Control of impact microactuators for precise positioning

Electrically driven impact microactuators generate nanoscale displacements without large driving distances and high voltages. These systems exhibit complex dynamics because of inherent nonlinearities due to impacts, friction, and electric forces. As a result, dramatic changes in system behavior, associated with so-called grazing bifurcations, may occur during the transition between impacting and nonimpacting dynamics, including the presence of robust chaos. For successful open-loop operating conditions, the system design is limited to certain parameter regions, where desired system responses reside. The objective of this paper is to overcome this limitation to allow for a more precise displacement manipulation using impact microactuators. This is achieved through a closed-loop feedback scheme that successfully controls the system dynamics in the near-grazing region.