Piezo-stepper actuators enable accurate positioning through the sequential contraction and expansion of piezoelectric elements, generating a walking motion. The aim of this paper is to reduce velocity ripples caused by parasitic effects, due to hysteresis in the piezoelectric material and mechanical misalignments, through suitable feedforward control. The presented approach involves the integration of a rate-dependent hysteresis model with a position-dependent feedforward learning scheme to compensate for these effects. Experimental results show that this approach leads to a significant reduction in the velocity ripples, even when the target velocity is changed. These results enable the use of piezo-stepper actuators in applications requiring high positioning accuracy and stiffness over a long stroke, without requiring expensive position sensors for high-gain feedback.
Cite
@article{arxiv.2503.13079,
title = {Compensating Hysteresis and Mechanical Misalignment in Piezo-Stepper Actuators},
author = {Max van Meer and Tim van Meijel and Emile van Halsema and Edwin Verschueren and Gert Witvoet and Tom Oomen},
journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:2503.13079},
year = {2025}
}