The Ndrive QLe from Aerotech is a family of digital, panel-mount, nanopositioning piezo drives for use with the Aerotech Automation 3200 (A3200) motion controller. The A3200 is the controller of choice in semiconductor, data storage, medical device manufacturing, laser processing, and metrology applications. The Ndrive QLe drives enable coordinated motion between piezo stages and servo axes at much higher rates than other controller/drive products. Featuring a dual-core 456 MHz, double-precision, floating-point DSP, the QLe drives provide extreme processing power in applications including point-to-point motion, linear and circular interpolation, multi-axis error correction, and autofocusing.
High-speed interrupts and data logging provide a real-time link to external systems. High-speed positioning latching and single-axis or multi-axis position synchronized output (PSO) generate pulses based on actual position feedback for applications ranging from laser firing to data acquisition system triggering. Using the latest technology and high-resolution A/D and D/A converters, the QLe enables sub-nanometer positioning resolution at high bandwidths. Capacitive sensor feedback circuitry provides ultra-low noise performance over the full travel range. A proprietary capacitive sensor feedback circuit results in industry-leading thermal stability and exceptional long-term holding stability.
Linearity is better than 0.01% over the full travel range in closed-loop mode. In addition to the four optically-isolated digital inputs, two high-speed digital inputs, and four optically-isolated digital outputs, the Ndrive QLe is equipped with two analog inputs and two analog outputs. The QLe offers an 18-bit analog input that can be programmatically configured to accept an external feedback sensor or position command. This analog input also allows the high-voltage power amplifier to be controlled directly by an external low-level analog input. Also, the QLe has one 20-bit analog output that can be programmatically configured for position or voltage monitoring at very high resolutions.
The A3200 software uses PID servo loops with advanced feedforward and multiple integrators coupled with eight programmable filters to supply the user with all necessary tools needed to optimize motion performance. Additional software options such as the Dynamic Controls Toolbox and Motion Designer packages make available a host of advanced, yet easy-to-use, tools such as Learning Control, Harmonic Cancellation, Command Shaping, and Cross-Axis Feedforward to improve tracking errors and to provide faster step-and-settle times.
