A precision positioning rotary stage driven by multilayer piezoelectric stacks

The precision rotary stage plays a prominent role in the operation of precision drive equipment and mechatronics. However, the existing precision rotary stages are challenging to juggle the characteristics of low-voltage drive and high precision. This paper represents a precision positioning rotary stage driven by multilayer piezoelectric stacks, which can achieve stage rotating with low voltage and high precision. The rotary stage is driven by the interaction between a cylinder-type stator and a rotor, utilizing the third-order in-plane traveling wave vibrations. The contact model between the stator and the rotor is built. The prototype of the stage was made and the test experiment was completed. The experimental results show that the stage considers comprehensively the characteristics of high precision (the resolution is 27.53 urad), and low-voltage drive(driving voltage as low as 5 Vp-p). The maximum speed of the proposed stage is 1039 r/min and the speed under a 200-g load is 30.23 r/min. The rotary stage shows tremendous potential in the field of the precision drive.