Development of an autonomous air bearing stage

Air bearing linear stage is a common equipment for precision measurement due to its low friction advantage. It, however, needs a driver, such as the motor, to move. The system is complicate and high cost. How to use the air bearing’s pressure to move and test it’s feasibility study is the main goal of this research.
In this research, the main focus is to investigate the combination of downward air pressure and variable tilted air pressure for supporting and moving power of the stage. With the proportional valve and PID controller to control the stage motion, and the laser interferometer to feedback the position, it attained autonomous air bearing stage.
The designed autonomous air bearing stage has the stroke of 0~200(mm). When controlled by PID controller, the average positioning error is around 20µm. It can be observed that air bearing uses it own supplied air pressure can replace the additional driving components. When using a PID controller and a feedback laser interferometer, it can control the air bearing to move to the desired location. This research demonstrates that the air bearing stage can be moved by its own air pressure at a tilted angle.