Operational Temperature Effect on Positioning Accuracy of a Single-Axial Moving Carrier

This study investigated the ambient environmental temperature effect on the positioning accuracy of a periodically-moving carrier. The moving carrier was operated in an environmental chamber in which the operational temperature could be controlled by an air conditioning system. Different operational temperature modes, including a stable environment, a rise in temperature, a decline in temperature, summer daytime hours, and winter nighttime hours in terms of seasonal climate change in Taiwan, were generated within the environmental chamber by an air conditioning system to investigate the operational temperature’s effect on positioning accuracy. From the experimental measurements of a periodically-moving carrier, it is found that the operational temperature conditions can significantly affect the positioning accuracy of the moving carrier, especially in the case of an operational temperature decline. Under stable operational conditions, the positioning accuracy of the moving carrier can be considerably improved. In comparison to the case of an operational temperature decline, the positioning accuracy improvement can reach 29.6%. Moreover, the effect of the temperature distributions within the chamber on the positioning accuracy was further investigated. It was found that, with a parallel flow pattern in the chamber, the positioning accuracy can be further enhanced.