Stator design of a 2DOF traveling-wave rotary piezoelectric motor

A two degree-of-freedom motor system constructed with two sets of piezoelectric actuators mutually perpendicular around a spherical surface is designed. Each set is employed with a series of piezoelectric actuators driven by voltage with appropriate phase difference on the neighboring actuators so that traveling wave is generated. Such a system can be used for robot (eyes or joints), flight guide control system (seeker), and medical measurement for endoscope and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), etc. Curved piezoelectric actuator and spherical stator design, etc. are the focus in this article. Via ANSYS and analytical computation, resolution and angular velocity are estimated for the present stator structure.