High performance networked desktop piezo drive

Aerotech has released the Ensemble QDe, a high-performance desktop nanopositioning piezo drive designed for use with the Ensemble family of drives and controllers. The QDe enables coordinated motion between piezo stages and servo axes at higher rates than other controller or drive products. It is suitable for single or multi-axis applications ranging from fundamental scientific research to advanced OEM machine systems.

The QDe provides processing power over a variety of applications including point-to-point motion, linear and circular interpolation, multi-axis error correction, and autofocusing. The QDe also features high-speed position latching capability and multi-axis position synchronised output for generation of pulses based on actual position feedback in applications from laser firing to acquisition system triggering.

Using high-resolution A/D and D/A converters, the QDe is said to enable sub-nanometer positioning resolution at high bandwidths. The QDe capacitive sensor feedback circuitry results in low noise levels over the full travel range and linearity better than 0.01% over the full travel range in closed-loop mode.

The Ensemble QDe uses PID servo loops with feedforward and multiple integrators coupled with eight programmable filters to supply the user with the tools needed to optimise motion performance.