Design of six degree of freedom hybrid active passive vibration isolator using voice coil actuator

Isolation of ground vibration has long been considered in the field of nano precision measuring instrument design. This paper proposes a six-axis hybrid active passive vibration isolation system which can be used as a tabletop isolator for highly precise measurement and actuation system. The combined active passive isolation principle is used for vertical vibration isolation by mounting the instrument on a passively damped isolation system made of elastomer along with the active stage in parallel that consists of very soft actuator system, the voice coil motor. The active stage works in combination with the passive stage for providing a very low frequency vibration attenuator in all six rigid body modes. The complete system model was designed along with the sensors and actuators and the complete system dynamics was derived to simulate for the control system implementation. © 2007, Inderscience Publishers.