Analysis of a nanopositioning actuator using numerical and analytic methods

Abstract

In this paper, we report on our study of a nanopositioning actuator (NPA), which uses animpact/inchworm mechanism. Various kinds of similar precise positioning actuators, whichuse the same working mechanism, have been proposed by many researchers for severaldecades. However, characteristic analysis and design methods for the NPA have not beenproposed yet. Moreover, the characteristic analysis and design methods for similaractuators were approximate and inefficient.Hence, this paper presents an analysis method for the NPA, which is based on acombination of numerical and analytic methods, shedding light on the complex workingmechanism and taking significant factors in the analysis into consideration for an exact andefficient characteristic analysis of the NPA and similar machines. In the present study,the mechanical and electrical systems of the NPA were prototyped. Finally, theeffectiveness of the NPA, the feasibility of the clarified complex working mechanism,and the adequacy of the proposed analysis method were verified by experiments.