A piezoelectric stepper drive includes a piezoelectric drive apparatus with at least two drive sections, each acted upon by at least two piezoelectric actuators, and a driven member which is advanced by at least one of the drive sections when control voltages are applied to the actuators. The drive apparatus is configured approximately in the shape of a triangle, at the tip of which the drive sections are arranged. At least one of the drive sections is biased against the driven member, in the absence of control voltages applied to the actuators, such that the drive section blocks advance of the driven member, where each of the drive sections is mounted individually resilient relative to a base of the triangle.

A piezoelectric motor with form-locked drive mechanism avoiding step losses and undefined step sizes caused by environmental conditions such as temperature, surface quality and air humidity by engaging actuator teeth interacting with the toothed structure of a driven rack.

A flexible and soft smart driving device comprises a flexible frame, a driving mechanism and a creeping structure. The driving mechanism uses an intrinsic strain of an intelligent soft material to generate a driving force. A creeping structure is used to implement autonomous activities of the flexible and soft smart driving device. The driving mechanism and the creeping structure are attached to the flexible frame. The driving mechanism generates the driving force by contraction and relaxation of a driving membrane. The flexible and soft smart driving device is made from flexible materials and has advantages of good creeping speed, flexible control, small noise and high human body compatibility.

An ultrasonic linear actuation device includes a mover and a plurality of stator sets. The mover includes at least one mover rack. The plurality of stator sets is located in correspondence with the mover. Each of the plurality of stator sets includes an actuating component and a plurality of stator racks. The actuating component is used for stimulating corresponding one of the plurality of stator sets to generate standing-wave oscillations in an oscillation direction, such that the plurality of stator racks of each of the plurality of stator sets can engage the at least one mover rack of the mover to allow the stator racks to mesh the corresponding mover rack and thus to displace the mover in a moving direction.

A method of producing a compensation signal to compensate for misalignment of a drive unit clamp element can include applying a clamp element drive signal to a drive unit clamp element to engage a mover element. A first displacement of the mover element can be determined. A first compensation signal to be applied to one or more drive unit shear elements can be determined based at least in part on the first displacement. The first compensation signal can be applied to the one or more drive unit shear elements and the clamp element drive signal can be applied to the drive unit clamp element. A second displacement can be determined in response to the application of the first compensation signal and the clamp element drive signal. The second displacement can then be compared to a preselected threshold. For a second displacement less than the preselected threshold, combining the first compensation signal with an initial shear element drive signal to produce a modified shear element drive signal, and for a second displacement greater than the preselected threshold, determining a second compensation signal to be applied to the one or more drive unit shear elements.

A surface shape variable sheet includes: a sheet body made of an elastic material having dielectricity; a first-surface side electrode provided on a first surface side of the sheet body; and a second-surface-side electrode provided on a second surface side that is a back surface of the first surface, the second-surface-side electrode being configured such that a voltage is applied between the second-surface-side electrode and the first-surface-side electrode. The first-surface-side electrode includes: a first electrode facing a first part of the second-surface-side electrode via the sheet body, and a second electrode facing a second part of the second-surface-side electrode via the sheet body, the second electrode being electrically independent from the first electrode on the first surface side.

A positioning apparatus comprises a base element provided for fastening to a robot, a base movably supported at the base element, and a piezoactuator by which the base is movable in a direction relative to the base element. A second piezoactuator is provided by which a counterweight is simultaneously movable in an opposite direction.

A method of controlling a piezoelectric motor as a piezoelectric drive device having a vibrator including piezoelectric elements, a rotor as a driven unit that moves at a target speed by vibration of the vibrator, and drive signal generation units that generate drive signals and output the drive signals to the piezoelectric elements, includes intermittently outputting the drive signals to the piezoelectric elements by the drive signal generation units, wherein a time when output of the drive signals is stopped is shorter than a time from when output of the drive signal is stopped to stoppage of the vibration.

An ultrasonic linear actuation device includes a mover and a plurality of stator sets. The mover includes at least one mover rack. The plurality of stator sets is located in correspondence with the mover. Each of the plurality of stator sets includes an actuating component and a plurality of stator racks. The actuating component is used for stimulating corresponding one of the plurality of stator sets to generate standing-wave oscillations in an oscillation direction, such that the plurality of stator racks of each of the plurality of stator sets can engage the at least one mover rack of the mover to allow the stator racks to mesh the corresponding mover rack and thus to displace the mover in a moving direction.

The invention relates to a drive device (1) comprising at least one drive unit (2) with at least one first and one second drive element (20), and a runner (3) which is to be moved in a drive direction by way of the drive unit (2), wherein each drive element (20) comprises a base element (210) and at least three actuators (200) which are arranged on the base element (210) so as to lie next to one another in an arrangement direction which lies transversely with respect to the drive direction, and wherein at least one of the actuators (200) of a drive element (20) has a shear section (220) for carrying out a shear movement transversely with respect to the arrangement direction of the actuators (200) and along the drive direction of the runner (3), and at least one of the actuators (200) of a drive element (20) has a stroke section (240) for carrying out a stroke movement transversely with respect to the arrangement direction of the actuators (200) and transversely with respect to the drive direction of the runner (3), and wherein the at least two drive units (2) are arranged so as to lie behind one another along the drive direction of the runner (3). In addition, the invention relates to a method for operating a drive device (1) of this type.