A four-degrees-of-freedom microstage for the compensation of eccentricity of a roundness measurement machine

This paper contains a description of four-degrees-of-freedom microstage, designed to replace manual adjustment mechanism in a roundness measurement machine for the compensation of eccentricity. Four-degrees-of-freedom motion (two-translational and two-rotational motion) was obtained by four piezoelectric actuators that were set up on the same plane to minimize the effect of the abbe's offset. The microstage was fixed on a rotary table to compensate not only for the x- and y-position errors, but also for the angle errors about the x- and y-axis. Repeatability, calibration and experimental tests were carried out and the results showed the proposed design was easy to assemble for most types of roundness test machines and had sufficient capability to compensate for the eccentricity. (C) 2003 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.