Overview - Optical Scanners
Advanced Optical Scanner Technology

An optical scanner is more than a galvo and a mirror, it is a system composed of galvo motor that is matched and tuned with a servo driver. The result is an optical scanner that can accept a trajectory command to steer and point a laser beam quickly and accurately.

For all optical scanners, the servo driver design is modified to address the specific requirements of laser beam steering. One criterion is the ability to “tune” the combined galvo motor set for a specific application. That means the servo driver must be able to adjust speed (throughput) and accuracy (quality). Another requirement is filtering to eliminate the natural mechanical resonance frequency of a given system. This is essential for stable operation and the highest possible bandwidth.

General Scanning offers two types of optical scanners, with appropriate servo drivers:
Lightning Digital Scanners, and MiniSAX II Analog Scanners.



Lightning™ Digital Scanners employ our
latest Second generation digital servo technology.
• Higher bandwidth for faster scanning
• Lower noise for increased accuracy
• Higher sample rate for improved control
• Improved thermal stability for greater accuracy
• Enhanced monitoring for improved diagnostics
• Advanced filtering to optimize application performance
• Automated tuning reduces development, manufacturing, and support costs




MiniSAX II Analog Scanners employ an improved version of General Scanning’s well known MiniSAX (Miniature Single Axis) servo driver.
• Supports both optical and capacitive PD technologies
• More robust design
• Advanced servo filtering
• Extended bandwidth
• Short response time
• Adjustable notch-filter
• Small footprint
• RoHS Compliant

General Scanning optical scanners are available with
scan controller electronics and control software.
Click here for more details.