It all began in France more than 120 years ago. The two Curie brothers Jacques and Pierre discovered that by compressing a crystalline material such as Rochelle salt they could create electric voltage. The interesting thing is that the opposite is also true – if you place an electric field over a piezo crystal it changes shape. It is this shape-changing capacity that is the basis for PiezoMotor’s micro motor technology. Instead of Rochelle salt, piezoceramic materials have been developed to meet the requirements of modern applications.
Piezoelectric motors have been around for many decades. The first motors were developed fairly simultaneously by researchers in the former Soviet Union and in the USA. But it was not until the 1980’s that motors appeared in high numbers in commercial products, the most well-known example being motors for camera lenses. Still, most of the piezo motors found on the market are targeted towards the research community and sold in fairly limited numbers.
Piezo LEGS® Motor
Easily adapted to different specifications and demands
Flexible design allows custom integration without concern of tuning surrounding mechanical structures
Extremely stiff and stable performance make the motor ideal for dynamic positioning applications requiring nanometer precision
High force to size ratio
Easily manufactured in large qualities to reduce cost
Simple drive and control electronics
Imagine an electric motor of approximately the same size as an ant, but 1,000 times as strong. Then imagine that it moves like an ant, despite being constructed in one solid piece. Still, it can actually walk, step by step, one pair of legs at a time.
What is really unique with the Piezo LEGS® motor is its ability to synchronize the movement of each pair of legs – just like an ant. What is obvious in nature is not necessarily as obvious to an electric motor.
PiezoWave™ Motor
Designed for high volume applications and low cost
Robust design giving stable performance in different environmental conditions as well as resistance to vibrations and shocks
High force to size ratio
Low power consumption
High speed
Easily integrated
The PiezoWave™ was originally developed for applications within handheld consumer electronic devices such as mobile phones, but the product is now being integrated into many other applications, including other handheld devices, consumer electronics, medical technology applications, electromechanical door locks, advanced toys, cameras etc.
The PiezoWave™ motor consists of very small piezo ceramic elements that are surface assembled on a flexible printed circuit board. The design enables manufacture of the motors in mass volume manufacturing equipment at very low cost.
The motor consists of just a few parts. When activated electrically, the piezo ceramic elements will vibrate with an ultrasonic frequency. The drive pads, which are used for transferring the movement from the elements to the drive rail, will move in an elliptical fashion due to flexural (bending) waves in the piezo element.
