A Wire-Driven Series Elastic Mechanism Based on Ultrasonic Motor for Walking Assistive System

In order to improve the elderly people's quality of life,supporting their walking behaviors is a promising technology.Therefore,based on one ultrasonic motor,a wire-driven series elastic mechanism for walking assistive system is proposed and investigated in this research.In contrast to tradition,it innovatively utilizes an ultrasonic motor and a wire-driven series elastic mechanism to achieve superior system performances in aspects of simple structure,high torque/weight ratio,quiet operation,quick response,favorable electromagnetic compatibility,strong shock resistance,better safety,and accurately stable force control.The proposed device is mainly composed of an ultrasonic motor,a linear spring,a steel wire,four pulleys and one rotating part.To overcome the ultrasonic motor's insufficient output torque,a steel wire and pulleys are smartly combined to directly magnify the torque instead of using a conventional gear reducer.Among the pulleys,there is one tailored pulley playing an important role to keep the reduction ratio as 4.5 constantly.Meanwhile,the prototype is manufactured and its actual performance is verified by experimental results.In a one-second operating cycle,it only takes 86 ms for this mechanism to output an assistive torque of 1.6 N·m.At this torque,the ultrasonic motor's speed is around 4.1 rad/s.Moreover,experiments with different operation periods have been conducted for different application scenarios.This study provides a useful idea for the application of ultrasonic motor in walking assistance system.

TWO DOF POSITIONING STAGE USING LINEAR ULTRASONIC MOTORS

A two degrees of freedom （DOF） positioning stage using novel linear ultrasonic motors is presented. The stage mainly consists of two linear ultrasonic motors, linear guides and tables. It can realize the long stroke and reversible controlled motion in two directions. The wheel-shape linear ultrasonic motor applied in the stage utilizes two fourth-bending modes of non-uniform beam in orthogonal directions. Quick response, no backlash, high resolution, power-off self-braking, and long stroke are the attractive characteristics of the linear positioning stage. Experimental results show that z and y-direction tables can reach the destination without overshoot and the error is less than 2μm by using two linear encoders with a resolution of 1 μm. In the open-loop mode, the positioning stage achieves 1μm resolution at 0. 25 ms driving time.

LEAD SCREW LINEAR ULTRASONIC MOTOR USING BENDING VIBRATION MODES

The operating principle of a lead screw linear ultrasonic motor using bending vibration modes is analyzed. The simplified beam bending vibration model is used to analyze the dynamics characteristics of the motor. Motion trajectory equations are derived for driving points of the stator. The motor operation and driving mechanisms are investigated. The vibration modes and the construction of the motor are analyzed by using the finite element method （FEM）. A prototype motor is built and its stator dimension is 13 mm × 13 mm× 30 mm. The motor is experimentally characterized and the maximum output force of 5- 2 N is obtained.

NEW ROD-SHAPED ULTRASONIC MICROMOTOR AND ITS DRIVING PRINCIPLE

A new rod-shaped traveling wave ultrasonic micromotor is developed. In the micromotor, five pieces of piezoelectric ceramics clamped by two metal cylinders are used as its stator. The driving principle of the rodshaped ultrasonic motor is simulated. The stator structure and the position to lay these piezoelectric ceramics are calculated to improve the electro mechanical conversion efficiency. A flexible rotor is designed to reduce the radial slip between the stator and the rotor, and to improve the motor efficiency. The prototype motor and its micror driver are tested. The motor is 9 mm in out-diameter, 15 mm in length and 3.2 g in weight. When the motor operates with the first bending frequency （72 kHz） of the stator, its maximal rotational speed and the torque reach 520 r/rain and 4.5 mN · m. Results show that the motor has good stability. The speed fluctuation is controlled within 3% by the frequency automatic tracking technique.

NEW TYPE OF LINEAR ULTRASONIC MOTOR WITH TWO DEGREES OF FREEDOM USING LONGITUDINAL AND BENDING MODE

A new type of linear ultrasonic motor with two degrees of freedom (DOF) motion is presented. The concept of the new typical motor is based on the combination of a longitudinal and two bending modes. The construction and the operational principle of motor are described, and the elliptical motion of the driving point of the actuator is proved. Meanwhile, a prototype linear motor is designed by using the finite element method (FEM) and is constructed for experiments. The vibration modes are tested with the laser doppler vibrometer (PSV-300F), and the experimental results prove that the design requirements on the mode shape of the actuator and nature frequency are satisfied. The test run of the motor indicates that the operational principle of the motor and the design results are correct, and the output properties are also tested.

LINEAR ULTRASONIC MOTOR USING LONGITUDINAL VIBRATION

A linear ultrasonic motor using longitudinal vibration of bar with varying section is proposed. The lin- ear ultrasonic motor has two varying section bars connected by semi-circumferential structure. Elliptical trajecto- ries of particles are formed on top of the semi-circumferential structure outer surface where a driving foot is locat- ed. And a mover is pushed to move linearly when the driving foot is pressed onto it. Finite element model of sta- tor is built and results of harmonic analysis verify its principle. Moreover, design requirements of the motor are analyzed through finite element analysis and the results of sensitive analysis provide an efficient way to design the type of linear ultrasonic motor. Prototype test shows that the motor can afford load of 10 N at the speed of 100 mm/s.

ELLIPTIC MOTIONS ON MODAL CONVERSION ULTRASONIC MOTORS

The forming of elliptic motions on the modal conversion ultrasonic motors （MCUMs） is discussed. The principles of the modal conversion are investigated based on the coupling with the stator and the rotor, and using an independent coupler. The elliptical locus observed on the longitudinal-torslonal vibration converter with oblique slits is analyzed by using vibration theory. A method for the modal conversion is proposed by using the local mode of a substructure On a main structure. The method can be used to design the modal conversion type ultrasonic motors.

A NEW CONTROL METHOD FOR ULTRASONIC MOTOR

A new method for the control of the speed of an ultrasonic motor and its implementation are proposed. The method is merely used by detecting the time when motor′s monitor signal reaches a non zero reference value than a zero one, the direction, in which the driving frequency of the motor should be shifted, can be promptly calculated. With the aid of a CPU and the phase locked frequency doubling technique, the motor can be steadily driven in a wide range of frequency and the optimum frequency can be captured rapidly and precisely. Experiment shows that the above method is available.

THE EQUIVALENT CIRCUIT AND CONTROL SYSTEM OF TRAVELLING WAVE TYPE ULTRASONIC MOTOR

The ultrasonic motor is a sort of new type of micromotor with special structure. By use of piezoelectric converse effect of ceramics, the electrical energy is transformed into mechanical energy. Its operating principle is quite different from that of the traditional motors. In this paper the equivalent circuits of the ring stator and even the whole motor are proposed after studying the equivalent circuit of piezoelectric vibrator. Then the paper makes detailed analyses of each part of the control system, which has been simplified by the equivalent circuit. The theory in this paper has been proved through experiments.

Speed Control of Travelling Wave Type Ultrasonic Motors Using Artificial Neural Network

Ultrasonic motor (USM) is a newly developed motor, and it has some excellent performances and useful features, therefore, it has been expected to be of practical use. However, the driving principle of USM is different from that of other electromagnetic type motors, and the mathematical model is complex to apply to motor control. Furthermore, the speed characteristics of the motor have heavy nonlinearity and vary with driving conditions. Hence, the precise speed control of USM is generally difficult. This paper proposes a new speed control scheme for USM using an artificial neural network. An accurate tracking response can be obtained by random initialization of the weights of the network owing to the powerful on line learning capability. Two prototype ultrasonic motors of travelling wave type were fabricated, both having 100 mm outer diameters of stator and piezoelectric ceramic. The usefulness and validity of the proposed control scheme are examined in experiments.

LINEAR ULTRASONIC MOTOR WITH 2-DOF USING LONG-ITUDINAL AND BENDING VIBRATION MODES

A two-degree-of-freedom（2-DOF） linear ultrasonic motor （USM） consists of a cylinder-shaped stator and a slider. Two bending vibration modes with orthogonality and one longitudinal vibration mode are excited in the stator by three groups of piezoelectric ceramic elements. The combinations of any one bending mode and the longitudinal mode mentioned above push the slider to move linearly in direction x or y. Some key issues for improving the motor output properties and efficiency are given. They include selection of the vibration modes, consistency of the modal frequencies, placement of the piezoelectric ceramic elements and the supporting plane, setting of pre-pressure, and influence of interfering modes.

Modelling of ultrasonic motor with dead-zone based on Hammerstein model structure

The ultrasonic motor (USM) possesses heavy nonlinearities which vary with driving conditions and load-dependent characteristics such as the dead-zone. In this paper, an identification method for the rotary travelling-wave type ultrasonic motor (RTWUSM) with dead-zone is proposed based on a modified Hammerstein model structure. The driving voltage contributing effect on the nonlinearities of the RTWUSM was transformed to the change of dynamic parameters against the driving voltage. The dead-zone of the RTWUSM is identified based upon the above transformation. Experiment results showed good agreement be- tween the output of the proposed model and actual measured output.

Novel high torque bearingless two-sided rotary ultrasonic motor

Applications are limited at present because the currently available ultrasonic motors (USMs) do not provide suffi-ciently high torque and power. The conventional travelling-wave USM needs the bearing to support, which required lubricant. To solve the above problem, a bearingless travelling-wave USM is designed. First, a novel structure of the two-sided USM consisting of a two-sided teeth stator and two disk-type rotors is designed. And the excitation principle of the two-sided travelling-wave USM is analyzed. Then, using ANSYS software, we set up the model of the stator to predict the excitation frequency and modal response of the stator. The shape of the vibration mode was obtained. Last, the load characteristics of the USM are measured using ex-perimental method. The maximum stall torque and the no-load speed were obtained. The results showed that the characteristics of the two-sided USM are better than those of the conventional one-sided USM.

Contact Analysis and Modeling of Standing Wave Linear Ultrasonic Motor

A contact model for describing the contact mechanics between the stator and slider of the standing wave linear ultrasonic motor was presented. The proposed model starts from the assumption that the vibration characteristics of the stator is not affected by the contact process. A modified friction models was used to analyze the contact problems. Firstly, the dynamic normal contact force, interface friction force, and steady-state characteristics were analyzed. Secondly, the influences of the contact layer material, the dynamic characteristics of the stator, and the pre-load on motor performance were simulated. Finally, to validate the contact model, a linear ultrasonic motor based on in-plane modes was used as an example. The corresponding results show that a set of simulation of motor performances based on the proposed contact mechanism is in good agreement with experimental results. This model is helpful to understanding the operation principle of the standing wave linear motor and thus contributes to the design of these types of motor.

Principle and Experimental Verification of Novel Dual Driving Face Rotary Ultrasonic Motor

Existing rotary ultrasonic motors operating in extreme environments cannot meet the requirements of good environmental adaptability and compact structure at same time,and existing ultrasonic motors with Langevin transducers show better environmental adaptability,but size of these motors are usually big due to the radial arrangement of the Langevin transducers.A novel dual driving face rotary ultrasonic motor is proposed,and its working principle is experimentally verified.The working principle of the novel ultrasonic motor is firstly proposed.The 5th in-plane flexural vibration travelling wave,excited by the Langevin transducers around the stator ring,is used to drive the rotors.Then the finite element method is used in the determination of dimensions of the prototype motor,and the confirmation of its working principle.After that,a laser Doppler vibrometer system is used for measuring the resonance frequency and vibration amplitude of the stator.At last,output characteristics of the prototype motor are measured,environmental adaptability is tested and performance for driving a metal ball is also investigated.At room temperature and 200 V(zero to peak) driving voltage,the motor’s no-load speed is 80 r/min,the stalling torque is 0.35 N·m and the maximum output power is 0.85 W.The response time of this motor is 0.96 ms at the room temperature,and it decreases or increases little in cold environment.A metal ball driven by the motor can rotate at 210 r/min with the driving voltage 300 V(zero to peak).Results indicate that the prototype motor has a large output torque and good environmental adaptability.A rotary ultrasonic motor owning compact structure and good environmental adaptability is proposed,and lays the foundations of ultrasonic motors’ applications in extreme environments.

A Novel Traveling Wave Ultrasonic Motor Using a Bar Shaped Transducer

A novel traveling wave ultrasonic motor was proposed. The structure of the motor is rather simple and different from the conventional traveling wave ultrasonic motors. Its production processes are very convenient. It is composed of a stator constituted with a ring and a bar shaped transducer and two cone shaped rotors. The rotors were pressed on inner surface of the ring by means of a pre-pressure system. The bar shaped transducer has a sand- wich-like configuration,where two sets of piezoelectric element are bolted. One set excites a longitudinal vibration of the bar, and the other set excites a flexural vibration of the bar. The ring＇s traveling wave excited with the longitudinal vibration and the bending vibration of the bar transducer was simulated with FEM （finite element method）. The prototype of the motor was made and investigated experimentally for its performance. Its maximum torque and rotating speed are 0.25 N · m and 50 r/min, respectively.

Optimal design of butterfly-shaped linear ultrasonic motor using finite element method and response surface methodology

A new method for optimizing a butterfly-shaped linear ultrasonic motor was proposed to maximize its mechanical output. The finite element analysis technology and response surface methodology were combined together to realize the optimal design of the butterfly-shaped linear ultrasonic motor. First, the operation principle of the motor was introduced. Second, the finite element parameterized model of the stator of the motor was built using ANSYS parametric design language and some structure parameters of the stator were selected as design variables. Third, the sample points were selected in design variable space using latin hypercube Design. Through modal analysis and harmonic response analysis of the stator based on these sample points, the target responses were obtained. These sample points and response values were combined together to build a response surface model. Finally, the simplex method was used to find the optimal solution. The experimental results showed that many aspects of the design requirements of the butterfly-shaped linear ultrasonic motor have been fulfilled. The prototype motor fabricated based on the optimal design result exhibited considerably high dynamic performance, such as no-load speed of 873 ram/s, maximal thrust of 27.5 N, maximal efficiency of 43%, and thrust-weight ratio of 45.8.

Application of Ultrasonic Motor to Control of Moment Gyroscope Gimbal Servo System

Attitude control system is one of the most important subsystems in a spacecraft.As a key actuator,the control moment gyroscope(CMG)mainly determines the performance of attitude control system.Whereas,the control accuracy and output torque smoothness of the CMG depends more on its gimbal servo system.Considering the constraints of size,mass and power consumption for a small satellite,here,a mini-CMG is designed,in which the gimbal servo system is driven by an ultrasonic motor.The good performances of the CMG are obtained by both the ultrasonic motor and the rotary inductosyn.The direct drive of gimbal improves its dynamic performance,with the output bandwidth above 20 Hz.The angular and speed closed-loop control obtains the 0.02°/s gimbal rate,and the output torque resolution better than 2×10^(-3) N·m.The ultrasonic motor provides 1.0N·m self-lock torque during power-off,with 12arc-second position accuracy.

OPTIMAL DESIGN FOR STATOR OF THREE-DOF ULTRASONIC MOTOR

A 3-DOF ultrasonic motor with a cylinder-shaped stator and a spherical rotor is developed. The motor provides 3-DOF rotation around x, y, and z-axes implemented by two second order bending modes with orthogonality and one first order longitudinal mode of the stator. The three modes must satisfy some conditions. In our previous research, in order to satisfy these conditions, a parameter fitting design method is used. However, it is an experiential design method with low efficiency and costs much time, sometimes it even cannot find a desired solution. This paper puts forward an optimal design method for the stator. Based on the method, an optimization program is developed in MATLAB environment. Using the program, a new prototype of 3-DOF ultrasonic motor is designed. Its stator has diameter of 20 mm, height of 67 mm, and mass of 157 g. Experimental results show that the measured stators′ modal frequencies and modal shapes are in good consistent agreement with the results obtained by the optimal design program.

Transient Response Model of Standing Wave Piezoelectric Linear Ultrasonic Motor

A transient response model for describing the starting and stopping characteristics of the standing wave piezoelectric linear ultrasonic motor was presented. Based on the contact dynamic model, the kinetic equation of the motor was derived. The starting and stopping characteristics of the standing wave piezoelectric linear ultrasonic motor according to different loads, contact stiffness and inertia mass were described and analyzed, respectively. To validate the transient response model, a standing wave piezoelectric linear ultrasonic motor based on in-plane modes was used to carry out the simulation and experimental study. The corresponding results showed that the simulation of the motor performances based on the proposed model agreed well with the experimental results. This model will helpful to improve the stepping characteristics and the control flexibility of the standing wave piezoelectric linear ultrasonic motor.