Heason & ALIO partner together for Hexapod sales in the United Kingdom

Read what www.manufacturingtalk.com has to say about ALIO's Hexapod

Tripods and hexapods
for nano positioning

Heason Technologies has announced Alio's tripod and hexapod nano positioning manipulators, which use parallel kinematics for superior positioning control

With backlash free resolutions to 5 nanometres, speeds to 200 mm/sec and an effective positioning envelope between 15 mm3 and 200 mm3, Alio Industries 3- and 6-degrees of freedom tripod and hexapod robotic manipulators provide the enabling technology for demanding ultra-high precision motion systems.

Used as nano positioners for production, test and research applications in photonics, semiconductor, MEMS and many other high technology industries, Alio's AI series tripods and hexapods, available exclusively in the UK from Heason Technologies, combine parallel kinematics principles with ceramic servo motors and high resolution encoder feedback systems.

Smooth and precise linear motion and total rigidity of each positioning element is assured with ultra-precision cross roller bearing based mechanics.

The micro positioner features Hephaist spherical rolling joints at both the support base and the moving table ensuring backlash-free performance.

Standard equipment for the complete range includes Delta Tau motion controllers with forward and inverse kinematics, and interpolation algorithms built-in; users simply program the actual position of a 'tool centre point' as individual position coordinates or as contoured moves.

The tool centre point is simply positioned anywhere within the positioning envelope in X Y Z coordinates.

Parallel kinematics micro positioners provide extremely rigid platforms with increased repeatability over traditional serial kinematics stacked linear and rotary stages where runout and tilt errors are prone to accumulate.

The Alio AI hexapod and tripod also allows simpler cabling for motor, feedback and other services and the lower inertia design has faster acceleration performance and very often a smaller footprint and overall envelope.

The load carrying capability for the AI hexapod is from 0.25 kg to 20 kg (up to 8 kg for the tripod version).

Both designs have a repeatability of just 50 nanometres as standard which may be upgraded to 10 nanometres with an optional low-noise DC mode amplifier.

Alio Industries can provide customised designs and application software including a Windows PC with robotic GUI and all units may be supplied to class 10 or class 100 compatible clean room standards or with 10-10 Torr vacuum preparation.

ALIO INDUSTRIES JOINS NSF CENTER FOR EXTREME ULTRAVIOLET SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY

Nano Precision Motion an Enabler of Extreme Ultraviolet Research
WHEAT RIDGE, Colorado (April 24, 2007) – ALIO Industries a leading developer of nano
precision motion systems and robotics has joined the National Science Foundation’s Engineering Research Center for Extreme Ultraviolet Science and Technology (EUV ERC). ALIO has developed an extensive product line of motions systems and robotics that deliver nanometer precision motion. ALIO’s technology will play an important role in furthering research at the EUV ERC laboratories.

ALIO’s motion systems and robotics enable nanometer scale motion that meets the needs of researchers around the world as well as industries in areas of technology such as photonics, semiconductor, flat panel display and biomedical applications. Said Jeff Johnson, President of ALIO Industries, “When we learned about the world class research taking place at the NSF ERC, in particular the short wavelengths their lasers were capable of, and the types of experiments they were conducting, we knew there was a good fit. For example, we are providing a nanometer precision system for nano patterning and the production of quantum dots”.

Jorge Rocca, Professor of Electrical Engineering at CSU and Director of the EUV ERC, added: “Having ALIO join the Industry Alliance Board of NSF ERC is significant as precise motion control is critical to the expanding uses of EUV into industrial applications. We are especially pleased to see ALIO join an impressive and growing industry membership who will see the very latest of the possibilities from the research done at the EUV ERC and push forward the commercialization of the work.


About ALIO Industries
ALIO Industries is a leading innovator and manufacturer of motions systems and robotics for nanometer precision applications in nanotechnology, semiconductor, photonics, biomedical, flat panel display, data storage and other industries requiring the most precise motion in the world market. The company has developed a diverse portfolio of products to address the increasing number of industries and applications requiring extremely precise motion. These products include hexapod and tripod robots as well as standard linear stages for applications in standard atmosphere, high vacuum and ultrahigh vacuum environments. Additionally, ALIO produces air bearing stages for large scale metrology and lithography applications.

Reasons to use the ALIO Industries Hexapod Robotics

Why Hexapod Robots and Parallel Kinematics Advantages of Parallel Kinematics Micro- and Nanopositioning Systems:
Lower Inertia Better Dynamic Behavior Smaller Package Size Higher Stiffness No Accumulation of Position Errors Reduced Runout Errors No Moving Cables: Better Repeatability and Reliability Alio Industries, Inc

ALIO develops new Tripod based on the success of the ALIO hexapod ultra precision machining platform

The evolution of the ALIO hexapod has opened up the new product line: The ALIO three axis tripods that has the same precision as the ALIO six axis Hexapods. These Nano precision motion controlled platforms represent a new level of Ultra Precision in nano-machining and nano precision performance applications. ALIO Industries.com

Hakuto signs an exclusive distribution agreement with ALIO

Hakuto Co., Ltd (headquartered in 1-1-13, Shinjuku, Shinjuku-ku, Tokyo; President: Hiroshi Asai; capital fund: JPY8.1 billion; TSE 1st Section) concluded an exclusive distributorship agreement with ALIO Industries, Inc. (headquartered in Wheat Ridge, Colorado, USA; URL: http://www.alioindustries.com) for sales in Japan. ALIO designs, manufacturers and markets proprietary robotic devices that enable the world’s most demanding manufacturers in the semiconductor, FPD, photonics, biotechnology and other advanced technology industries.

ALIO has developed a product family that achieves the most accurate and most repeatable performance in the industry. The Company does this through proprietary engineering, manufacturing, and testing processes.

Product Features

• Unprecedented accuracy and repeatability
• Long travel capability while achieving nano-level precision across large surface area
• Rich product durable in demanding conditions such as ultra high vacuum (UHV) chambers and clean rooms.
• Speed - ability to move quickly with nanometer precision across large area
• Reliability - low mean time between failure (MTBF)
• Willingness and ability to develop custom solutions
• Extensive product portfolio

Main Applications

• Laser nano-machining and nano-assembly for N/MEMS
• Manufacturing/inspection/analysis/repair equipment for semiconductor/FPD
• Photonics/synchrotron alignment
• Positioning of optical components and sensors
• For use under demanding conditions such as Ultra High Vacuum (UHV) (10-10Torr) chambers, clean rooms and electromagnetic fields

About ALIO Industries Inc.

ALIO was founded in Wheat Ridge, Colorado, USA in 2001, and designs, manufacturers and markets proprietary robotic devices that enable the world’s most precise nano-scale movements. ALIO’s products give manufacturers the ability to operate at the nanometer level (10-9meters) with high degrees of accuracy and repeatability. Industries that have or are quickly adopting nanometer level manufacturing include semiconductor, flat panel display, fiber optics/telecom, photonics, medical equipment and devices, and life sciences.

Quality Tech Services President Praises ALIO Products

“I am very much impressed with ALIO Industries precision nano technology positioning stage. It is the most precise positioning stage I have calibrated in the last 18 years. I can truly say without hesitation, I will now be able to recommend a company with nano-precision positioning accuracy with verified and proven technology in the field. I am extremely exited about the upcoming product line and equipment ALIO Industries will be unveiling and promoting in the market place in the future.”

Michael Schraufnagel
President/CEO
Quality Tech Services

CU says nano center, conference partnership could benefit private sector

By Alicia Wallace
Monday, December 4, 2006

Eighteen days ago, people trolled the halls of the University of Colorado's Discovery Learning Center and took in the surrounding sights — milestones of CU and Colorado's nanotechnology growth.

The mid-November day marked the grand opening of the $3 million Nanomaterials Characterization Facility. It's a laboratory that boasts cutting-edge instruments and ideas designed for cultivating technology and progress within the university, business and research communities in the field of nanotechnology, which involves work done on the molecular scale.

At the same time as this facility — and a statewide push for progress in the nanotechnology arena — move forward, CU also is participating in an endeavor to spur dialogue, collaboration and, ultimately, technology commercialization from fellow schools in the Big 12 athletic conference.

CU — which already touts success stories from its technology transfer program and its research partnerships with outside parties — and others say these fledgling efforts not only will allow the school to work with the private sector, but also could positively impact the economic and work force development of the surrounding area.

Nano potential

Competition has heated up in a hot nanotechnology sector that is expected to have a $28.7 billion market demand by 2008, according to Lux Research projections cited in the Colorado Nanotechnology Roadmap, which was researched and released in September by CU's Leeds School of Business.

The 5-year-old Alio Industries' expertise in nanoprecision robotics and positioning systems has garnered an amount of national and international attention, showing just how competitive the field has become. Places such as Florida and New Mexico have contacted the Wheat Ridge-based company, hoping to lure it away.

"We have been pursued by other states already very aggressively to pull up stake and move," said Jeff Johnson, Alio's president. "Germany has tried to get us to set up operations as well."

Eliza Evans, program manager for research at the University of Texas' think tank IC2, points to a 2003 survey of the Austin-area's biotech and nanotechnology companies, which showed all but one of 37 product-oriented companies were approached by recruiters from other states.

Those approached even included companies without revenue streams, she said.

The smaller size of communities like Austin and Boulder, she said, means the businesses, research facilities and universities in those areas need to be even more diligent about lasting growth within emerging technology sectors.

"I think what really is going to unlock the potential ... are collaborations with the private sector and making those relationships reach further upstream in the development of those technologies," Evans said.

The recent opening of the Nanotechnology Commercialization Facility comes months after the launch of the Colorado Nanotechnology Alliance and the release of the Colorado Nanotechnology Roadmap action plan.

The new CU lab — which is in addition to the current nanotechnology research and offerings at the school — could be beneficial in terms of additional research, jobs and commercial possibilities for companies like Composite Technology Development Inc., said Steven Arzberger, senior chemist for the Lafayette-based company that products including elastic memory composites.

"Certainly, I hope it facilitates a relationship that we're able to develop materials in a more efficient level both in terms of time and costs," Arzberger said.

The facility currently offers instruments — including scanning electron microscopes — that could be beneficial in helping startups and smaller local firms, said Gary Horvath, managing director of the Leeds School's business research division, which put together the Colorado Nanotechnology Roadmap.

"Because the equipment is so expensive, many of these companies cannot afford to buy this equipment," he said. "The company benefits and the students benefit in many ways by gaining practical experience."

Sharing ideas

Two years in the making, the Big 12 Center for Economic Development, Innovation and Commercialization (CEDIC) was set up by Austin businessmen Ron Kessler and Pike Powers to develop conversations between the universities in the athletic conference in areas besides sports.

The men, who had experience in the private sector as attorneys, decided the best way to improve a "knowledge-based economy," Kessler said, was to utilize the greatest repository of knowledge — the university.

After discussions with the academic elites of the Big 12, CEDIC moved forward and sponsored a business venture competition this past spring. The organization is set to move forward this coming March with a conference in Kansas City to showcase some of the 12 universities' technologies and faculty and put some concepts in front of venture capitalists.

The hope behind the dialogue, Kessler said, is to create something that is more than bricks and mortar, but something that involves the broader academic and industry communities.

And with conference members that include a school with the technology mass such as Texas or agricultural expertise of others such as Oklahoma State, what results could be a wide swath of ideas, he said.

"All we're doing is just very humbly promoting conversation, so the really smart people in the universities can move forward and do what is so needed from the private sector, which is create more jobs, more wealth and more solutions to problems."

David Allen, associate vice president for technology transfer at CU's Technology Transfer Office, said the involvement of the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation in the CEDIC conference is of particular interest to his office, which licenses technologies to companies such as Amgen Inc., and has spun out firms including Myogen Inc. and Replidyne Inc.

The Kauffman Foundation previously has given grants to CU.

"The University of Colorado has had and wants to have a relationship with the Kauffman Foundation and it's also important for us to be there to show our commitment to technology transfer and entrepreneurship," Allen said, adding he's looking forward to "sharing practices and ways of doing things that work for us that may work for (the other Big 12 schools) and vice versa."

Allen said he is hopeful for the potential of such a partnership, noting the Midwest Research University network, which started four years ago as an exchange of ideas between seven Midwestern universities, including Northwestern University, the University of Wisconsin-Madison and the University of Illinois at Chicago. That group has expanded to 20 institutions and focuses on fostering the commercialization of university research and bringing together early-stage investors with spinout companies.

"I think we're all realistic that this is not a panacea," Allen said. "We're going to put our efforts working with the Front Range business community, and if we can figure out ways to augment that, that's what we'll do. But it'll never ever come to be a replacement."

Collaborating with other area universities could be beneficial on the nanotechnology end as well, considering some of the advancements made at schools like the University of Texas, the Leeds School's Horvath said.

"Being able to partner with Texas, I think would be important," he said.

But considering the overall picture, Horvath said he sees great opportunities and potential benefits to the area business economy by establishing partnerships and coalitions.

"It's almost like a stock portfolio. If you combine the strengths of those 12 universities ... you've got a pretty strong portfolio and that portfolio could be marketed globally," he said. "If that happens, the possibilities are unlimited to the extents people want to market that."

Contact Camera Business Writer Alicia Wallace at (303) 473-1332 or wallacea@dailycamera.com.