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We’ve been helping the European Synchrotron Radiation Facility (ESRF) to improve their position scanning.
ESRF’s particle accelerator in Grenoble (France) effectively forms a huge microscope to study the structure of matter down to atomic level. It was recently upgraded to produce X-ray light some 10,000 billion times more powerful than medical X-rays. Scientists are using it in a wide variety of fields from nanotechnologies and chemistry through to archaeology and environmental sciences.
We discussed their needs for upgrading their beamline instrumentation, including the X-ray nano-positioning end stations. These have around 10,000 axes, mainly driven by stepper motors and piezoelectric actuators.
Linear motors, servo drives, and motion controllers
ESRF engineers are increasingly using single- and three-phase linear motors for positioning. Mastering each different manufacturer’s control platform is, however, a huge task not helped by the reluctance of many to share information on their architecture. ESRF is therefore looking to standardize on a common, versatile servo drive for as many instruments as possible.
The main requirement is the accuracy to scan within 10-15 nm with negligible jitter. This needs very low drive current ripple, and ESRF has successfully used Speedgoat® to collaborate with our Apogee drives. These have ultra-low noise, with accurate 24-bit current sensing and 200 kHz PWM output. They fit well with the application: Thomas Dehaeze at ESRF remarked “Prodrive’s drives give us better performance, better accuracy, and very low jitter.”
Apogee connects to our Arcas motion controller, which also allows EtherCAT® control and can synchronize 12 axes @ 10 kHz.
System integration and testing
ESRF has decided on our PMP (Prodrive Motion Platform) software as a universal drive interface. Next is to simulate integrating the beamline drives and motion controllers into the Python-based software that orchestrates the complete system. PMP’s Python APIs form a handy bridge, and Simulink® compatibility is another bonus since ESRF already uses it for complex real-time positioning.
This gives a useful “First Time Right” path to verify all their hardware and mechatronics before buying.
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