Within the European project HAFAM (Handling and Assembly of Functionally Adapted Microcomponents) a testing stage for characterizing rotating micro-electro-mechanical machines has been developed at the Centre de Transfert des Microtechniques, CTM in Besançon, France. The objective of this micro torque testing stage is to provide a flexible and modular means for assessing the per formance and the quality of both active and passive micro machine components, e.g. micro motors or micro ball bearings.

This task has been accomplished by using the following principle. A master motor drives the rotating component under investigation and imposes a certain rotation speed. If an active micro-electro-mechanical component is tested for exemple, this device is controlled synchronously to the rotor angle of the driving motor. Hence, the torque produced by the micro-electro-mechanical component or other significant values will essentially depend on the control signals applied.

The control of both the master and the probe motors as well as the measurement of various probe signals is carried out by a computer under a real-time operating system, RTLinux. A graphical user interface offers the possibility for an easy machine control, signal evaluation and post processing for the final evaluation of the devices under investigation.

For any further information please contact Roland Duffait.

Publications and scientific work

Wurmsdobler, P., R. Duffait, T. Messaoudi and W. Brenner: A TORQUE TESTING STAGE FOR ROTATING MICRO-ELECTRO-MECHANICAL DEVICES. In Proceedings to the 9th of International Symposium on Transport Phenomena and Dynamics of Rotating Machinery Conference, Honolulu, Hawaii, 2002.
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Wurmsdobler, P., G. Abraham, Y. Ansel, R. Duffait, S. Monux, M. Nienhaus and S. Kleen: A testing stage for the assessment of rotating micro electro-mechanical components. In Reichl, Editor, Micro System Technologies 2001, Düsseldorf, 2001.
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Wurmsdobler, P.: Ein Drehmomentenmesssystem für mikro-elektromechanische Rotationselemente. In GMM-Fachbericht 33 der VDE/VDI Gesellschaft für Microelektronik, Micro- und Feinwerktechnik, Mainz, 2001.
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Wurmsdobler, P.: EMPLOYING REAL-TIME LINUX IN A TEST BENCH FOR ROTATING MICRO MECHANICAL DEVICES. In Proceedings to the Second Real-Time Linux Workshop, Orlando, 2000.
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Wurmsdobler, P.: RT-Linux for a torque testing stage. In Proceedings to the 1st Real-Time Linux Workshop, Vienna, 1999.
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