Micro Piezo Actuators0 pages

CEDRAT
GROUPE
www.cedrat.com
Micro Piezo Actuators
Obtaining an integratable, compatible, low cost mechanical energy source providing a sufficient
quantity of easily accessible energy within a miniaturised system has been an ongoing challenge for
decades. The urgency and interests of such systems will continue to increase with the development of
portable microsystems. The conventional approach to mechanical actuation is based on electromagnetic
machines. This option is very efficient but difficult to integrate at microscopic scales. Actuation making
use of piezo-electric elements became widespread starting from the 1990s, and this is an important
step forward for microsystems since it is very easy to integrate, it is relatively powerful and easy to use.
Obviously there is still a real actuator need to be satisfied for integrated and high power actuation. Today
the trend which is the extreme system miniaturisation and complexification leads to new technological
and material challenges.
Objective
In the frame of the MUFLY FP6 EC project, which targets
a 20g micro-helicopter, new miniature piezo actuators
and driving electronic of less than 0.2g are required.
In that regard, ultra-light weight actuators with a high
power to mass ratio have been developed. In addition a
miniature driver for piezo-electric actuators addresses
the issues of compact micro embedded components.
Description
These new miniature actuators are based on the concept of the standard Amplified Piezo Actuators. The
APA® utilises the metallic shell to amplified motions from the piezo stack and to pre-stress it (Fig.1). This
pre-stress is required to withstand large external vibrations.
Micro Amplified Piezo Actuator: APAìXS
The APA ìXS (Fig.2) is the smallest actuator of the range of CEDRAT
TECHNOLOGIES’ APA®. Since they are based on tiny MLA, special care was
provided in the design. They offer the following features:
• Ultra light weight,
• Small and Compact,
• Great Stroke,
• High bandwidth,
• Robust design,
• Low cost.
Micro Tilt: TiltìXS
The new micro tilt (Fig.3) of CEDRAT TECHNOLOGIES, so called Tilt ìXS,
is based on two APA ìXS’s and a level arm realised in a monolithic part.
Thickness, hinge Length and the pivot point pitch are optimised to allow
the maximum deflection amplification on the arm tip. Indeed, the level of
stroke amplification in relation to the APA ìXS is up to 6.
Fig.1: APA® FEM Deformed structure.
Fig.2: View of the APA ìXS.
Fig.3: View of the Tilt ìXS.