PI (Physik Instrumente) provides the broadest and deepest portfolio of precision motion technologies. Leading the world as the first and largest manufacturer of nanopositioning products based on a variety of piezoelectric drive systems, the company is also heading the field of high-precision parallel-positioners such as hexapod and planar-pod 6-axis designs. Other technologies include standard and custom electromagnetic linear motors, magnetic levitation systems and air bearings – a critical technology for many high-end manufacturing and metrology applications. Started about 40 years ago as a supplier to physics research labs, PI has grown into a business of over 1,200 employees and more than $100 million in annual global sales.
PI has been ISO 9001 certified for over 20 years and currently runs R&D, engineering, and production centers on 3 continents.
Air Bearing Technology: Designed to float on a cushion of air without rollers or sliding components, linear, rotary, and spherical air bearing positioners deliver extremely precise and vibration-free motion with extreme geometric performance and repeatability, at a highly constant velocity, and zero wear of mechanical components – ideal for high-end industrial inspection and manufacturing operations. With over 200 man-years of in-house air bearing experience, PI air bearing stages are superiorly suited for many high precision applications, such as optical metrology, flat panel display, precision scanning and cleanroom applications.
Parallel & Serial Kinematics Positioners: In addition to motorized rotary and linear precision stages and actuators, PI offers the largest selection of precision hexapod systems in the world. 1990 PI began designing parallel positioners such as hexapod Stewart platforms, for sub-micron precision optical alignment applications in large scale astronomical telescopes. Over the years, many applications including the alignment of fibers, medical apparatus, aerospace components, laser diodes and even automotive components have benefitted from the flexibility and versatility of the parallel motion approach.
Piezo Technology: Piezoelectric motion technology provides many benefits over traditional stepper and servo motors in a variety of applications including medical, automotive, semiconductors and aerospace. These solid-state drives provide unlimited resolution, very high stiffness and force and extremely fast response. There’s also no energy required to hold a position, even with heavy loads. PI owns a specialized facility where piezo materials, actuators, ceramic motors and transducers for many high-tech applications are designed and manufactured. The outstanding quality was confirmed when NASA engineers tested PI actuators for use on the Mars Rover – they observed zero failures after 100 billion cycles.