Europe's Flattest Floor
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'Europe’s Flattest Floor'
In July of 2022, I was contacted about installing one of my Precision Air Bearing Floor Systems in the UK at the new ZERO-G Astrolab Robotics Laboratory at the University of Liverpool. I would be working on the REMORA Project, info at this link - https://gtr.ukri.org/projects?ref=MR%2FW009498%2F1 - with Dr. Stefania Soldini and her team. She had referenced the European Space Agency’s European Space Technology and Research Centre in the Netherlands as an example of what she was looking for, this testing facility is billed as ‘Europe’s Flattest Floor’, info at this link -
https://www.esa.int/Enabling_Support/Space_Engineering_Technology/Zero-G_Europe_s_flattest_floor
After reviewing the specifications on that floor, I assured Dr. Soldini that her new Laboratory would be the next level in comparison. The next 3 years was spent consulting with Dr. Soldini and her team, advising the general contractor on specifications for the renovation of the basement Laboratory in the 200-year-old George Holt Building on campus and the ever-exhausting time spent with the administrative process of contracting a project of this importance. Finally in mid-August of 2025 we were on site setting up to start this installation that lasted until mid-September, info at this link -
https://www.liverpool.ac.uk/research/space/space-robotics
University of Liverpool Zero G AstroLab
After installation was completed, the metrology crew from Manchester Metrology was brought in to conduct laser tracker testing and measurements on our floor and the results revealed that the University of Liverpool ZERO-G Astrolab now has the ‘Europe’s Flattest Floor’ by a big margin.
The size of the ESA’s ESTEC floor is 4.8 m x 9 m (15.75 ft x 29.5 ft or 465 square feet).
The size of our Precision Air Bearing Floor System in the University of Liverpool’s ZERO-G Astrolab is 2.4 m x 5.2 m (8 ft x 17 ft or 136 square feet). For the skeptic individuals who assume that the smaller size (3.4 times smaller) may contribute to the overwhelming accuracy differences, rest assured there is no truth to this correlation. Our Precision Air Bearing Floor Systems are far superior to any other alternative regardless of the size. One example is our 1100 square foot installation at Northorp Grumman for the University of Southern California in December of 2008 (over 2.3 times the size of the ESA’s ESTEC floor). The USC Project has similar accuracy numbers to that of the ZERO-G Astrolab.
University of Southern California - Air Bearing Floor
See the ZERO-G Astrolab in operation on YouTube here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n6PqhiFiS7U
Click Image to see Zero G Lab Video
Special thanks to all the fine people at the University of Liverpool involved with this project. Their help with getting me moved in and set-up to do the installation was instrumental to our success.
My appreciation and respect go to Justin Jamieson, owner of JCE Custom Epoxy Resins, https://jcecustomepoxyresins.co.uk, Justin assisted me on this project and is our UK representative.
Zero G AstroLab University of Liverpool
Download a PDF version of this article here - Europe's Flattest Floor
The Shop Magazine
For performance, restyling & customization professionals
December 2024 Issue
We were honored when asked to be interviewed and contributing toward the feature article
LAP After LAP
'The Circle Track Market Stays Consistently Strong'
We were really excited when learning that an image of our Epoxy Surface Plates
was to be used as the cover of the December issue
See the entire December issue online at this link:
The Shop : December 2024
See a PDF version of just the article at this link:
The Shop Article PDF
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Incorporated in 1981, Rock Art, Ltd and Precision Epoxy has developed products that not only sets the standard but is the sole provider for our unique services. The highest compliment that can be received is when others, who are the leaders in their field, use and recommend your products and services.
In 2008, I built my own float unit to aid with testing as the installation of the Precision Air Bearing Floors progressed, this gave us additional insight as to procedures used and under development. From that endeavor, I wrote a paper outlining the correct procedures in setting up a robotic space flight simulator that uses air bearing to simulate space flight on our Precision Epoxy Air Bearing Floors and Movable Platforms. The observations in the paper were compiled from problems I was witnessing at various institutions during our installations that specifically involved the lack of a true flight path due to rotation of the satellite robotic unit. The design techniques I proposed were adapted by New-Way Air Bearings, the leader and primary supplier of the air bearings used for aerospace testing and is still the standard of design today.
See more at:
https://www.newwayairbearings.com/customer-proven-solutions/air-bearings-for-researching-satellite-technologies
No one has developed Epoxy Surface Plates, Precision Air Bearing Floors and Movable Platforms to such an art form as Precision Epoxy, let us bring that passion to your project
See a printable PDF version of the article at this link :
Robotic Float Unit-2.pdf
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