Design of an Active Linear Guide by Piezoelectric Actuators

This paper presents a creative design of an active linear guide (ALG) which consists of a vibrator and a miniature linear guide. The vibrator driven by four piezoelectric actuators is newly developed in which a special vibration mode of the actuator can be excited by two perpendicular electrodes, placed on a 5times5times5 mm3 piezoelectric ceramic block. Compared with conventional piezoelectric actuators, the actuators implemented in the ALG have several advantages such as a simple structure, easy assembly, single phase driving and accessibility to change the movement's direction. Due to these features, structure miniaturization can be attained. The vibration behavior of the actuator is investigated by the finite element analysis. The simulation results are compared with the measurement on the surface of the actuator. In this paper, we successfully integrate the actuators and the miniature linear guide into the ALG. Experimental results show that the maximum thrust force is 0.35 N, no-load speed is 72 mm/s, and the holding force is 3 N with the preload at 3.45 N.