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G. Schitter:
"Integrated System Design and Control of Mechatronic Imaging Systems";
Keynote Lecture: 7th International Conference on Control, Mechatronics and Automation ICCMA, Delft (Netherlands) (invited); 2019-11-06 - 2019-11-08.

Mechatronic imaging systems, used in scientific applications as well as in the high-tech industry, demand a continuous improvement of system bandwidth and speed, range, and precision. These challenging goals can be achieved only by a proper system integration, which requires an advanced mechatronic system design and highly sophisticated motion control. Example applications for the discussed mechatronic imaging systems are atomic force microscopes (AFM), wafer scanners, scanning laser microscopy and metrology, as well as adaptive optics and satellite ranging.

To meet the demanding specifications, the final system, including all hard- and software components, has to be tailored to and optimized for each specific application. In a scanning imaging system, for example, one can consider the various ways of performing the scanning motion in the design of the mechanical structure and selection of the actuation principle. Whether system resonances have to be avoided, damped sufficiently, or even can be utilized for the scanning motion strongly depends on the mode of operation. At the same time this influences the choice of the corresponding control system for the motion control. A proper system integration that utilizes the interplay between process design and control design is key for achieving maximum performance of mechatronic systems in the high-tech industry.

This presentation addresses these challenges by illustrating examples for precision motion control of telescope systems for satellite ranging and adaptive optics for optical free-space communication, AFM imaging and nano-metrology, as well as confocal laser scanning microscopy and scanning laser metrology. Taking advantage of an appropriate system integration, the presented examples successfully demonstrate the potential to enhance the performance of mechatronic imaging systems substantially by an integrated mechatronic design approach.