By

SIMTECH-NUS Joint Lab In Precision Motion Systems

The Joint Laboratory focus on the constituent technologies of precision motion control and their effective integration to fulfil a whole spectrum of industrial needs in the systems and applications relevant to the manufacturing sector, balancing precision, speed, cost, robustness and configurability. These constituent technologies include:

  • Drives and actuation

  • Measurement and control systems

  • System optimization and applications

The laboratory pull together academic staff members from ECE, researchers from SIMTech (in particular the Mechatronics Group), students (undergraduates and postgraduates) who are passionate in the focus areas as well as industrial practitioners. It can house projects of an academic nature (upstream) as well as industrial projects (downstream), and promote interactions among the occupants to inculcate a holistic perspective of the challenges and trends of the field to build pyramid of strength in precision motion control.

Vision: To be a leading research laboratory in high-precision and high-speed motion control, supporting manufacturing industries with cutting edge research and technology.

Mission: To forge a pyramid of strengths in the fundamentals and methodology of current and future high precision motion control systems by aligning and synergizing upstream, downstream research and education with evolving industrial trends.

Research Topics:

Drives & Actuation

  • Design and modeling of precision actuators (linear, piezo motors)

  • Dynamics and nonlinearities associated with linear motors (friction, ripples)

  • Design and optimization of coupled stages (gantry, coarse-fine, rotary-translation)

  • Automated and adaptive parameter estimation of actuation systems

  • Design and analysis of high performance drive controllers

Measurement & Control

  • Signal interpolation for low cost optical encoders

  • Planar two-axis encoder for control and machine compensation

  • Laser interferometer for measurement and geometrical compensation

  • Noise suppression and cancellation in high resolution encoder signals

  • Eddy current damping in air bearing stages

  • Look-up tables for geometrical compensation

  • Model-based approaches towards geometrical and environmental compensation

  • Approaches for offline and online compensation

  • Time efficient geometrical compensation using only displacement errors control

  • Auto-tuning of motion controllers of PID types

  • Nonlinear dynamics compensation via soft methodologies in the control system

  • Adaptive control and load adaptation of precision machines

  • Coordinated control of H-types machines

  • Notch filter design and vibration suppression in precision motion system

  • Fault diagnosis and accommodation control of precision machines

  • Control commutation for magnetic levitation

System Optimization & Application

  • Development of precise stages for semiconductor processes

  • Development of precise stages for micro-dispensing

  • Design and development of spherical air bearing stages for nano-imprinting

  • Design and development of stages for biomedical applications

Publications:

Journal:

  1. T. J. Teo, H. Zhu, and C. K. Pang, "Modeling of a Two Degrees-of-Freedom Moving Magnet Linear Motor for Magnetically Levitated Positioners," IEEE Transactions on Magnetics, in press.

Conference:

  1. Y. Z. Tan, C. K. Pang, T. S. Ng, and T. H. Lee, "Integrated Servo-Mechanical Design of Robust Mechatronics Based on Low-Order Moments and Support," in Proceedings of the 2014 IEEE AMC, pp. 49-54, Yokohama, Japan, March 14-16, 2014 (invited)

  2. Wenyu Liang; Wenchao Gao; Silu Chen; and Kok Kiong Tan; "Stabilization for an Ear Surgical Device using Force Feedback and Vision-based Motion Compensation," 2014 IEEE/ASME International Conference on Advanced Intelligent Mechatronics (AIM2014), pp. 943-948, Jul. 2014

  3. Mohammed Nazir Bin Kamaldin; Silu Chen; Tat Joo Teo; Wenyu Liang; Kok Kiong Tan; and Guilin Yang; "Modeling and Robust Output feedback Tracking Control of a Single-phase Rotary Motor with Cylindrical Halbach Array," 2014 IEEE/ASME International Conference on Advanced Intelligent Mechatronics (AIM 2014), pp. 800-805, Jul. 2014

  4. H. Zhu, T. J. Teo, and C. K. Pang, "Design and Modeling of A Six Degrees-of-Freedom Unlimited Stroke Magnetically Levitated Positioner," in Proceedings of the 2014 IEEE/ASME International Conference on AIM, Besançon, France, July 8-11, 2014.

  5. X. C. Li, S. L. Chen, C. S. Teo, K. K. Tan, T. H. Lee(2014). Revised Binary Tree Data-Driven Model for Valve Stiction, to appear in Proceedings of IEEE International Conference on System, Man and Cybernetics, San Diego, California, USA, October 5-October 8, 2014

  6. H. Zhu, C. K. Pang, and T. J. Teo, "Modeling and Design of a Size and Mass Reduced Magnetically Levitated Planar Positioner," to appear in Proceedings of the 2014 IEEE IECON, Dallas, TX, USA, October 29-November 1, 2014.

Job & Study Opportunity

Highlights for Potential PhD Students:

  • Endorsement and strong partnerships with industrial companies; your work will be highly valued by the industry.

  • Alternative PhD paths and combinatorial research arrangements with NUS, SIMTech and the industry.

  • Guaranteed funding and support from NUS  and SIMTech.

  • Existing top-of-the-end precision equipment to support and validate your research.

Email to: prahlad@nus.edu.sg