Design and analysis of an integrated driver for piezoelectric actuators

Abstract

Small-scale, highly maneuverable, flapping-wing robotic insects have a wide range of applications, including exploration, environmental monitoring, search and rescue, and surveillance. For these small-scale robots, a piezoelectric cantilever actuator driven by a high voltage drive signal is a preferred actuation mechanism. The generation of this drive signal via light and efficient power electronics is critical given the limited weight budget for the flapping-wing robot. Previous work demonstrated actuator drive circuitry using discrete power transistors and passive elements. This paper presents a new design that integrates all the power FETs into a single monolithic IC, reducing the weight of the power electronics to fit within the weight budget. This design adds the capability of driving multiple outputs to accommodate recent electromechanical design advances for flying robots.

Multilayer laminated piezoelectric bending actuators: design and manufacturing for optimum power density and efficiency

“…In addition, a reduction in the drive voltage magnitude enables designers to use transistors with lower voltage rating for the driver circuits. As the parasitic capacitance C SW has a steep dependency on the voltage rating of the transistor, using lower voltage transistors in the driver circuit can further lessen the switching loss by reducing C SW. For example, compared to the parasitic capacitance C SW of power transistors in a 300 V process, such as the ones used in [12,13], the parasitic capacitance C SW in a 200 V process would be smaller by a factor of eight.…”

“…The model estimates the total power consumption of the power electronics while sweeping actuator drive voltage amplitude and keeping total power constant. The power numbers predicted by the model are validated against measurement data of the physical implementation described in [12,13]. The power model gives the total power consumption of the power electronics based on both type A and type B driver implemented in a 300 V process.…”

A Review of Design and Fabrication of the Bionic Flapping Wing Micro Air Vehicles

“…At Harvard University, Wood et al [30,45,48,49,50,51,52,53] conducted an in-depth study on an insect-scale flutter robot called RoboBee that uses a piezoelectric actuator. RoboBee was the first insect-sized robot with the ability to fly.Dielectric elastomers: DEA is polymer material with flexible electrodes that have a large electromechanical response to the applied electric field (Figure 9) [53,54].…”

A review of compliant transmission mechanisms for bio-inspired flapping-wing micro air vehicles

“…Finally, Wood et al at Harvard University [45,47,[52][53][54][55] have carried out intensive studies on an insect-scale flapping robot, called RoboBee, using a piezo electric actuator. RoboBee was the first robotic insect capable of lift-off.…”