Aerospace - Defense

The objectives are to qualify SQUIGGLE ceramic motors for use by NASA in future spacecraft missions, and to validate SQUIGGLE technology for use in commercial cryogenic applications.

“NASA has extensive cryogenic testing capabilities and experience and needs cold-qualified actuators for future space telescope missions,” said Dr. Peter Shirron, a senior researcher in the Cryogenics and Fluids Group at NASA Goddard. NASA’s cryogenic instruments require millimeters of stroke, nanometer precision and several Newtons of force while generating negligible vibration and heating. Potential NASA applications include adaptive optics in large aperture telescopes and heat switches in cryogenic cooling systems.

New Scale Technologies has already demonstrated a cryogenic Squiggle motor that operates from room temperature to 100 degrees Kelvin. The tiny SQUIGGLE motor is an ultrasonic piezoelectric actuator that uses vibrations in a threaded bushing to directly rotate a mating screw. Nanometer resolution over many millimeters of travel has been demonstrated. See http://www.newscaletech.com for more information on the SQUIGGLE motor operating principle.

NASA and New Scale will work together to test and improve the cryogenic SQUIGGLE motor at temperatures as low as 4 degrees Kelvin. New Scale will provide the SQUIGGLE motors and NASA will complete the testing at their Cryogenic Research and Integration Test Facility. The team will work together to identify and demonstrate motor improvements and publish the test results.

“We are pleased to be working with NASA team lead by Dr. Shirron, and have our ceramic motor tested in the excellent cryogenic laboratory at Goddard Space Flight Center,” said David Henderson, President and Founder of New Scale Technologies. “Our goal is to show how the unique capabilities of our SQUIGGLE motor can improve future NASA spacecraft, and to demonstrate a new positioning solution for commercial cryogenic markets.”

Potential commercial markets for cryogenic SQUIGGLE motors include:
- Cryogenic imaging systems for remote sensing and security surveillance.
- Basic materials research in cryostats.
- Microelectronic inspection and testing using cooled ultra-sensitive photon detectors.

About New Scale Technologies
New Scale Technologies (http://www.newscaletech.com) makes miniature ceramic motors that enable our customers to create smaller products. Our patent-pending motors are bigger than MEMS devices but smaller than conventional motors. We generate precise movement using ultrasonic vibrations which makes our products powerful, simple, inexpensive to produce and compatible with extreme environments. Our SQUIGGLE motor uses piezoelectric actuators to vibrate a nut and directly rotate a mating screw in a tiny assembly with an order of magnitude fewer parts than conventional motors.

About NASA Goddard Space Flight Center
The mission of the Goddard Space Flight Center is to expand knowledge of the Earth and its environment, the solar system, and the universe through observations from space. For more information visit http://www.nasa.gov/centers/Goddard.