A robot including a manipulator having a plurality of joints and a base supporting the manipulator, includes a first piezoelectric motor and a second piezoelectric motor respectively having vibrators that transmit drive forces to a driven portion and performing rotary driving, wherein a distance between a rotation axis and the vibrator is smaller in the second piezoelectric motor than in the first piezoelectric motor, a plurality of the vibrators are placed along rotation axis directions in the second piezoelectric motor, and the second piezoelectric motor is placed closer to a distal end side opposite to the base than the first piezoelectric motor.

A piezoelectric driving device includes a first substrate having cleavability, and a piezoelectric element placed above the first substrate, wherein a cleavage direction of the first substrate and a direction in which a shear force is applied do not coincide in a plan view of the first substrate. Further, an angle formed by the cleavage direction of the first substrate and the direction in which the shear force is applied is equal to or larger than 20° in the plan view of the first substrate. Furthermore, the first substrate contains silicon single crystal.

A piezo actuator comprises a piezo material having a first, top surface, a second, bottom surface, and a third, circumference surface. The piezo material has a polarity and the piezo material includes one or more mounting holes in the piezo material, the one or more mounting holes being positioned substantially central in at least the top surface or the bottom surface of the piezo material. The actuator also comprises at least one contact point for contacting a load to be actuated, the at least one contact point being positioned on the third, circumference, surface of the piezo material, and a set of electrodes being positioned on the top surface of the piezo material and at least one electrode being positioned at the bottom surface of the piezo material.

A method is disclosed for closed-loop motion control of an ultrasonic motor having at least one actuator with an excitation electrode and at least one common electrode, an element to be driven, a controller and at least one electrical generator for generating at least first and second excitation voltages U1 and U2 to be applied to the electrodes of the actuator for vibration of the actuator. A friction element of the actuator, due to its vibration, intermittently contacts the element to be driven with a driving force. The method includes providing the at least two excitation voltages U1 and U2 with different resemblance frequencies, a frequency difference deviating from a servo sampling frequency of the controller by 5 kHz at the most, and simultaneously applying the excitation voltages to the electrodes of the actuator.

An ultrasonic piezoelectric motor includes a frame, a carrier, and a Z-direction piezoelectric driver. The carrier is disposed on an inner side of the frame and moveable in a Z direction relative to the frame, the carrier is configured to receive a camera lens, and the Z direction is parallel to an optical axis of the camera lens. A Z-direction piezoelectric driver is located between the frame and the carrier. The ultrasonic piezoelectric motor periodically abuts against the carrier using the Z-direction piezoelectric driver and drives the carrier to move in the Z direction to focus a camera module.

The disclosure relates to an ultrasonic actuator formed of a plate having a base, a cover surface which is geometrically similar to the base, and a lateral surface which interconnects the base and the cover surface, wherein the plate includes an electromagnetic material. Electrodes for inciting periodic deformations of the plate are arranged on the base of the plate and on the cover surface of the plate opposite the base. The base includes at least two faces which are arranged in parallel with one another and form contact portions of the lateral surface, and the two faces of the base arranged in parallel with one another, together with connecting lines which interconnect the respective end points of the faces arranged in parallel, form a parallelogram inscribed in the base, in which parallelogram an angle different from 90° is enclosed between adjacent faces. A motor having such an ultrasonic actuator is also disclosed.

An inertia drive motor is disclosed which includes an element to be driven, and a stator, the stator having: an elastic frame, at least one friction element arranged on the elastic frame and configured to be brought into frictional contact with the element to be driven, and a first electromechanical actuator and a second electromechanical actuator, which are configured to cause, by interaction, a deformation of the elastic frame, upon excitation with different excitation voltages having a sawtooth signal, so as to displace the at least one friction element for driving the element to be driven by stick-slip contact with the friction element.

A method of manufacturing a piezoelectric actuator includes preparing a laminate including a substrate, a first electrode layer disposed on the substrate, a piezoelectric layer disposed on the first electrode layer, and a second electrode layer disposed on the piezoelectric layer, and forming a contour shape of the piezoelectric layer. The forming of the contour shape includes dry etching the piezoelectric layer from the second electrode layer side to dig the piezoelectric layer halfway in a thickness direction, covering, with a resist film, a dry etched surface formed on a side surface of the piezoelectric layer by the dry etching, and wet etching the piezoelectric layer from the second electrode layer side to dig the piezoelectric layer until the first electrode layer is reached.

A piezoelectric drive device includes a piezoelectric element, a vibrating plate with a concave portion provided in a side surface, and a projecting portion provided between two side surfaces of the concave portion and having a spherical shape, an elliptical shape, or an egg shape, wherein a plurality of the piezoelectric elements and a plurality of the vibrating plates are stacked, and the concave portion includes a bottom surface.

An inertia drive motor is disclosed which includes an element to be driven, and a stator, the stator having: an elastic frame, at least one friction element arranged on the elastic frame and configured to be brought into frictional contact with the element to be driven, and a first electromechanical actuator and a second electromechanical actuator, which are configured to cause, by interaction, a deformation of the elastic frame, upon excitation with different excitation voltages having a sawtooth signal, so as to displace the at least one friction element for driving the element to be driven by stick-slip contact with the friction element.