Abstract
A high-precision planar digital electromagnetic actuator with two displacement directions and four discrete positions is presented in this paper. The four discrete positions are located at each corner of a square cavity where a mobile permanent magnet moves thanks to Lorentz forces generated when a driving current passes through two orthogonal wires placed below the cavity. Four fixed permanent magnets are placed around the cavity in order to ensure high-precision magnetic holding of the mobile magnet at each discrete position. An analytical model of the actuator is presented and used to characterize its properties (switching time, energy consumption, and displaceable mass). Based on this model, an experimental prototype has been developed and then characterized. Comparisons between experimental and simulated results are carried out and show good agreement. The positioning repeatability errors have also been characterized according to the input signal in order to qualify the digital behavior of this high-precision actuator. Finally, an application of this digital actuator as a linear conveyor is presented and experimentally tested.
Highlights
To realize high-resolution tasks, analog actuators are generally employed [1,2]
The presented actuator is composed of a mobile part, which is a parallelepiped mobile permanent magnet (MPM), and a fixed part which regroups a square cavity, four fixed permanent magnets (FPMs) and two orthogonal wires (Figure 1)
Four FPMs, with a magnetization orientated in the opposite direction as compared to the MPM, are placed near each corner so that a magnetic attraction force is exerted on the MPM in discrete position
Summary
To realize high-resolution tasks, analog actuators are generally employed [1,2]. These actuators are able to realize continuous motions within their working stroke limits. Because the digital actuation ensures highly repeatable and accurate discrete positions which do not need external measurement systems [14] The integration of these actuators in mechanical or mechatronic systems is easy. The main originality of the presented digital actuator is that the mobile part can perform displacements along two orthogonal directions without an assembly of two 1D actuators [33]. This configuration reduces the assembly errors, enhancing the precision of the actuator and improving its compactness. An example of application which takes advantage of the two orthogonal displacement directions and the high-precision positioning is described and experimentally tested
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