Design and verification of an ultra-precision 3D-coordinate measuring machine with parallel drives

Abstract

An ultra-precision 3D coordinate measuring machine (CMM), the TriNano N100, has been developed. In our design, the workpiece is mounted on a 3D stage, which is driven by three parallel drives that are mutually orthogonal. The linear drives support the 3D stage using vacuum preloaded (VPL) air bearings, whereby each drive determines the position of the 3D stage along one translation direction only. An exactly constrained design results in highly repeatable machine behavior. Furthermore, the machine complies with the Abbé principle over its full measurement range and the application of parallel drives allows for excellent dynamic behavior. The design allows a 3D measurement uncertainty of 100 nanometers in a measurement range of 200 cubic centimeters. Verification measurements using a Gannen XP 3D tactile probing system on a spherical artifact show a standard deviation in single point repeatability of around 2 nm in each direction.