Hi Alan,
18 axis is what our requirements in this year would be for now.
basically I am running lasers , UV, multi-spectrum diagnostics, Nordson dispensers, and some other things. Total list comes to about 15 for now. In the next version I will add real-time visual SEM and X-ray analysis to the mix, so at that time I will need to add more axis.
my whole system runs in a very large vacuum tank with mixed gases and solid-state anti-vibration systems which I designed.
It is called the "Sarcophagus".