The Design and Implementation of a High-Precision Positioner Fixture

Area of Science:

• Mechanical Engineering
• Precision Engineering
• Robotics

Background:

• Achieving high repeated positioning accuracy and stiffness is critical for advanced mechanical systems.
• Existing positioner fixtures often face limitations in balancing these two crucial parameters.
• Novel designs are required to overcome these limitations and enhance performance.

Purpose of the Study:

• To propose and investigate a novel positioner fixture with enhanced repeated positioning accuracy and stiffness.
• To analyze the mathematical models of errors associated with the end-to-toothed disc.
• To determine allowable tolerance values for critical error parameters.

Main Methods:

• Design and fabrication of a novel positioner fixture incorporating a high-precision end-toothed disc.
• Mathematical modeling and analysis of cumulative tooth pitch error, tooth alignment error, and tooth profile half-angle error.
• Experimental testing of the prototype for repeated positioning accuracy and stiffness.

Main Results:

• The developed positioner fixture exhibits a stiffness of 1050.5 N/μm, exceeding that of previous designs.
• Achieved repeated positioning accuracy in the x, y, and z directions are ±0.48 μm, ±0.45 μm, and ±0.49 μm, respectively.
• These accuracy metrics represent a significant improvement over existing positioner fixtures.

Conclusions:

• The novel positioner fixture design effectively achieves high stiffness and superior repeated positioning accuracy.
• The analysis of error models provides critical insights for manufacturing tolerances.
• This advancement has the potential to significantly improve precision in various mechanical and robotic applications.