Easily manufactured in large quantities to reduce cost
High force to size ratio
Requires simple drive electronics
Made to Your Specifications
Flexibility in the design of the Piezo LEGS® Elements allow for modifications to adapt the motor’s properties and performance to suit your application or product. This saves you time and money as you do not have to change your product to fit the motor. The combination of power, speed, precision, and the compact format makes the Piezo LEGS® a great choice while the cost makes it an excellent value.
The Piezo LEGS® Elements come in different sizes from one to several hundred Newtons of pulling force. We look forward to working with you throughout the design process.
Walking Drive
Imagine an electric motor roughly the size of an ant, but 1,000 times as strong. Then, imagine that it moves like an ant, despite being constructed in one solid piece. The motor can actually “walk” using two pair of legs creating a synchronized step-by-step motion. The walking motion creates force used to move an object or to move the motor itself.
What is obvious in nature is not necessarily as obvious to an electric motor. The Piezo LEGS® animation demonstrates the walking-drive concept.
Cost-Effective Simplicity
In the Piezo LEGS®, multiple bimorph actuators are co-sintered into a single body with four movable legs made out of ceramic “muscles.” In other words, the Piezo LEGS® motor has only one part. The simple design makes Piezo LEGS® easy to produce cost effectively in large quantities with a high degree of precision.
A conventional electric motor requires a rotor, stator, ball bearings etc. to create rotational motion. Piezo LEGS® “muscles” create linear motion with no need for gears or mechanical transmission. Using a rotary motor requires additional parts, increases complexity of the system, increases the risk of play and backlash, and increases costs related to manufacturing and future maintenance. Unlike brushes, bearings, and gears, the leg material is virtually impossible to wear out.
With the Piezo LEGS®, you can design a cost-effective and reliable linear-motion system with a minimal number of components.
Reliable Positioning
Accurate positioning means little without reliability. As one pair of legs remains engaged all the time, control of the system exists at all times. Even when de-energized, the legs remain engaged maintaining position until the system regains control. Resistant to wear-and-tear, the system should behave consistently during the usable life. Unlike other styles of piezo-electric motors, the walking nature of the legs does not require tuning surrounding mechanical structures.
Simple Control Electronics
The drive electronics required for the Piezo LEGS® elements are no more complicated than those required for stepper motors. Applying voltage to the ceramic “muscles” synchronizes movement of each pair of legs, enabling them to move forward and backward.
The unique design of Piezo LEGS® makes the motor walk in precise linear motion. By controlling the movement pattern of the legs more precisely, one can also adapt and optimize the motor’s properties to different types of applications.
