A novel Six-DOF electromagnetic precision positioner utilizing hybrid magnetic and fluid mechanism

In this paper, we present a novel mechanism and system implementation of six degree-of-freedom (DOF) electromagnetic-actuating positioner. The design of a novel mechanism utilizes hybrid magnetic and fluid mechanism to achieve two goals: 1) sufficient damping, 2) balancing the weight of the carrier utilizing buoyancy of fluid and achieving low power consumption. The novel mechanism and electromagnetic actuators are combined and the overall dynamic model is also derived. The positioner presented herein shows a large travel range of 3mm x 3mm x 4mm with a positioning resolution of +/-10 mu m, which is close to the limit of the equipped sensors. We demonstrate the satisfactory performance of the positioner, with precision, theoretical analysis and experimental results.