Celera Motion Enhances Aura Absolute Chip Encoder for Cobots, Surgical Robots

Celera Motion this week announced new sizes and capabilities for its Aura Absolute Chip Encoder Series of rotary and linear optical encoders with MicroE technology. The new Aura encoder line extension products will meet all the typical sizes needed in a robot arm, from small end effectors at the end of the arm to the upper shoulder joints, said the company.

“This new product will be an incredibly precise and highly accurate encoder in a small package to meet customers’ high-performance needs,” said Mike Mainvielle, vice president of product management and marketing at Celera Motion. “We are excited that Aura-C will offer an easily integrated, low-power absolute encoder option that will help in the advancement of demanding customer applications.”

Celera Motion provides motion-control components and subsystems for original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) serving a variety of medical and advanced industrial markets. The Bedford, Mass.-based company said its precision encoders, motors, and customized mechatronic systems can help customers solve challenging motion-control problems.

Novanta Inc., which counts Celera Motion as a business unit, said it has deep proprietary expertise in photonics, vision, and precision motion technologies. The company recently partnered with MassRobotics to help robotics startups in Massachusetts.

Aura compensates for eccentricity

Aura solves the largest source of angular error, eccentricity, which is caused by off-center scale mounting and bearing runout, claimed Celera Motion. Robotics developers often use two encoders to compensate for the error, increasing cost and power consumption. Aura has a built-in compensation algorithm, thereby eliminating the need for the second encoder, it said.

The Aura line extension enables a wider range of customizable scale sizes, along with standard glass offerings ranging from 18 to 63.5 mm (0.7 to 2.5 in.) rotary outer diameter (OD) and new-to-market linear scales lengths ranging from 9 to 195 mm (0.3 to 7.6 in.).

“Our focus has been to advance the performance of our optical encoder products over the past couple years,” Mainvielle said. “The Aura for large rotary and linear scales is a fitting line extension to that growing product line.”

Celera Motion touts Aura's capabilities

Celera Motion also cited the following potential benefits for Aura:

• Absolute position feedback for high-performance, high-volume designs
• High resolution and accuracy for precision control needs
• Wide alignment tolerances provide ease of integration, resulting in higher productivity
• Built-in eccentricity compensation for minimal angle error and easier installation
• Low-power dissipation for tight temperature budget applications
• Comprehensive connectivity meets industry-standard interface requirements: BiSS-C, SSI, and SPI
• AqB plus index provides additional incremental data to be used as secondary position information
• Global application support available to meet customer’s integration challenges.

Celera Motion said Aura is suitable for high-volume OEM applications including surgical robots, collaborative robots, the joints of robot arms, and grippers, as well as exoskeletons and wearable devices. Industrial automation for semiconductor production is another application, it said.

For more information about Aura or to inquire about custom scales, visit Celera Motion's Web site.