(2024 - 2027)
This project aims to develop an optical telescope system capable of spectroscopic analysis of space debris. In order to achieve the high-precision telescope pointing and tracking required for this application, a self-learning pointing model and an improvement of orbit prediction based on obtained data will be developed. Ultimately, spectroscopic analysis can give information on the material, pose and rotation of space debris.

Adaptive mounting system with powerless gravity compensation for mirror segments in large telescopes (2023 - 2024)

Vibration isolation is indispensable in many high-precision applications, both in industry and research. Since the stringent requirements cannot be met by purely passive systems, a suspension system for heavy loads with a levitating platform, active vibration suppression and integrated gravity compensation was developed in this project.

Research and Flight Test of Advanced Turbulence Cancelling Technologies for Sustainable Urban and Regional Air Mobility (2023 - 2026)

The SmartWings2 project aims enhanced turbulence load suppression (TLS) via new sensor technologies of wind lidar and distributed MEMS turbulence sensing, as well as a novel flaplet. The predecessor project SmartWings successfully demonstrated TLS in light aircraft by means of turbulence probes in front of the wing and actuation of predefleced flaps for direct lift control.

(2023 - 2027)

In this cooperation project together with University of Vienna, approaches of pollination biology and flower evolution are combined with mechatronic methods in order to investigate how Melastomataceae flowers have adapted to vibration pollinating bees. For this, a vibration system is designed in order to execute artificial, bee-like flower vibration experiments. Furthermore, the mechanical properties of the flowers are explored by vibration experiments in the lab and the internal flower structure is obtained by computer tomography. With this, the bio mechanics of flowers can be modeled and simulated.

MobileSpectro – Development of a handheld FTIR spectrometer (2022 - 2025)

Infrared spectroscopy is a fundamental technique for the characterization and analysis of chemical compounds. MobileSpectro aims to develop a miniaturized high precision FTIR spectrometer that enables handheld operation for field use and provides a performance comparable to lab-based instruments.

(2021 - 2024)

This project aims at the development and integration of a vibration isolation platform with the main target application of optical drone identification systems in mobile scenarios. It will be integrated into existing vehicles to provide early and effective information for the protection of convoys against UAV threats.

To overcome the speed limitation of stereolithography 3D printers in this project, a polygon mirror based light engine is developed, which enables a laser line scan speed of a few hundred meters per second.

High precision in-line measurements on free form surfaces are considered a key factor for the industrial production of the future. Robot-based measurement systems provide the required flexibility but are typically lacking the required precision. The scope of this project is the development of a measurement platform designed as end effector for industrial robots, which carries a measurement or inspection tool and compensates for environmental disturbances, enabling precision 3D measurements on both arbitrarily oriented and moving samples.

Next-generation high-quality motion systems require high-precision actuators with higher energy efficiency and larger force to improve the system throughput. Particularly, actuators with a motor constant higher than comparable voice coil actuators are highly desired. This project investigates hybrid reluctance actuators (HRAs) with guiding flexures as a promising candidate of the next-generation systems.

Aktive Turbulenzunterdrückung für Flugzeuge

Atmospheric turbulence is an unsolved problem for aviation. By investigating smart wing structures, which sense turbulence and actively reject disturbances by flap deflections, it shall become possible to fly through turbulence in a direct and reliable way in the future.

The precise tracking of high velocity satellites with ground based optical telescopes is a prerequisite for a number of future applications such as optical satellite communication, observation of space debris or satellite laser ranging. To achieve this goal, good mechatronic design as well as high performance control are necessary. Together with our industrial partner, ASA Astrosysteme GmbH, this project aims on increasing the achievable precision and tracking velocity of existing ASA ground stations.

Fundamentals of opto-mechatronic systems

Currently innovation is taking place at the border of disciplines rather than in one individual field of engineering. This particularly holds for application domains that span more than one field of engineering, since a high level of system integration from different disciplines provides solutions that a single domain alone cannot provide. As an example, the combination of optics and mechatronics form the interdisciplinary field of opto-mechatronics.

Atomic Force Microscopy capable of vibration isolation

An atomic force microscope (AFM) can image and inspect a sample surface with high resolution by scanning a probe with a sharp tip over the sample. During scanning, the vertical position of the probe with respect to the sample typically needs to be regulated with nanometer resolution. For the required high resolution, AFMs are sensitive to vibrations transmitted from the floor dependent on their design.

Automated in-line metrology for nanopositioning systems

Robot based in-process metrology is a key enabling technology for upcoming production systems and is considered as one of the most important preconditions for future production. Measuring properties at the nanometer scale such as topography, morphology and roughness within a production line becomes increasingly important for quality control and process monitoring tasks to make high tech production more efficient.

Many applications require positioning with nanometer resolution. They include lithographic equipment for semiconductor and liquid crystal display (LCD) manufacturing and data storage devices such as hard disk drives (HDDs) and optical disk drives (ODDs) (e.g. CD/DVD/Blu-ray), as well as scientific instruments such as atomic force microscopes (AFMs). The achievable positioning resolution of these systems is typically influenced by vibrations transmitted from the floor.