Development of a novel plane piezoelectric actuator using Hamilton's principle based model and Hertz contact theory

A simple device based on friction coefficient control was designed as a solution to the lack of compactness and simplicity encountered in the number of force feedback interfaces. The structure comprises a 64 × 38 × 3 mm copper-beryllium plate on which well-adjusted polarized piezoceramics are glued. The plate stands on four legs, each of which has a spherical end. By controlling the drive voltage, friction force may be varied as required by a user who moves the device on a flat surface, as he or she would do with a normal mouse. This adds the possibility of rendering simulated forces from objects manipulated on a PC screen. Friction forces obtained using Hertz contact theory compare well with the ones measured on an experimental setup, which demonstrate the validity of the approach with regard to force feedback application.