DEVELOPMENT OF A MICROPOSITIONING GRINDING TABLE USING PIEZOELECTRIC VOLTAGE FEEDBACK

Abstract

Micro-positioning systems using piezoelectric actuators have a very wide range of applications including ultra-precision machine tools, optical devices and measurement systems. In order to ensure a high-precision displacement resolution, they use a position sensor and error feedback. From a practical point of view, a high-resolution displacement sensor system is very expensive and it is difficult to guarantee that such sensitive sensors work properly in the harsh operating environments of industry. In this paper, a micro-positioning grinding table has been developed which does not require a position sensor but instead uses piezoelectric voltage feedback. It is driven by a hysteresis-sensitive reference input voltage calculated by computer using the actuator/sensor characteristics of piezoelectric materials. The experimental results illustrate the fast and stable response of the micro-positioning system, and the paper suggests a more efficient technique for controlling piezoelectric actuators.