production and development of the control system hardware and software with assembly and local testing at their facility in Horsham as well as on-site installation and test in Denmark during 2012.

Please email us for further information at motionsolutions@heason.com

Zero Backlash Actuator/Rotary Stage

Anthony Best Dynamics (ABD) of Bradford-on-Avon, UK turned to leading independent precision motion specialists Heason Technology for zero backlash rotary actuators for its Suspension Parameter Measurement Machine (SPMM).

ABD’s kinematics and compliance measurement machines measure the quasi-static suspension characteristics that are important to ride and handling. The machines measure the kinematic characteristics due to suspension and steering system geometries, and compliances due to suspension springs, anti-roll bars, elastomeric bushes and component deformation.

The challenge put forward to Heason’s design team was to develop a compact, zero backlash, precision gear actuator which would allow ABD to offer higher rotation speeds whilst providing exceptionally smooth motion. Coupled with this, Heason’s design brief was to package the new actuator to fit within an existing casting of the SPMM. Working closely with Spinea SA , Heason’s mechanical design team developed a compact, zero backlash gear actuator based around a custom Spinea TwinSpin bearing reducer with an Emoteq integrated frameless, brushless servo motor and high resolution feedback device. 

The new package achieved a higher speed as well as surpass the previous ‘zero backlash’ gear system in terms of smoothness, all in a more compact package. 

Actuator performance ...

495Nm Continuous Torque
1,237Nm Peak Repeatable Torque
1,000 Nm/Arcmin Tilting Stiffness
110 Nm/Arcmin Torsional Stiffness
< 1.0 Arcmin Maximum Lost Motion
19,200 N Rated Radial Force
27,900 N Maximum Axial Force
Encoder Resolution 1,250,000 Counts/Rev

Please email us for further information at motionsolutions@heason.com

Naval Gun Mount Servo Motors

Heason Technology designed and developed a pair of custom servo motors for this demanding application which called for a 100 percent form, fit and function replacement for an existing, but obsolete, design. The servo motor are an integral part of actuators that are deployed on the forward deck on modern naval vessels and subjected to extreme environments.

Heason Technology's motion engineering experts set about the project to re-design the permanent magnet servo motor system from first principles, working closely with manufacturing partners across Europe to produce a new and improved mechanical, electrical and magnetic arrangement. 

Employing epoxy encapsulation for both wiring and rotor laminations and a rare-earth stator magnet together with an application customised housing, the final product delivers high torque and acceleration performance. The package is completed with a custom wound ultra-low ripple tacho-generator and a failsafe electro-magnetic holding brake.

In service the motors have proved to have excellent reliability and continue to provide the high performance demanded for the application. 

Heason Technology provides the design, manufacture, assembly and full load, full duty-cycle testing of each pair of motors prior to delivery to the end customer for immediate and seamless integration into the final product.

Please email us for further information at motionsolutions@heason.com

Neutron Shutter

Heason Technology recently delivered neutron beam modifying Jaw Packages for the WISH and Nimrod instruments at the Rutherford Appleton Laboratory ISIS Pulsed Neutron and Muon Source.

ISIS uses neutron scattering as a powerful non-destructive tool that can penetrate and reveal the molecular structure of materials using beams of neutrons and incredibly sensitive detectors. WISH and Nimrod are two of several instruments in TS2 that use a variety of techniques that allow scientists to understand the atomic structure of materials by measuring the spacing of atoms and the forces between them.

The design specification for both applications called for the construction materials to be aluminium, non magnetic stainless steel or plastic. Ceramic servo motors were a natural choice for positioning each of the four blades in the Jaw package assembly. Supplied by NanoMotion, an exclusive distribution partner of Heason and with a legacy of demanding nanometre-scale positioning applications, the technology is completely non-magnetic and suits vacuum environments perfectly.

Each blade was driven with two synchronised ceramic motors, configured with either 4 or 8 elements depending upon the load and force required for the Jaw Package size. A further benefit of the ceramic motor is its ability to hold and lock position with zero position shift when power is removed. 

Please email us for further information at motionsolutions@heason.com  

Missile "Flight" Simulator

Heason Technology constructed this large scale gantry positioning system for MBDA to operate in a vertical orientation inside an anechoic chamber to test RF guidance systems on the Meteor missile system.

Rather than costly live firing trials, this state-of-the-art, purpose built facility allows MDBA to "fly" the missile in a simulated environment.

The gantry designed and built by Heason is largely manufactured from custom carbon fibre sections. Two vertical travelling beams carry servo driven payload tables each capable of sub-millimetre repeatability whilst carrying a 25Kg payload with accelerations up to 1G and peak speed of 3.0 metres per second.

Vertical displacement is 8 metres.  Horizontal displacement is 12 metres with each "beam" being driven in tight synchronisation by three servo motors at the junction to the curved rail system.

The control system is based around two PMAC motion controllers. One PC based MACRO system with distributed control over fibre optics. The other, standalone UMAC system, as full dual redundant backup to protect against component failure and safe guard the customer payload valued in excess of £1M.

Please email us for further information at motionsolutions@heason.com

Beamline Collimation

Scientists at the Diamond Light Source in South Oxfordshire are using a custom-engineered 21-axis positioning system designed and built by Heason Technology to provide beam collimation, optical focussing and optical modification for the newly commissioned I24 Microfocus Macromolecular Crystallography (MX) beamline.

One of the major applications for this beamline is to investigate the link between the structure and function of molecules known as membrane proteins. These proteins prove excellent targets for drug delivery and are increasingly used in drug design to combat major diseases and viruses. 

Diamond Light Source uses state-of-the-art technologies to produce a much finer and incredibly more intense beam than the older synchrotrons resulting in a highly tuneable X- ray beam size between 5 to 30 microns. The positioning and beam modifying requirements for I24 requires nanometre level manipulation of the beam around the higher quality areas of the crystallised sample.

The challenge to deliver such small focussed beams and modify their characteristics has been solved using a combination of motion control technologies. The beamline includes manual and stepper motor positioning for some parts of the beam-to-detector area and for less demanding displacements such as attenuating filters. For highly precise beam collimation and optical modification, sub-micron resolution ceramic motors from Nanomotion were used.

As each positioning system is closely integrated and essentially shares the same mechanical housing, a part of which is a vacuum chamber, Diamond decided that the best approach was to use a single supplier to provide a customised solution for this entire area of the machine. The vacuum chamber is designed and built by Heason as part of the scope of supply.

Although a relatively moderate vacuum level is used, components are fully vacuum compatible. The chamber houses a 4-axis beam collimation positioner which comprises four ‘jaws’ used to shape and tune the X-ray beam.

Heason’s design and engineering department worked closely with Diamond scientists to design and develop the positioning systems around the available space, and a considerable mixture of instrumentation devices and other key components.

Please email us for further information at motionsolutions@heason.com

Satellite Laser Ranging & Tracking

When the Space Geodesy Facility at Herstmonceux, East Sussex faced reliability problems with their aging telescope, their engineers turned to Heason Technology for expert assistance.

The thirty year old telescope forms part of a global tracking network to monitor the paths of Earth-orbiting satelites to quantify, for example, the amount by which sea level is currently rising.  The scientists at Herstmonceux track passing orbital satellites and accurately calculate their distance (to an accuracy of 1mm) by firing a high-powered pulsed laser against a satellite-mounted reflector and measuring the return time delay. With orbiting satellites at passing range of between 400 and 20,000 kilometres, tracking accuracy is extremely important (to within +/- 1 arc seconds).

Heason were first commissioned to evaluate the existing telescope setup. Their conclusion verified the users own thoughts that the actual telescope motion hardware had effortlessly stood the test of time, but the antiquated electronics were considerably more suspect. Furthermore, technical support on the drive package was more or less non-existent from the original manufacturer.

Heason successfully tendered for the upgrade programme, which included replacing all of the existing analogue control system with an up-to-date digital package. Heason selected a Delta Tau PMAC motion controller to form the heart of the system. The PMAC ultralite model was specified to be located within the host PC (which generates the predicted satellite path) with Delta Tau’s MACRO network connecting to the drive and feedback interfaces located remotely in a new motion control cabinet. Heason provided new linear power amplifiers, along with new inductosyn and resolver interfaces complete with a revamped I/O and logic control strategy.

Working closely with the Herstmonceux technical experts, Heason’s software engineers developed motion control application code to interface to the host computer taking new motion control demand data from the customers host at 10Hz (with the ability to operate up to 1KHz) and controlling the telescope motion to accurately track passing satellites to with +/- 1 arc-seconds.

The upgraded Space Geodesy Facility is now fully operational with the previous operating difficulties resolved largely thanks to Heason Technology thorough understanding of advanced motion applications.

Please email us for further information at motionsolutions@heason.com

Professional Motorsports Driver Simulator

Many motorsport based simulation platforms employ a traditional six legged Stewart platform (or hexpod).  This device is mechanically simple and provide a strong and robust platform.

However, hexpods have limited linear translations.  Extended linear travel, in particular in the surge and sway axes, provide maximum realism to the driver providing maximum vestibular stimulation

Heason's motion engineering experts engaged with the customer's extensive simulation expertise to provide a six degree of freedom motion platform with over a metre of travel in surge and sway.  Constructed from standard industrial actuators (more normally employed in more mundane factory automation applications), coupled with an innovative welded aluminium frame, the resulting platform offers staggering motion performance in a compact design less than 400mm in height

Please email us for further information at motionsolutions@heason.com

Four Axis Stepper Motor Precision Jaws

Four independent jaw blades each positioned via a leadscrew driven by a 1.8 deg stepper motor integrated into a custom vacuum enclosure thereby eliminating the requirement for additional chamber

Jaw blade position feedback via motor step counting in the subsequent motion control electronics. Optionally conductive linear potentiometers can be specified to provide absolute position measurement or rotary incremental encoders can be fitted to the rear of the motor shafts

Additional reference positions to be obtained from end-of-travel limit switches located at fully open position on each axis.

Manual positioning of the axes is possible via integrated rear handwheels.

Aperture Size: 80.0 x 80.0 mm
Horizontal Axis Stroke: -5.0 to +30.0 mm
Vertical Axis Stroke: -5.0 to +30.0 mm
Blade Repeatability: < 50 Micron
Blade Size: 84 x 42 x 20 mm
Leadscrew Diameter: 10 mm
Leadscrew Pitch: 2.0 mm
Leadscrew Material: Stainless Steel
Leadscrew Nut Material: Polymer
Environment: Vacuum
Package Size (Typical): Height: 238 mm* Width: 238 mm

Please email us for further information at motionsolutions@heason.com

Precision Machine Tool Actuator

Another bespoke motion solution from Heason Technology

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Please email us for further information at motionsolutions@heason.com

PV Panel Inspection Stage

Another bespoke motion solution from Heason Technology

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Please email us for further information at motionsolutions@heason.com

UHV Wafer Analysis Stage

Another bespoke motion solution from Heason Technology

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Please email us for further information at motionsolutions@heason.com

Naval Propeller Research

Another bespoke motion solution from Heason Technology

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Please email us for further information at motionsolutions@heason.com