March 6, 2006

CSA Engineering has been awarded three U.S. patents for its Hybrid Pneumatic-Magnetic Isolator-Actuator. The isolator is compact, lightweight, and capable of large force, substantial stroke and moderate-bandwidth actuation, with near frictionless operation and vibration isolation with very low break frequency.

The technology was originally developed to isolate vibration and stabilize payloads on aircraft, but has broader application to sensors and payloads on other vehicles.

The Optical Bench Isolation System (OBIS) uses an eight-strut arrangement of these isolator-actuators to control position at low frequency and force at high frequency. Built for the first Airborne Laser aircraft, OBIS isolates the sensitive laser resonator optical benches from high-frequency vibration of the airframe while preserving their rigid-body positions in accurate registration to each other.

The concepts and designs were developed by Dr. David A. Kienholz, Vice President and Principal Engineer at CSA Engineering. The company is currently adapting the isolator-actuator technology for other aircraft applications.