n SENSORS AND ENCODERS US start-up embarks on project to improve encoder performance A US start-up has received $1m of federal funding to develop a novel method for producing highaccuracy optical encoders. Optical encoders are sensors that measure position – either linear or angular – and convert it into an electronic signals. The market for such encoders has been predicted to be worth $4.4bn by 2028. Modern automation and robotics systems rely heavily on encoders for precision positioning and motion control, explains Sergey Zakharov, co-founder and chief technology ocer of the start-up ZS Instruments, which has been given the twoyear funding by the US National Science Foundation. But traditional encoder production processes can introduce defects and errors that can limit the encoders’ accuracy and resolution. “Increasingly accurate encoders are needed to further innovate and enable the manufacturing of complex next-generation products, such as advanced microchips, high-resolution CT and MRI scanners, UAV guidance and tracking systems, highaccuracy industrial robots and precision measuring instruments,” Zakharov adds. “As device miniaturisation continues, design specications become more stringent, and the need to ll the demand for highprecision position sensors and the nanofabrication technology which enable them becomes paramount.” ZS will use the NSF funding to develop a novel encoder technology that combines a high-resolution projection lithography system with additive manufacturing to create highly uniform microscopic patterns with extremely low-edge roughness. “The new approach oers numerous advantages, including economically viable production of precision encoders with subnanometre resolution, improved manufacturing yield and shorter lead times,” says Zakharov. “The Phase II research activities encompass the development of a full-size hardware prototype with performance traceable to standards established by the National Institute of Standards and Technology. ZS Instruments will also establish the necessary infrastructure to support the newly developed technology.” Zakharov adds that applications for the technology could extend beyond optical encoders into other sectors such as semiconductor chip manufacturing, advanced packaging and precision additive manufacturing. The Phase II grant builds on research conducted in an 18-month rst phase that has already demonstrated an order of magnitude improvement in both resolution and edge quality of encoders. A patent has been applied for. ZS instruments is a spinout from Purdue University and is working on the project with Purdue’s Elmore Family School of Electrical and Computer Engineering. n Sergey Zakharov, co-founder and CTO of ZS Instruments, holds an optical encoder wafer created using a prototype of the company’s novel technology. Image: ZS Instruments
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