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Novel Actuator Handles Tiny Chips to Speed Up Assembly Lines

A module for rapid, accurate, and versatile positioning of semiconductor chips has been developed by researchers at the A*STAR Singapore Institute of Manufacturing Technology and National University of Singapore Joint Lab. It features a novel electromechanical actuator that can move objects both linearly and rotationally. Most actuators tend to move linearly in only one direction, or they offer a rotational motion. "For surface-mount technology (SMT) assembly, it is important that an actuator can provide both linear and rotary motion concurrently so that assembly line can achieve high throughput and high accuracy," says Daniel Tat Joo Teo of A*STAR.