Contactless Planar Actuator with Manipulator: a Motion System without Cables and Physical Contact between the Mover and the Fixed World

A novel motion system is presented that provides completely contactless operation from the fixed world. It consists of a contactless planar actuator with 6-DOF and long-stroke movement in the x-y plane, with a 2-DOF manipulator on top of the floating platform. The contactless energy transfer (100W continuous) to the moving platform for operating manipulator is integrated into the magnetic suspension. The manipulator is controlled by a controller on the fixed world with a low latency wireless link based on a custom protocol (<400 mus additional closed loop delay). The behavior of the system is demonstrated with measurements of the experimental setup.