SUBSTANTIVELY REVIEWED BY PETER KLAREN · LAST REVIEWED SEPTEMBER 2026 · BASED ON THE WBSO GUIDE 2026
Representative case: this is a representative, anonymised case file based on common WBSO situations — not a literal client file.
Case in eleven phases
1. The company and starting situation
An industrial machine builder supplies positioning systems to the semi-finished products industry. A repeat customer requires twice the movement speed while maintaining the same accuracy.
2. The technical objective
Position within ±0.05 mm at twice the speed, within the same machine footprint and energy budget.
3. The technical bottleneck
At higher accelerations, bearing play, elastic deformation of the support and vibration excitation cause positioning deviations outside tolerance. The problem intensifies at resonant frequencies that fall within the new operating-speed range.
4. Why known technology was insufficient
Standard linear guidance systems with more aggressive controllers, stiffer frames and commercial compensation tables were tested. The combination of thermal drift and modes shifting into the operating range meant these measures were insufficient: the problem was structural, not merely parametric.
5. Solution directions investigated
(a) Active vibration damping integrated into a proprietary mechatronic support structure.
(b) A sandwich support with fibre-reinforced panels for greater stiffness at lower weight.
(c) Model-based feed-forward compensation that anticipates and corrects deformation.
6. Experiments
FEM models of the support, construction of two experimental prototype setups, laser flatness measurements and acceleration measurements across the full speed range, and iterative improvement of the damper and control-filter designs.
7. Technical result
The second prototype achieved ±0.038 mm at twice the speed. The new structural and drive principle was therefore technically demonstrated.
8. What qualified as S&O
Technical development and testing of the new damping and drive principles, including the models, designs, prototype construction and measurements directly required to develop and demonstrate the new operating principle.
9. What did not qualify
Customer engineering of the production version, production preparation, purchasing, routine assembly, production documentation and service.
10. Where the WBSO project ended
The development process ended once the prototype demonstrated that the new damping and drive principle could technically achieve the required accuracy. Work on the customer machine after that point became regular engineering. The experimental prototypes served solely to prove the operating principle; if a prototype could have served as a customer machine or business asset, the WBSO boundary would have shifted according to its use.
11. Appropriate project records
CAD versions, structural calculations, FEM reports, vibration and flatness measurements, test reports for each prototype iteration and photographs of the setups.
How this translates into a WBSO application
| Element | Description |
|---|---|
| Technical objective | ±0.05 mm at 2× speed in the same footprint |
| Technical bottleneck | play, elastic deformation and resonances at higher acceleration |
| Solution direction | active damping + fibre-reinforced sandwich support + model-based compensation |
| Technical uncertainty | unknown whether the principle can achieve the tolerance at higher speed |
Further reading: WBSO product development · WBSO project records · prototype costs and the user-value boundary
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SOURCES AND SUBSTANTIVE REVIEW
RVO — WBSO Guide 2026
Reviewed by Peter Klaren, WBSO specialist since 2004. Last substantively updated: 21 September 2026. This case is representative, anonymised and not a literal client file.