Dynamic properties of an omni-directional piezoelectric motor for precision position control

A piezoelectric motor capable of omni-directional movements has been developed to apply for robot joints, eyes, and precision positioning stage. The piezoelectric actuator has a simple structure of a cone type consisting of two piezoelectric ring-typed ceramics with electrodes divided into four segments and stainless steel elastic bodies. Before manufacturing the piezoelectric motor, the admittance characteristics and displacements of the actuator as a function of frequency were simulated. Elliptical motions of the actuator were created at several frequencies between the longitudinal and transverse resonance frequencies. The actual motor with alumina ball exhibited nice performance using a driving circuit with two rotary encoders and a PID controller. The moving element was omni-directionally operated at a driving frequency of 53.8 kHz and an output voltage of 280 Vp-p. The developed motor enables the moving element to move to a desired position with a resolution of 1.2 degrees/pulse, an angular velocity of 4 rad/s, and a thrust force of 200 g. (C) 2009 Published by Elsevier B.V.