7 - Designing ultrasonic motors (USM) with ATILA

Abstract

Piezoelectric ultrasonic motors offer many advantages such as high retention being very controllable, high torque at low speed, light weight, simple structure and no electromagnetic field induction compared with the conventional electromagnetic motors. These advantages have helped to expand the application fields where precise position control and rotational/linear motions can be utilized. One of the most remarkable features of the compact ultrasonic motor is that it has higher design flexibility compared with that of the conventional electromagnetic motors whose efficiency significantly decreases with miniaturization. In order to build a novel ultrasonic motor for a specific purpose, it is essential to examine the structural design and the electrical and mechanical properties prior to preparing a real motor. The ATILA simulation tool offers useful information related to the performance for a designed piezoelectric ultrasonic motor. A real motor can therefore easily be manufactured with minimized trial and error. In this chapter, two types of tiny motors are presented, including the process of ATILA simulation and the fabrication of ultrasonic piezoelectric motors.