Design, analysis and fabrication of a novel six-axis micropositioning stage

The design and development of a novel six-axis micropositioning stage are presented in this study. Based on Stewart´s theory, negative Poisson´s ratio is adopted for the design of flexure hinges for this stage. The stage consists of a top hexagonal plate, a bottom hexagonal plate and six trapezoidal amplifiers. The flexure hinge in the inner part of the amplifier has a symmetrical double layer, and that in the outer part of the amplifier has an unsymmetrical single layer. The deformation and amplification are calculated in a numerical simulation with the finite element method. An experiment for measuring the displacement of the stage is carried out. In the experiments, each amplifier is driven by a piezoelectric transducer, and the displacements are measured with a laser displacement sensor then recorded for comparison of the single-axis amplifier with the six-axis stage. The results show that the amplification of the displacement of a single-axis amplifier is about 15. Also, the simulation and experimental results for the six-axis stage show all errors of motion to be <;3%. It is obvious that the novel six-axis stage possesses the characteristics of high amplification and minimisation, as well as being low cost.