I hope you don't mind, but I would like to encourage you toward success with your existing constraints. Let's not worry for now so much about what people will do with something "someday" and focus on the basic specs.
University projects tend to start with a "basic concept" and continue to evolve and improve over time, with small incremental budgets.
Specs you have posted
- 1 mm travel in one
- essentially no slop in any other direction
- 3000 N
- approx 1 micron travel resolution
- speed does not matter
- student sort of budget - goal $ 600.
Let's for fun, start with the idea of using thermal expansion as the driving force for the movement. Since it is easy to obtain, and has a fairly high coefficent of thermal expansion, let's try Al.
From this link
http://hyperphysics.phy-astr.gsu.edu...les/thexp.html
Al will expand approx 24 x 10 - 6. (please double check all work)
If we start with a 1 meter long block of Al at 20 C, and heat it to 120 C, then
100 C x 1000 mm x 24 x 10-6 = approx 2.4 mm. Technically, Al's expansion is slightly non linear over this range, but this is well documented.
So, to pull this off, all you need is
- An Al block 500 mm long
- 2 pieces of granite - one for the base, one for forming an L shape at the end
- set the block of Al on the granite, firmly fasten one end only to the piece of granite on the other end (L )
- Set up a heater and a good insulation blanket to bring the temperature up uniformly
If I am thinking clearly, which is always questionable, it will expand approx 1 micron per degree C. That should be easy given some stabilization time.
A big block of Al firmly mounted on one end to a granite block will have very little backlash or ability to move in the other 2 axis.
Ok - now go get an A - or prove me wrong.
