Cedrat Technologies, innovation in mechatronics

An increasing number of applications required a very high level of precesion: semiconductor manufacturing, atomic force microscopy, scanning probe microscopy, machine tool, etc. Such high precision can only be reached in very stable environments. the standard procedure is to mount the sensitive equipment on a heavy isolating stage, sometimes referred to as optical table, which can be either passive or active.

Moving iron controllable actuator (MICA) is a highly controllable Actuator. It has a robust mobile part with elastic guiding for a long life. The article presents the performances of the MICA when it is driven in a closed loop and shows impressive results achieved by IDEKO on a SOLARUCE milling machine.

Future aeronautics will more often use electrical actuators in order to replace hydraulic actuators. Existing Amplified Piezo Actuators APA® with steel shell, delivering among the highest mass energy densities, are good candidates. Lighter carbon shells are developed to further increase their efficiency. For helicopters rotor blade application this evolution is almost unavoidable but is also very interesting for other domains. High modulus and high tensile strength carbon fibres shells have been produced by conventional filament winding, tested and compared.

This paper presents the development of one amount the largest piezo actuator ever designed based on low voltage PZT. This actuator is able to provide more than 20kN of force in dynamic operation (60kN in static operation). The purpose of low frequency vibration generation is to improve the quality of parts production in the field of manufacturing and machining process.

Moving Iron Controllable Actuator is a concept of linear magnetic actuator that is especially designed to respond to the need of highly dynamic controllable actuators. The article presents the specificity of the actuator compared to more classical magnetic actuator concepts. It points out the interest of its properties and describes technological issues it implies. A MICA prototype has been built and its main performances are given: 800N, 20A, with a size 160*200*150. The controllability of the actuator has been demonstrated by simulation using force characteristic of MICA. Finally, the prototype will be declined in a full range of magnetic actuators as products of Cedrat Technologies.

Air Liquide advanced Technologies in collaboration with Cedrat Technologies and SMAC has performed a study of a compact vibration control platform for mechanical cryocoolers. This solution has been proposed as an alternative approach to cryocooler integration with respect to suspended systems that must be mechanically locked during the launch phase. This system allows significant reduction of the platform’s physical size and mass.

Tuned mass dampers are simple and efficient devices for suppression of machine tool chatter, which is one of the principal effects limiting productivity in many machining processes. However, their effectiveness depends on a proper tuning of the damper dynamics to the dynamics of the machine. This involves the dynamic characterisation of the machining process, in order to identify the critical resonance frequency, and the possibility of matching the resonance frequency of the damper to frequency. The difficulty of meeting these two requirements has been limiting the use of tuned mass dampers in industrial applications.