Design of a plate type multi-DOF ultrasonic motor and its self-oscillation driving circuit

Multi-degrees-of-freedom (DOF) actuators have become more useful in the field of robotics, as a result of the increasing number of DOFs of systems. The general features of ultrasonic motors are suitable for constructing a direct-drive multi-DOF actuator. However, previously developed ultrasonic motors do not have advantages in volume and weight in contrast to multi-DOF motion units composed of plural electromagnetic motors. In the present study, authors developed a novel multi-DOF ultrasonic motor with a compact plate stator and spherical rotor. First, a new driving principle of the motor is proposed. Next, the stator geometry is designed in detail using the finite element method, and a prototype of the multi-DOF ultrasonic motor is produced. Then, vibration characteristics of the stator and driving characteristics of the motor have been measured, respectively. The results confirm that the motor successfully provides the desired multi-DOF motion of the rotor around orthogonal axes driven by a single plate stator. Finally, a novel self-oscillation driving circuit for the motor is proposed and driving tests using the circuit are conducted.