Cambridge, UK, July 3rd, 2009, Cambridge Mechatronics Ltd (CML), a leading developer of Intellectual Property and components for precision electronic actuators used in consumer products, today announced that its Xlinea device has become the world’s first Shape Memory Alloy (SMA) Lens Actuator Driver Integrated Circuit to be released for mass production.
Xlinea is the end result of over three years of development effort involving 25 separate patent filings and is the crucial component of CML’s SMA Auto-Focus (SMAA-F) actuator platform.
In recent years several major companies have been trying to develop A-F actuators using SMA and until now none have been successful. This is because that even after solving the difficult problems of designing a mechanical configuration that can move a lens through the full focal range many other onerous problems must be overcome. Some issues are related to the linear control of the SMA wire’s expansions and contractions, others to way SMA behaves at different temperatures. Perhaps the most testing are those to do with repeatability, which means that a specific command from the sensor must send the lens to exactly the same position (+/- 5 microns) every time it is called regardless of the environmental conditions.
The first part of the task was to develop a mechanical design of a SMAA-F actuator that met all the mechanical specifications required by the miniature camera integrators and was mass producible at a cost lower than the incumbent actuation technologies. This was largely achieved by mid 2008. The last 12 months have been spent by CML optimising the firmware element of Xlinea to produce the straightest lines (up and down), the fastest focus resolution times and the lowest power consumption. All this had to be done across the entire commercial temperature range (–30°C to +70°C).
The Xlinea device was almost entirely developed by CML. Atmel, who is manufacturing the device, provided some ASIC implementation services. Xlinea is being released for production after extensive testing by CML, Atmel, CML’s actuator manufacturing partner and a miniature camera integrator.
CML and its partners are currently engaged in a number of evaluations that involve many of the worlds leading camera phone vendors and miniature camera integrators. Some of these discussions are so advanced that CML is confident that it will be able to announce the first mass production shipments of Xlinea later this year.
Xlinea is available exclusively to system licensees of CML’s SMA Auto-Focus (SMAA-F) control firmware. Samples and small volumes are available from CML, however production volumes can be purchased directly from Atmel.
