Many suppliers have equipment that has been used on one of the Mars rovers over the past 25 years. But, few companies have equipment on multiple rovers. Auburn, MA-based PI USA is one such company.
On the Curiosity Rover, 16 PICMA P-882–P-888 stack actuators precisely control feeder vibration in the rover’s sample handling system. This system consists of 32 sample chambers (including five that contain fixed references) arrayed around a sample wheel. The chambers are arranged in pairs with one actuator coupling each pair.