Linear Axis Cartesian Robot 3

[Hansell]

I was wondering if anyone knew where I could find a linear axis cartesian robot (belt driven or ball screw, it doesnt matter) for cheap, ie. around 1500 dollars. It will only have to support very light loads (around 2-5kg) and have an effective stroke of around 1500-1800mm. Most of the products i've seen have been made for more rigorous use and are priced as such. If anyone has any idea of where i could find one that'd be great!

Thanks

 

[MintJulep]

Speed? Positional accuracy?

 

[Hansell]

Speed not a concern (1 m/s or even a little less)

It should have a repeatability of at least 0.1mm

Thanks MintJulep

 

[GBor]

No idea how much a CMM runs, but it seems as though one could be modified to more than meet your speed and position. When you say "cheap", are we speaking of $xxx.xx (US) or $XXXX.XX (US)...obviously fewer is better, but how much does quality matter. Lego's MindStorms products provide some interesting capabilities for less than $100.00 (US), but the reliability is for that of children...

 

[MintJulep]

The cheap way to get two-axis motion is to bolt two linear actuators to each other at right angles.

Simple ball screw or belt linear actuators are almost a commodity item. Thomson, THK, Linac are a few names.

 

[MikeHalloran]

I'm not saying they don't exist, but I've never seen a CMM that was self- propelled. I.e., you had to drag the point around by hand.

I get the impression Hansell wants 3 axes, not 2.

1m/s to 0.1mm throughout a 1.5m cube is actually a pretty stiff requirement... especially for a gantry, which would itself occupy a 3m cube, roughly. That's a lot of machinery.

$1500 won't buy you one axis, unless you're shopping in a junkyard, in which case you might have to relax a requirement or three.

For that order of magnitude of money, you might be able to do a 15cm cube with hobby CNC milling stuff.






Mike Halloran
Pembroke Pines, FL, USA

 

[unclesyd]

You need to look at these sites to see what's available and then make rounds on the surplus sites. A times you can find these components on the surplus market

All types of linear drives

http://www.amacoil.com/HTML/az_index.htm

linear belt drive

http://www.macrondynamics.com/

Look at the ZF1 product. Look around this site
This is a very good site.

http://www.techno-isel.com/Tic/LinMoProducts.htm

Very long linear drives

http://www.tolomatic.com/products/item_detail.cfm?tree_id=98

 

[Hansell]

Thanks for all your input guys.

I actually think the ZF1 would be very suitable (pretty cheap too, $875.00 is the quote i got in case anyone is wondering).

 

[sreid]

Take a look at Intelligent Actuator.

http://www.intelligentactuator.com/