You don't have to look far to find piezo applications. They are in houses, offices, and hobbies. Many handheld electronic devices including mobile phones and digital cameras use piezo technology to zoom and automatically focus lenses. Simpler and smaller motion technologies are a top priority for medical applications. Keyhole surgery and other non-invasive surgery practices are obvious candidates for piezo technology. Point-of-care and medical-test equipment along with various analytical instruments also benefit from piezo technology.

Many industries require precise measurements, including the metrology and biomedical sectors. They need extremely fine-tuned positioning and measuring equipment. Their needs are met by piezo devices, which create motion with extreme precision, down to the range of a single nanometer.

By using piezo electric motors, all designs currently using conventional small electric motors can be made smaller, more precise, easier to control and adjust, lighter and more reliable. The recent motors are a viable alternative to standard dc motors, and are low cost in their size range. Piezo motors have direct drive, while the rotational movement of a dc motor must be converted. Piezo Legs and PiezoWave are two recent motor designs.

Piezo Legs is in essence a walking machine constructed in one solid piece. It's about the size of an ant, but nearly 1,000 times stronger. It has been constructed so each leg can elongate as well as bend sideways. It moves incrementally by synchronizing the movement of each pair of its four legs, just as an animal would.

The motor operates directly, so there's no need for gears or mechanical transmission and the motor material is almost impossible to wear out. In contrast, there are many more parts involved in the design of a conventional electric motor including rotor, stator, and ball bearings.

Even when the motor is moving incrementally, in the nanometer range, it can be quick. Legs can cruise along at several centimeters per second by taking thousands of steps per second.

The Piezo Legs motor comes in several versions including models for vacuum and non-magnetic applications and different load ratings from one to several hundred Newtons of pulling force. Moreover, the simple design supports large-quantity production while maintaining its high degree of precision.

A PiezoWave motor includes two piezo elements that vibrate with an ultrasonic frequency when electrically activated, causing its drive pads to move elliptically with the bending of the piezo elements. Drive pads push on either side of the drive rod to create a linear movement.

Originally developed for applications in handheld consumer electronic devices such as mobile phones, the PiezoWave motor is now designed into more applications, including other handheld devices, medical technology applications, electromechanical door locks, advanced toys, and cameras.

Other motor qualities including durability, motion dynamics, cost, power efficiency and weight, make it a good choice for demanding applications. The simple design of the motor makes it easy to design into other products.

HOW PIEZO LEGS WALK

HOW A PIEZOWAVE MOTOR MOVES