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PCB-LevCube: Toward Ultralightweight Design in Magnetically Levitated Precision Stages

delete2026-01-22
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PRE
AI
I
Ian L. Heyman
M
Malek Ibrahim
L
Lei Zhou
DOI:10.1109/tmech.2025.3648740delete
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Abstract

Abstract

En 中文
The PCB-LevCube explores an alternative design approach for precision stages. Conventional precision machines, including magnetically levitated motion systems, often prioritize machine stiffness to avoid unwanted deformation during operation, leading to heavy construction and thus high energy consumption for motion and gravity compensation. Instead, the PCB-LevCube prioritizes weight reduction while maintaining structural requirements, which is particularly suited for systems with light payload and requires low power consumption. The PCB-LevCube features Lorentz-force actuation through heavy-copper printed circuit boards that simultaneously serve as the actuator and structural material for the moving stage, resulting in an ultralightweight stage of only 350 g. The system has a maximum achievable acceleration of 5 g, and only 1.5 W of power is needed for gravity compensation. The stage can achieve a steady-state positioning dynamic error below 20 nm while having a 10 mm motion stroke in all three translational axes. A dynamic error budgeting analysis is presented for the proposed PCB-LevCube to illustrate the design considerations in adopting the lightweight stage. These results highlight the potential of the proposed lightweight magnetically levitated stage design for high-acceleration, low-power precision positioning.
Keywords:
Dynamic error budgeting
heavy-copper PCB coils
magnetically levitated stages
nanopositioning
precision motion systems

Journal

I
IEEE-ASME Transactions on Mechatronics
IF:
7.3
Papers:
5.4K
Citations:
2.4W

Organization

T
the university of texas at austin
Scholars:
985
Papers: 422
Citations: 0
U
university of wisconsin-madison
Scholars:
2.9K
Papers: 1.2K
Citations: 2
M
massachusetts institute of technology
Scholars:
3.3K
Papers: 1.2K
Citations: 0
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