VCS-10 Voice Coil Linear Stage

The VCS-10 Voice Coil Linear Stage is a high performance compact positioning actuator. It was specifically developed for applications requiring both high precision and high-speed positioning over a short to medium stroke. This product mates the voice coil motor to a very smooth cross-roller bearing stage and a very high resolution position feedback encoder. The VCS-10 is well suited for optical focusing and other micro-positioning applications in markets such as semiconductor, medical, optical testing, scanning microscopy, circuit board assembly and micro manufacturing. The VCS-10 Voice Coil Stage has 10mm of available stroke and can optionally be configured with a 10 millimeter clear aperture through its center, which is then designated a VCS-1010. Other configurations and options are available. The VCS10 comes stock with a moving carriage that contains many threaded holes for mounting. A special replacement carriage is available with a 6mm diameter lens socket and adjustability in the two cross axes.

Voice Coil Motor: The motor used in the VCS-10 Voice Coil stage is a custom designed moving coil motor optimized using advanced computer modeling. The magnets used in Equipment Solutions motors have some of the highest magnetic flux densities available. Its coil characteristics, including resistance and inductance, were closely designed to match the capabilities of the SCA814 Servo Controlled Amplifier. The motor can drive the stage to unparalleled accelerations and peak velocities.

Stage Guidance: The VCS-10 Voice Coil Stage makes use of a crossed-roller bearing to smoothly guide the motor coil and any additional load, up to 1 kg, across its 10 millimeters of travel. Bearing stages like the VCS-10 provide moderate to high levels of performance at a somewhat lower price point than stages using our flexure guidance technology. Bearings like those used in the VCS-10 are subject to potential accelerated failure rates when motions include very high accelerations and/or very small repetitive motions. If this is a concern, then a stage using a flexure guidance system should be considered.

Position Feedback: In its standard configuration the VCS-10 uses a non-contact optical analog position encoder that makes it directly compatible with the SCA814 Servo Controlled Amplifier. The 50 nanometer positioning repeatability described in the specifications section assumes this sensor technology. The analog nature of the position sensor promotes the exceptionally high positioning resolution and bandwidth. For compatibility with digital servo systems, the VCS-10 can be optionally configured with a 1 micron digital quadrature encoder.

The VCS-10 is also stackable producing a two stage system.

Specifications

Clear Aperture (option)	10 mm
Range of Motion	10 mm
Positioning Resolution	<50 nm (analog)1mm (digital)
Peak Force	3 lbs (for 10 sec.)
Max Continuous Force	1.5 lbs (6.6N)
Motor Constant	1 lbs/Amp (4.4 N/A)
Coil Resistance	4 ohms
Coil Inductance	300 uH
Travel Non-Straightness	<0.5 um (Crossed roller bearings)
Flexure Parasitic Rotation	0.1 degrees per mm travel
Dimension	77 X 40 X 38
Total Mass	250 g
Moving Mass	25 g

Configuration and Options

Configs	Clear Aperture	Encoder Type	Cable length
VCS10A	None	Analog	14”
VCS1010A	10 mm	Analog	14”
VCS1010D	None	Digital	53”
VCS10D	10 mm	Digital	53”