Description

Design Features

Integral bellows protect the drive and bearing system from contamination
Designed for high-performance scanning and inspection
Air-on-air preload on all air-bearing surfaces
Linear encoder feedback provides nanometer-level
High stiffness for heavy loads and excellent geometrical performance
Travel up to 500 mm

Leading-edge manufacturing demands positioning tolerances beyond the capability of conventional ball-screw and mechanical-bearing positioning systems. The ABL1500-B, with its integral bellows, exceptionally high stiffness and excellent geometric characteristics, was designed specifically to meet those demands.

Air-Bearing Design for High Dynamic Performance

The ABL1500-B incorporates an air-on-air preload on both the vertical and horizontal surfaces. The opposing thin-film pressure maintains the bearing nominal gap tolerance. This design, in addition to the large air-bearing surface that distributes the load over a large surface area, results in a stage with outstanding stiffness that is ideal for heavy or offset loading.

Proprietary manufacturing techniques result in a stage with unsurpassed geometrical characteristics. The air bearing has an inherent averaging effect that maximizes performance. The thin film will fill small surface voids and allow for other irregularities. This characteristic yields superior pitch, roll, yaw, straightness and flatness specifications.

Linear Motor Drive

The driving force behind this stage is Aerotech’s BLMC series brushless linear servomotor. Aerotech’s long history and experience as a motor manufacturer is reflected in this design. The BLMC utilizes an ironless forcer, which means there is zero cogging and no attractive forces, resulting in unsurpassed smoothness of motion. Capable of generating high force and velocity, the BLMC represents the ultimate combination of power and performance.

Zero Maintenance

Our totally noncontact air bearing, noncontact linear motor drive, and noncontact feedback device ensure years of maintenance-free operation at the high performance levels that are expected of Aerotech equipment. Because there is no mechanical contact between moving elements, the ABL1500-B experiences no wear or reduction in performance over time. Service life is virtually unlimited and since there is no lubrication – only clean, dry gas – air bearings are ideal for cleanroom and medical applications.

Cable Management

We carefully optimize the cable bend radius to ensure years of trouble-free operation. In the unlikely event of failure, Aerotech's modular design makes cable replacement quick and easy with minimal downtime. We include all customer-required cables, air hoses, etc. in our CMS bundle to facilitate integration into the final system. Both ends are fully connectorized for simple
integration into the customer's machine.

Integral Bellows

The ABL1500-B uses an integral bellows system to provide a high level of environmental protection. This system protects the air bearings and drive system from process-generated contamination like abrasive debris. The design also has been optimized to minimize the influence of the bellows on the stage's geometric performance.

Specifications

Mechanical Specifications

Model			ABL1500-B-050	ABL1500-B-100	ABL1500-B-200
Travel			50 mm	100 mm	200 mm
Accuracy⁽¹⁾	E1	Calibrated	±0.4 µm	±0.4 µm	±0.7 µm
	E1	Standard	±2.0 µm	±4.0 µm	±8.0 µm
	E3	Calibrated	±0.3 µm	±0.3 µm	±0.5 µm
	E3	Standard	±1.0 µm	±2.0 µm	±5.0 µm
Repeatability (Bidirectional)⁽¹⁾	E1		±0.15 µm	±0.25 µm	±0.25 µm
Repeatability (Bidirectional)⁽¹⁾	E3		±0.15 µm	±0.15 µm	±0.25 µm
Straightness⁽¹⁾			±0.25 µm	±0.4 µm	±0.5 µm
Flatness⁽¹⁾			±0.25 µm	±0.4 µm	±0.5 µm
Pitch			±0.5 arc sec	±1 arc sec	±2 arc sec
Roll			±0.5 arc sec	±1 arc sec	±2 arc sec
Yaw			±0.5 arc sec	±1 arc sec	±2 arc sec
Maximum Speed			2 m/s
Maximum Acceleration			2 g (No Load)
Maximum Force (Continuous)			93.6 N
Load Capacity⁽²⁾	Horizontal		35 kg
Load Capacity⁽²⁾	Side		25 kg
Operating Pressure			80 psi ±5 psig
Air Consumption			24-30 SLPM @ 551 kPa
Moving Mass (No Load)			5.9 kg
Stage Mass			19.4 kg	21.0 kg	25.2 kg
Material			Aluminum
MTBF (Mean Time Between Failure)			30,000 Hours

Certified with each stage.
Axis orientation for on-axis loading is listed.
Specifications are for single-axis systems measured 25 mm above the tabletop. Performance of multi-axis systems is payload and workpoint dependent. Consult factory for multi-axis or non-standard applications.
To protect air bearing against under-pressure, an in-line pressure switch tied to the motion controller/amplifier ESTOP input is recommended.
Air supply must be clean, dry to 0°F dew point and filtered to 0.25 µm or better; recommend nitrogen at 99.9% purity.
Maximum upper axis travel length is 100 mm when mounting the ABL1500-B in an XY configuration.

Model			ABL1500-B-300	ABL1500-B-400	ABL1500-B-500
Travel			300 mm	400 mm	500 mm
Accuracy⁽¹⁾	E1	Calibrated	±0.7 µm	±0.8 µm	±0.8 µm
	E1	Standard	±12.0 µm	±16.0 µm	±20.0 µm
	E3	Calibrated	±0.6 µm	±0.75 µm	±0.75 µm
	E3	Standard	±5.0 µm	±5.0 µm	±5.0 µm
Repeatability (Bidirectional)⁽¹⁾	E1		±0.25 µm	±0.3 µm
Repeatability (Bidirectional)⁽¹⁾	E3		±0.25 µm	±0.3 µm
Straightness⁽¹⁾			±0.75 µm	±1.5 µm	±2.0 µm
Flatness⁽¹⁾			±0.75 µm	±1.5 µm	±2.0 µm
Pitch			±3 arc sec	±4 arc sec	±5 arc sec
Roll			±3 arc sec	±4 arc sec	±5 arc sec
Yaw			±3 arc sec	±4 arc sec	±5 arc sec
Maximum Speed			2 m/s
Maximum Acceleration			2 g (No Load)
Maximum Force (Continuous)			93.6 N
Load Capacity⁽²⁾	Horizontal		35 kg
Load Capacity⁽²⁾	Side		25 kg
Operating Pressure			80 psi ±5 psig
Air Consumption			24-30 SLPM @ 551 kPa
Moving Mass (No Load)			5.9 kg
Stage Mass			29.0 kg	33.2 kg	37.1 kg
Material			Aluminum
MTBF (Mean Time Between Failure)			30,000 Hours

Certified with each stage.
Axis orientation for on-axis loading is listed.
Specifications are for single-axis systems measured 25 mm above the tabletop. Performance of multi-axis systems is payload and workpoint dependent. Consult factory for multi-axis or non-standard applications.
To protect air bearing against under-pressure, an in-line pressure switch tied to the motion controller/amplifier ESTOP input is recommended.
Air supply must be clean, dry to 0°F dew point and filtered to 0.25 µm or better; recommend nitrogen at 99.9% purity.
Maximum upper axis travel length is 100 mm when mounting the ABL1500-B in an XY configuration.

Electrical Specifications

Drive System	Brushless Linear Servomotor
Feedback	Noncontact Linear Encoder (see signal period options on Order Information page)
Maximum Bus Voltage	up to 80 VDC
Limit Switches	5 V, Normally Closed
Home Switch	Near Center

Recommended Controller

Multi-Axis	A3200	Ndrive MP/Ndrive CP/Ndrive HLe/Npaq MXR
Multi-Axis	Ensemble	Ensemble MP/Ensemble CP/Ensemble HLe/Epaq
Single Axis	Soloist	Soloist MP/Soloist CP/Soloist HLe

Cantilever load capability

Ordering Information

ABL1500-B Air-Bearing Direct-Drive Linear Stage

Travel (Required)

Travel (Required)	Description
-050	50 mm travel
-100	100 mm travel
-200	200 mm travel
-300	300 mm travel
-400	400 mm travel
-500	500 mm travel

Feedback (Required)

Option	Description
-E1	Incremental linear encoder, 1 Vpp amplified sine output
-E2	Incremental linear encoder, 0.1 µm TTL line driver output
-E3	High-accuracy incremental linear encoder, 1 Vpp amplified sine output

Cable Management (Required)

Option	Description
-CMS1	Single axis cable management system
-CMS2	Cable management system for XY assembly
-CMS3	Cable management system for XIO, 2 extra cables, 1 extra air
-CMS4	Cable management system for Y axis, upper axis only
-CMS5	Cable management system for YZ assembly, upper axis only
-CMS6	Cable management system for YIO, 2 extra cables, 1 extra air, upper axis only

Metrology (Required)

	Description
-PL1	Metrology, uncalibrated with performance plots
-PL2	Metrology, calibrated (HALAR) with performance plots

Integration (Required)

Aerotech offers both standard and custom integration services to help you get your system fully operational as quickly as possible. The following standard integration options are available for this system. Please consult Aerotech if you are unsure what level of integration is required, or if you desire custom integration support with your system.

Option	Description
-TAS	Integration - Test as system Testing, integration, and documentation of a group of components as a complete system that will be used together (ex: drive, controller, and stage). This includes parameter file generation, system tuning, and documentation of the system configuration.
-TAC	Integration - Test as components Testing and integration of individual items as discrete components that ship together. This is typically used for spare parts, replacement parts, or items that will not be used together. These components may or may not be part of a larger system.

Accessories (to be ordered as a separate line item)

Option	Description
ALIGN-NPA	Non-precision XY assembly
ALIGN-PA10	XY assembly; 10 arc sec orthogonality. Alignment to within 7 microns orthogonality for short travel stages.
ALIGN-PA5	XY assembly; 5 arc sec orthogonality. Alignment to within 3 microns orthogonality for short travel stages.
ABF	Air-bearing filtration kit