Abstract This article presents the application and evaluation of a cantilever with integrated sensing actuation as part an atomic force microscope (AFM) adjustable probe direction, which is into nano measuring machine (NMM-1). The AFM, operated in closed-loop intermittent contact mode, based on two rotational axes that enable adjustment direction to cover complete hemisphere. greatly enlarge me...

This paper addresses the experimental identification of a servo actuator which is used in many industrial applications. Because the system consisted of electrical and mechanical components, the behavior of the system was nonlinear. In addition, the under load behavior of this servo was different. The load torque was considered as the input and a two input-one output model was presented for t...

Based on the constraint and position identification (CPI) approach for synthesizing XYZ compliant parallel mechanisms (CPMs) and configuration modifications, this paper proposes a new fully-symmetrical XYZ CPM with desired motion characteristics such as reduced cross-axis coupling, minimized lost motion, and relatively small parasitic motion. The good motion characteristics arise from not only ...

We have studied a stacked-type electrostatic actuator by folding two ribbon electrodes in an alternate configuration. The energy efficiency of this type of actuator was investigated using the thick-electrode-part actuator and triangle-shaped actuator. The maximum energy efficiency levels were 30–40% for the thick-electrode-part actuator and 40–50% for the triangle-shaped actuator.

Piezoelectric tube scanners are the actuators of choice in scanning probe microscopy. These nanopositioners exhibit a dominant first resonant mode that is excited due to harmonics of the input scan signal. This introduces errors in the scan obtained. The presence of this resonant mode limits the upper bound of a triangular scan rate to around 1/100th of the first mechanical resonance frequency....

IONIC POLYMER-METAL COMPOSITE ARTIFICIAL MUSCLES AND SENSORS: A CONTROL SYSTEMS PERSPECTIVE By Zheng Chen Ionic polymer metal composites (IPMCs) form an important category of electroactive polymers (EAPs), also known as artificial muscles. IPMCs have many potential applications in robotics, biomedical devices, and micro/nano manipulation systems. In this dissertation, a systems perspective is t...