Rotary Motorized Stages
Did You Know?
Rotary Motorized Stages (also known as Motorized Rotation Stage) are advanced electrical mechanisms used to position and control the angular motion of an object around one or more axes of rotation. They can come with or without a built-in controller – a necessary component to drive these stages. Most rotary stages used in opto-mechanics applications also come with a built-in encoder that provides accurate feedback on the positioning of the stage and enables positioning accuracies well into 1/100’s of a degree or better. Motorized Rotation Stages have numerous applications with photonics equipment, including the rotation of optics like mirrors, lenses, polarizers, and laser crystals. These practices stretch to various technological fields – Aerospace, Optical, and Electrical Engineering – making Rotary Motorized Stages extremely popular and useful devices in the creation of modern technologies. These stages are also commonly used for metrology equipment, the assembly of micro-robotics machines, and sensor testing. Results of Rotary Motorized Stage applications are shown all around you, ranging from the aligned mirrors of aerospace observatory structures to sensors that record the weather you check every day. The important parameters to consider when selecting a motorized rotary stage are dimensions, angular rotation range, build material, step resolution, accuracy, speed, and load capacity. Depending on your application, you might also want to look into its vacuum compatibility, static parallelism, and runouts (axial and radial). Finally, you will want to inquire and see if the controller is included with the stage or not as it can be another expensive component which is necessary to run the stage.
Frequently Asked Questions
A Rotary Motorized Stage, also commonly called a "motorized rotation stage", is a device that constricts motion to a selected axis of rotation. These machines can control and maintain very exact angular positions about the selected axis. A Rotary Stage, another motion instrument that is instead controlled manually, does not have motorized power running the stage.
Rotary motorized stages are often used for automated control applications. These are projects where precise control over the rotational degrees of freedom is required, e.g. positioning and rotating optical elements of laser systems, spectrometers, microscopes, etc. Some Rotary Motorized Stages are also specifically designed for use in vacuum laboratory environments, making them useful for delicate projects.
All Rotary Motorized Stages consist of the same components as their manual counterpart: a platform and base connected with a guide/bearing. There are various types of guides (plain, rolling-element, etc.), but each ensures that the platform is restricted to a single axis of rotation. The drive mechanism on the motorized rotary stages also includes a motor and encoder for accurate position tracking and control.
Rotary Motorized Stages can cost anywhere from $500 to upwards of $10,000. The main specs determining the prices of these machines are their size, material, quality of technology and features such as vacuum or low temperature compatibility. Notable attributes you should consider based on your needs are the provided levels of accuracy and precision of different stages.
It depends on your personal need for the stage. Aluminum stages are very sturdy and light, making them a great choice when looking for a low-cost option. Stainless Steel Stages are much heavier and even more stable, which makes them a better choice when extremely high levels of precision are required. The latter is typically much more expensive due to the size of the machine and the cost of the material.
Motorized rotary stages are delicate instruments that often come with lengthy lists of specification. All or part of these specifications will matter for your application. Before starting your shopping process you will want to list all the key requirements that are important for your application. This would typically include the range of motion, dimensions (including the rotating table size), step resolution, positioning and repositioning accuracies, and load capacities. Depending on your application setting, you will also want to inquire about electrical requirements, controller specs and various other features, such as vacuum compatibility, operating temperature range, communication interface, etc. As you can see the list goes on and you will not want to take a shortcut in your research as this is an expensive piece of equipment. If in doubt about a particular spec, consider contacting the supplier.