Development of a compact 2-DOF precision piezoelectric positioning platform based on inchworm principle

A piezoelectric positioning platform by means of inchworm motion principle is developed, and it can achieve both linear and rotary motions. The designed positioning platform can provide large range motion with high resolution in a compact size. Eight piezoelectric stacks and several flexible hinges are used in the stator and the slider. The working principle of the proposed positioning platform is analyzed. Experiments of the prototype are carried out and the results show that the developed positioning platform has stable working characteristics under the certain working conditions. For the rotary motion of the positioning platform, the minimum stepping angle is 0.23 μrad, the maximum rotary velocity is 3521.70 μrad/s and the output torque is 0.294 N m. When the platform works in the linear model, the minimum stepping displacement is 0.15 μm, the maximum velocity is 105.31 μm/s and the largest output load is 4.9 N. The designed positioning platform can be used in the fields of nanotechnology, precision machining, MEMS, bioscience and so on.