A new type of piezoelectric plate actuator for ultrasonic linear motors has been developed. These new piezoelectric actuators use the principle of asymmetric resonant excitation of the piezoceramic plate in a special resonant mode consisting of a standing two-dimensional extensional wave in a piezoceramic plate. The behavior of the actuator has been simulated with finite-element method (FEM) software and the simulation results checked with single-point contact measurements on the surface of the actuator. This paper describes this work and closes by describing the new ultrasonic translation stages based on this design.