412 Y.-T. Liu et al.

/ Precision Engineering 29 (2005) 411–422

with servo motors has been used as a precision XY
table

in semiconductor manufacturing [11], (6) a piezo-hydraulic
actuator used for remote control of micromanipulator was
recently presented [12], (7) with the similar techniques de-
scribed in this paper, the author had reported the combined
piezo-pneumatic actuator [13], and (8) the combined piezo-
VCM (voice-coil motor) actuator [14], etc.
In Ref. [14], one of the authors had reported the funda-
mental experiments obtained by the combined piezo-VCM
actuator. The hybrid actuator features the following charac-
teristics: (1) high precision of 10 nm order and heavy load
positioning abilities due to the actuation of PZT impact force,
(2) large operation range due to the long stroke of VCM, (3)
compared with the combined piezo-pneumatic actuator, the
combined piezo-VCM actuator features high-speed position-
ing ability since both the actuators were electrically driven
components, (4) the driving voltage for the PZT actuator can
be a simple pulse waveform, and (5) after the final target po-
sition is obtained, the actuation for the PZT actuator will be
terminated, therefore, the controller and the power amplifier
can be much more simpler and cheaper.
To achieve a good control performance of a target object
being subjected to a heavy load or with dry friction, a suit-
able controller is required for the actuator to drive the target
object smoothly and robustly. The variable structure control
(VSC) is one of the major approaches to dealing with the
nonlinear system having parameter uncertainties. Chern and
Wu designed an integral variable structure controller (IVSC)
being applied to the electrohydraulic servomechanism veloc-
ity control system [15,16]. It comprises an integral controller
for achieving zero steady-state error and a variable structure
controller for enhancing robustness. In this paper, for exam-
ining the control performance of the combined piezo-VCM
actuator, parametric investigation for the VCM is performed,
a switching dual-controller consisting of the IVSC for the
VCM and an impact force controller (IFC) for the PZT actu-
ator is configured, and the control performance is well verified
through experiments.
The remainder of the paper is organized as follows. The
driving process of the positioning device using the piezo-
VCM actuator is described, and the analysis model for the
hybrid actuator and the parametric estimation for the VCM
are discussed in Section 2. The variable structure controller
with integral compensator (IVSC) for the VCM and an im-
pact force controller (IFC) for the PZT actuator are presented Fig. 1. The combined piezo-VCM actuator and driving process.
in Section 3. The experimental setup is given in Section 4.
Results of simulation and experiment are provided in Section shown in Fig. 1(1), the combined piezo-VCM actuator con-
5. Concluding remarks appear in Section 6. sists of a hammer, a PZT actuator, and a VCM. Both sides of
the PZT actuator are fixed to the connection rod of the moving
shaft of the VCM and hammer, respectively. The combined
2. Physical system and dynamic modeling piezo-VCM actuator mainly utilizes the advantages of large
stroke of the VCM for enormously enlarging the operational
2.1. Configuration and actuating process range of PZT actuator, and the dynamic characteristics of the
PZT actuator for obtaining high-precision positioning abil-
Fig. 1 shows the configuration and the driving process for ity. Based on the configuration, the first step of positioning
the sliding table undergoing one direction of actuation. As process is to drive the sliding table M with rough positioning
 Y.-T. Liu et al. / Precision Engineering 29 (2005) 411–422 413

accuracy but with the benefits of high-speed and large-range

due to the actuation of VCM, and the second step is to drive
the table with high-precision positioning accuracy due to the
PZT impact force.
The driving process is described as follows: (1) In the ini-
tial state, there is a gap between the sliding table and the ham-
mer. Practically, this gap should be smaller than the stroke
of VCM; (2) In the forward contact table state, the VCM is
actuated by applying a current to the coil of the VCM which
produces an electromagnetic force Fv . As a result, the ham-
mer can move forward and keep the contact with the slid-
ing table; (3) In the rough positioning state, if the controlled
electromagnetic force of the VCM is larger than the frictional
force, the VCM will actuate the sliding table to move with
large travel range but with rough position accuracy; (4) In
the precision positioning state, the sliding table is actuated
by applying a pulse voltage waveform to the PZT actuator
under the contact condition kept by the VCM to generate a
smaller thrust force than previous one in rough positioning
process. Due to the rapid deformation of the PZT actuator, an
impulsive force Fp will be generated and then transmitted to
Fig. 2. Theoretical model: (a) schematic diagram; (b) analysis model.
the sliding stage through the hammer in the form of contact
force. If the contact force is larger than the static frictional
the VCM, (2) the impact force Fp generated by the actuation
force of the sliding table, the sliding stage will start to move
of the PZT actuator, (3) the contact force Fc occurred during
by a small distance. The sliding table can be actuated continu-
the collision between the hammer and the sliding table, and
ously with high-precision positioning ability by repeating the
(4) the existing solid frictional force Ft . In the rough posi-
step of (4); (5) In the backward actuation state, the overshoot
tioning state, due to the actuation for the sliding table is only
of forward actuation is eliminated by the actuator installed
dependent on the VCM, the dynamic equation is expressed as
on the opposite side as shown by the dotted lines. Its driving
follows:
processes are similar to that described in steps (1)–(4).
m1 ξ̈1 = Fv − Fc − cv ξ̇1 (2)
2.2. The physical model
where m1 is the total mass of moving components including
Referring to the driving process shown in Fig. 1(4), m1 , m2 and mp , which is the mass of PZT actuator. The
the theoretical model is therefore represented as shown in contact force Fc has two distinct values as
Fig. 2. As mentioned above, the positioning device is mainly

Ft (contact state)
composed of the actuating part and the driven part. The Fc =
actuating part including one PZT actuator and one VCM 0 (non-contact)
actuator can be simply regarded as a 2-DOF mass–spring–
The four external forces are described as follows:
damper mechanical system. The driven part is the sliding ta-
ble denoted by M. Therefore, the physical model is described (1) The thrust force Fv resulted by applying a current to the
by the following three-coupled differential equations. coil of the VCM. In this paper, we consider the VCM as a
mechanical damper element and can be represented by a
m1 ξ̈1 = −cv ξ̇1 + cs (ξ̇2 − ξ̇1 ) + ks (ξ2 − ξ1 ) − Fp + Fv , equivalent electrical circuit as shown in Fig. 3. Therefore,
m2 ξ̈2 = −cs (ξ̇2 − ξ̇1 ) − ks (ξ2 − ξ1 ) + Fp − Fc , the input voltage Vin and the electromagnetic force Fv can
be separately expressed as follows:
M ẍ = −Ft sgn(ẋ) + Fc (1)
Vin = R1 Iv + L1 İv + em , Fv = Kv Iv (3)
where m1 and m2 represent the masses of moving shaft of
VCM and hammer, respectively, and their corresponding where em = Km ξ̇1 .
displacements are expressed as ξ 2 and ξ 1 , and x is the dis- In Eq. (3), Iv is the coil current, R1 the coil resistance,
placement of sliding table. The PZT actuator is characterized L1 the coil inductance, Km the BEMF constant, and Kv
by a spring with stiffness constant ks and with damping the force constant.
coefficient cs , and the VCM is considered as a damper with (2) The impact force Fp generated by the actuation of the
coefficient cv due to the nature of back electromotive force PZT actuator. It is obtained in the way that by applying
(BEMF). There are four external forces acting on the system: a voltage V to the PZT actuator, as a result, a static
(1) the thrust force Fv caused by the electromagnetic force of displacement of ξ s is induced. Because the PZT actuator
414 Y.-T. Liu et al. / Precision Engineering 29 (2005) 411–422

Fig. 4. The continuous friction model.

where ẋs represents a reference velocity and shows the

sensitivity level of the sliding velocity affecting on the
Fig. 3. Modeling of VCM: (a) equivalent circuit; (b) equivalent mechanical
frictional coefficient µ. The continuous friction model of
model.
Eq. (6) is shown in Fig. 4, where µs and µk are the static
and kinetic frictional coefficients, respectively.
is regarded as a high-stiffness spring, its generated force
can be expressed in the following: Based on above formulations, the numerical method for
analyzing the dynamic behaviors of the sliding table can be
Fp = ks ξs (4) carried out [10].
The coefficient of electromechanical coupling for the
PZT actuator is based on the experimental data of 2.3. Parametric estimation of the VCM
ξ s = 1.24 × 10−7 V (m/V) without the consideration of
hysteresis. For designing the controller, it is necessary to estimate the
(3) The contact force Fc accompanied by the contact of parameters of VCM. The parameters can be obtained through
the hammer and the sliding stage. For determining parametric estimation algorithms. To detect the motion be-
the contact force, a representative model referring to havior of the VCM, a vary voltage is applied to the coil
Kelvin–Voigt viscoelasticity model is adopted [17]. This of VCM. According to the recorded current and displace-
model describes that the contact force is simply function ment, parametric estimation for the constant terms in Eq. (3)
of the indentation δ (= ξ 2 − X) of two contacting bodies was carried out by the recursive least-square method (RLS)
and its time changing rate δ̇ as follows: [19]. The estimated parameters can be solved in the following
equation:
Fc = Fc (δ̇, δ) = cc δ̇ + kc δ (5)


ˆ i (k + 1) =

ˆ i (k) + Fi (k)i (k) ei (k), i = 1, 2 (8)
where kc is the stiffness coefficient expressing the ratio where
ˆ i (k) is the parameter vector to be estimated based on
of contact force to the indentation, cc the damping coef- the kth measured parameter i (k), F i (k) the weighting vector,
ficient expressing the energy loss due to collision. ei (k) represents the error vector in the kth observation, and k
(4) The existing solid frictional force Ft . The positioning the number of the measuring period. The error vectors e1 and
stage resting on the sliding surfaces is subjected to a e2 are separately calculated as
nonlinear frictional force as follows [18]:
ˆ T (k)1 (k),
e1 (k) = V (k) −

µ(ẋ)Fn sgn(ẋ) + σ2 ẋ
1
Ft = (6)
ˆ T (k)2 (k),
e2 (k) = F v (k) −
(9)
2
where Fn is the total normal force acting perpendicu-
larly on the sliding surface, it includes the weight of the where V(k) is the input voltage vector based on kth measure-
sliding table and the preload Fn , σ 2 the viscous damping ment, and Fv (k) the electromagnetic force vector calculated
coefficient based on friction model [18], µ stands for the as
frictional coefficient described by a continuous function  
1 F i (k)i (k)Ti (k)F i (k)
of the sliding velocityẋ of the sliding table as [18]: F i (k + 1) = F i (k) − ,
λi λ + Ti (k)F i (k)i (k)
µ(ẋ) = µk + (µs − µk ) exp[−(|ẋ|/ẋs )2 ] (7) i = 1, 2 (10)
 Y.-T. Liu et al. / Precision Engineering 29 (2005) 411–422 415

The unknown linear parameter vectors are (SW = 0) the IFC for the PZT actuator coupled with constant
thrust control for the VCM. (2) The constant thrust control
T
ˆ 1 (k) = [ L1 (k)

R1 (k) Km (k) ] , is obtained by applying a constant current through the VCM,
T however, for preventing the table from moving in fine posi-


ˆ 2 (k) = [ m1 (k) c1 (k) ] (11) tioning state, the generated thrust is kept at a smaller value
and the measured parameter vectors are than the frictional force. Under this condition, the IFC is car-
ried out by applying a pulse voltage to the PZT actuator. The
T block diagram is shown in Fig. 5(b). The generated impulsive
1 (k) = [ İv (k) Iv (k) ξ̇1 (k) ] ,
force is then transmitted to the sliding table through the ham-
T
2 (k) = [ ξ̈1 (k) ξ̇1 (k) ] (12) mer and causes the sliding table to reach the final precision
position.
where İv and ξ̇1 are obtained by the derivatives of the mea- Consider a linear system as shown in Fig. 6, it can be
sured values Iv and ξ 1 , respectively, and ξ̈1 (k) is obtained by described as the following forms:
the second derivative of the measured value ξ 1 . The parame-
ters are recursively converged to the approximated constant Ẋi = Xi+1 , i = 1, . . . , n − 1,
values. 
n
Ẋn = − ai Xi + bU − d(t), Ż = r − X1 (13)
i=1
3. Control strategy where r is the input command, Xi the state variable, X1 the
output signal, U the control input, ai = âi + ai and b =
In this section, we will design a controller for the combined b̂ + b are system parameters, âi and b̂ are nominal values
piezo-VCM actuator. The block diagram of the controller is of ai and b, and ai and b are the variations of ai and b, re-
shown in Fig. 5. For obtaining high-precision and long-range spectively, d the disturbance, and n the order of state variable.
positioning abilities, a dual-controller with switching func- Let the control input function U have the switching form
tion is implemented. The dual-controller can be separated of
into the two steps: (1) In the first step, we construct a variable
structure controller with an integral compensators (IVSC) U = sw UI + (1 − sw )UT (14)
for the VCM undergoing large stroke operation. As shown where UI is the control command based on IVSC, UT the
in Fig. 5(a), the IVSC composes of a VSC with an integral control command of the constant thrust controller, and
compensator in the feedforward control loop. During rough

positioning process, IVSC is used to control the sliding table 1 if |r − X1 | ≥ ε
with large travel-range and high-speed abilities. Once the out- sw = (15)
0 if |r − X1 | < ε
put response reaches to a final value within the steady-state
position error ε (=10 ␮m), the control model is switched to in which ε (=10 ␮m) is the steady-state position error.

Fig. 5. Block diagram of the switching controller: (a) IVSC for VCM undergoing rough positioning operation; (b) IFC for PZT actuator undergoing fine
positioning operation.
416 Y.-T. Liu et al. / Precision Engineering 29 (2005) 411–422

Fig. 6. Block diagram of an IVSC controller.

designed as
3.1. Design of integral variable structure controller
(IVSC) for the VCM σ = c1 (X1 − KI Z) + c2 X2 + X3 (17)

The strategy of designing a VSC controller with an integral
compensator involves (1) the design of an appropriate control
function UI to guarantee the existence of a sliding mode,
(2) the determinations of a switching function σ(X) and an
integral control gain KI to get good control performance, and
(3) the elimination of chattering phenomena.
The IVSC method was developed by Chern and Wu
[15,16], it combines an integral controller followed by a VSC.
The block diagram of the VCM servo control system is as
shown in Fig. 7. From Eq. (13), the system can be described
by state equations as follows:
Ẋ1 = X2 , Ẋ2 = X3 ,
Ẋ3 = −a2 X2 − a3 X3 + bU − d(t), Ż = r − X1 (16)
where
T T
X(t) = [ X1 (t) X2 (t) X3 (t) ] = [ x(t) ẋ(t)
where σ is called the switching function, KI the gain of the
integral controller, and c1 and c2 are constant values.
In order to assure the system states slide into the original
point along the switching hyperplane, it should satisfy the
condition σ σ̇ < 0. Also, while the states are on the switching
hyperplane, i.e., σ = 0, the existing condition of the sliding
mode can be written as
lim σ σ̇ < 0 (18)
σ→0
Let the control input UI satisfy the condition of a sliding
mode, it can be defined as
UI = Ueq + U (19)
where Ueq , called equivalent control, is defined as the solution
of σ̇ = 0. It is achieved under the conditions that ai = âi ,
b = b̂ and d(t) = 0, and is used to drive the operation point to
the sliding surface. That is
ẍ(t) ]

= [ ξ1 (t) ξ̇1 (t)

T
ξ̈1 (t) ] , c1 KI (r − X1 ) − c1 X2 + â2 X2 + (c2 − â3 )
[c1 (X1 − KI Z) + c2 X2 ]
K v K m + R 1 cv m1 R1 + cv L1 Ueq = (20)
a2 (t) = , a3 (t) = , b̂
m1 L1 m1 L1
Kv R1 1 In Eq. (19), U is used to eliminate the influences due to the
b= , d(t) = Ft +  Ḟt parametric variations in ai , b and disturbances d(t), and
m1 L1 
m 1 L1 m1 to guarantee the existence of sliding mode. This function is
described as follows:
where X1 = ξ 1 = x is the moving shaft of the VCM and also
is the sliding table displacement due to that the hammer is in U = (ϕ1 |X1 − KI Z| + ϕ2 |X2 | + ϕ3 |X3 | + ϕ4 )Mδ (σ)
contact with the sliding table, and r the reference input.
From Eq. (16), the third order linear controllable canonical (21)
form with time-variant system is used to design a variable
where
structure controller with integral compensations. 
The first task of designing the IVSC controller is to design  b b
ϕi < −Sup  ai − âi + ci−1 − ci (cn−1 − ân )
a switching hyperplane. The form of switching hyperplane is b̂ b̂

Fig. 7. The block diagram of VCM servo control system.

 Y.-T. Liu et al. / Precision Engineering 29 (2005) 411–422 417

   
b 
× 1+ /b Mδ (σ) for i = 1, 2, c0 = 0,
b̂
n = 3 and cn = 1 (22)

ϕ3 < −Sup{|[a3 + â3 − c2 ]/b|Mδ (σ)} (23)

  
 b
ϕ4 < −Sup  KI Z −a1 + â1
b̂
  Fig. 8. The heuristic model based on the impulsive force transmitted to the
b 
+ c1 KI (r − X1 ) − d /b Mδ (σ) (24) sliding table.
b̂
the error (ε) between the detected position and the target po-
The sign function in Eqs. (21)–(24) leads to the existence of
sition (r), and then it sends a calculated driving voltage based
chattering phenomena. To eliminate the chattering phenom-
on IVSC for eliminating the position error. When the slid-
ena, we adopt a modified continuous function to replace the
ing table reaches the target position within the error ε (or
sign function as follows:
within the position error range of 10 ␮m), the IVSC process
σ for the VCM is terminated. In this state, the control process
Mδ (σ) = (25)
|σ| + δ0 + δ1 |X1 − r| is switched to the constant thrust control of the VCM and
is ready for the actuation by the PZT actuator. The constant
where the value of δ0 and δ1 are position constants.In the
thrust is kept at a smaller value than the frictional force. The
sliding mode, the system described by Eq. (16) can be reduced
condition can be described as:
to the following simple linear form:
F t ≥ Fv > 0 (30)
Ẋ1 = X2 , Ẋ2 = −c1 X1 − c2 X2 + c1 KI Z,
Ż = r − X1 (26) 3.2. Design of IFC for the PZT actuator
The closed-loop system of Eq. (26) has a transfer function
In this section, we derive the IFC for the actuation of
X1 (S) c1 KI the sliding table with high-precision positioning ability [13].
H(S) = = 3 (27)
R(S) S + c 2 S 2 + c 1 S + c 1 KI Fig. 8 depicts the heuristic model based on the assumptions
that a very short time period t of impulsive force Fp is ap-
where R(S) and X1 (S) are the Laplace transforms of r and X1 , plied to the PZT actuator, and the hammer is always in contact
respectively. Thus, it is obvious that the system shall give an with the sliding table due to the constant forward force Fv of
ideal zero steady-state error (with step input), and because VCM. In this model, m2 is the total masses of sliding table M
the characteristic equation and hammer m2 , m1 is the moving shaft mass of VCM, and
S 3 + c 2 S 2 + c 1 S + c 1 KI = 0 (28) Ft is the friction forces existing on the sliding surfaces. Ac-
cording to the conservation law of momentum, the following
is independent of the plant parameters, it is robust to the vari- equations are valid:
ations of plant parameters. It is also clear that the eigenvalues
can be set arbitrarily by choosing the values of c1 , c2 and KI . m2 = m2 + M, m1 ξ̇1 = m2 ẋ (31)
Let λ1 , λ2 andλ3 be the desired eigenvalues. Then c1 , c2 where ξ̇1 and ẋ are the instantaneous velocities of m1 and
and KI can be chosen as: m2 , respectively. If we assume that there is no loss of energy
c1 = (λ1 λ2 + λ2 λ3 + λ3 λ1 ), c2 = −(λ1 + λ2 + λ3 ), during the instantaneous expansion, the strain energy Es gen-
erated by applying a voltage V to the PZT actuator may be
−λ1 λ2 λ3
KI = (29) expressed as the addition of kinetic energies of Em1 and Em
λ1 λ2 + λ 2 λ3 + λ 3 λ 1 with respect to m1 and m2 as follows:
2

However, it should be noted that Eq. (27) is valid only if the

Es = Em1 + Em (32)
system is linear. In this study, since the whole control system 2

is decoupled into two sequential control loops, the IVSC de- The predicted displacement x excited by one single actua-
rived based on Eq. (27) is used only for the forward control of tion can be derived as:
the VCM. While the position error is within the rough posi- m1
tioning criterion of 10 ␮m, the control system is sequentially x= · Es /(Ft − Fv ), Ft > Fv ≥ 0 (33)
m1 + m2
switched into IFC for carrying out fine positioning control.
The detail control algorithm is described as follows: when the Eq. (33) can be summarized to a simple formulation describ-
command of target position is given, the IVSC will calculate ing the relation between the predicated displacement x and
418 Y.-T. Liu et al. / Precision Engineering 29 (2005) 411–422
the controllable parameter of applied voltage V as follows:
x = c · f (V )
where
m1 /(m1 + m2 ) 1
c= , f (V ) = ks (ξs (V ))2
(Ft − Fv ) 2
in which ξ s is the excited static displacement of the PZT
actuator caused by the applied voltage V.
Therefore, the control voltage V can be determined by
the inverse function of Eq. (34) while a predicted displace-
ment x is given. It is a pulse voltage waveform with duty
cycle and can be described as
 
−1 x
V (n) = f · δ(n − T ),
c

Fig. 10. The schematic drawing of control system.
1 n=T
δ(n) = (36)
0 n = T
where δ(n) is unit impulse function and T is duty cycle.
4. Experimental setup
The experimental setup with the actuations in two di-
rections is shown in the photograph of Fig. 9. A pair of
piezo-VCM actuator was fixed to the base. The sliding
table was made of stainless steel with the dimension of
35 mm × 25 mm × 130 mm and the mass of 881 g. The slid-
ing surfaces between the sliding table and the V-groove
base have a roughness of Ra 0.36 ␮m, which was obtained
by grinding. A spring-type friction adjusting mechanism in
which the stiffness of the spring is 14.7 N/mm was mounted
on the topside of the sliding table for examining the motion
characteristic affected by the friction force. The PZT actuator
has the dimension of 5 mm × 5 mm × 20 mm (Tokin).
Fig. 10 shows the configured control system for perform-
ing 1-DOF positioning. The control signals for the PZT ac-
Fig. 9. The Photograph of the experimental setup.
(34)
(35)
tuator and VCM were generated by the MATLAB software
and SIMULINK programming language. Two 16-bits DA
(digital-to-analog) converters were used to transform the con-
trol signals into the power amplifiers, and two digital outputs
were used to switch the control signal to the piezo-VCM
actuators. Since an instantaneous rise in current will occur
during the pulse waveform been applying to the PZT actua-
tor, and a heavy-duty power amplifier with the rated current
of 3 A and with the frequency bandwidth of 1 MHz was used.
The capacitance-type gap sensor with a measuring range of
±250 ␮m and a resolution of 10 nm was used to detect the
displacement of the sliding table. The output of the gap sen-
sor was transmitted to a 16-bit AD (analog-to-digital) con-
verter, and then the implemented program carried out the
data acquisition. Due to the resolution of the AD converter,
the measurable step motion of the sliding table was limited
to 10 nm.
5. Simulation and experimental results
Due to the positioning device is composed of the VCM
and PZT actuator, both their motion behaviors were examined
individually. Finally, the effectiveness of the coupled system
was also verified experimentally.
5.1. Parametric identification of the VCM
According to Section 2.3, in order to identify the parame-
ters of the VCM, a sinusoidal voltage source with a constant
amplitude 0.05 V but with linearly increasing frequencies
0.9–3.8 Hz was applied to the coil of the VCM during time
interval 0–40 s. This applied voltage could drive the moving
shaft of the VCM smoothly. Fig. 11 shows the identified pa-
rameters of the VCM with respect to time axis based on the
recorded time history of velocity, displacement, and current
in the VCM. It can be seen that the identified parameters
 Y.-T. Liu et al. / Precision Engineering 29 (2005) 411–422 419

Fig. 11. Parametric estimations for the VCM actuator: (a) total mass and
viscous damping coefficient; (b) coil resistance, coil inductance, and force
constant.
Fig. 12. Comparison between the recorded and estimated results: (a) veloc-
ity, displacement, and current through the VCM in the time interval 0–16 s;
(b) the period expanded to 18–20 s.

were varied largely in the beginning; however, they would

finally converge to their corresponding steady values at time
son results between the recorded and the estimated velocities,
40 s.
displacements, and currents through the VCM for the time
The converged values of mass and viscous damping co-
interval 0–16 s caused by the excitation of a sine waveform
efficient were m1 = 0.063 kg and cv = 1.778 Ns/m as shown
with a linearly increasing rate 0.0725 (2.9/40) Hz/s of var-
in Fig. 11(a), respectively. Fig. 11(b) shows the converged
ied frequency. Fig. 12(b) shows the comparison results of the
values of the coil inductance L1 = 94 × 10−3 H, the coil re-
enlarged recorded and estimated waveforms for the period
sistance R1 = 3.657 , and the force constant Kv = 4.029 N/A,
expanded to 18–20 s. The similarity degrees between these
respectively. The final identified parameters were summa-
two data in Fig. 12 were examined by using the Pearson cor-
rized in Table 1.
relation coefficient rpcc [20]. The range of coefficient rpcc is
Using the above estimated parameters, the simulation was
from +1 to −1. A correlation of +1 represents that there is
carried out based on Eq. (3). Fig. 12(a) shows the compari-
a perfect positive linear relationship between the actual and
estimated variables. According to Fig. 12(b), the Pearson’s
Table 1
coefficients for the velocity, displacement, and current were
Identified parameters of VCM rpcc = 0.975, 0.940, and 0.928, respectively. Therefore, the
m1 (kg) 63 × 10−3
parametric identification has been proven effectively.
cv (N s/m) 1.778 All the parameters used for the calculation are listed
L1 (H) 94 × 10−3 in Table 2, where cv , R1 , L1 , Kv , and Km are adjusted
R1 ( ) 3.657 to agree with the experimental results, and the other pa-
Kv (N/A) 4.029 rameters are coincident with the configured experimental
Km (V/(m/s)) 4.029
setup.
420 Y.-T. Liu et al. / Precision Engineering 29 (2005) 411–422

Table 2 are calculated as a2 = 1.1006 × 104 s−2 , a3 = 2875 s−1 , and

Parameters used for calculation b = 8.3185 × 105 ms−3 V−1 . Referring to Eq. (29), the co-
ξ s /V (m/V) 1.24 × 10−7 efficients of the switching plane and the integral control
M (kg) 881 × 10−3 gain are derived as c1 = 6225, c2 = 140, and KI =12.29, by
ks (N/m) 27.7 × 106
kc (N/m) 7.48 × 106
suitably choosing the poles of the system at λ1 = −10 and
cs (Ns/m) 0.550 λ2 ,λ3 = −14 ± j12.
cc (Ns/m) 0.280 Based on the above simulation results, one possible set of
µs 0.30 the switching gains was chosen as ϕ1 =− 0.01, ϕ2 = −0.001,
µk 0.25 ϕ3 =− 0.00001, and ϕ4 = −0.000001 for satisfying Eqs.
Fn (N) 8.634
vs (m/s) 1.0 × 10−3
(22)–(24). The constants of the modified chattering function
δ2 0.400 Mδ (σ) described in Eq. (25) were chosen as δ0 = 500 and
δ1 = 1850.
The simulation for the dynamic responses were conducted
5.2. Simulation results of position control by the VCM by applying the input commands of target position 450 ␮m
at t = 0 s, 200 ␮m at t = 2 s, and an additional external dis-
For demonstrating the robustness of the proposed IVSC, turbance F = 10 N at t = 0.5 s. Fig. 13(a) shows the step re-
the plant subjected to an external disturbance with large vari- sponses of displacement, velocity, and acceleration of the
ations was simulated by the proposed IVSC described in Sec- sliding table using the IVSC approach. It can be seen that
tion 3.1. The simulated results are as shown in Fig. 13. the table reached the target position of 440 ␮m at 0.5 s, and
According to the estimated parameters listed in it could finally return to the target position and its velocity
Table 1, the system’s coefficients given by Eq. (16) and acceleration could also converge to zero states at 1.47 s
even though an external disturbance F = 10 N was previously
given at t = 0.5 s. Fig. 13(b) shows the simulated control in-
put voltage U, U, and equivalent control command Ueq .
Based on the simulated results, it is confirmed that the IVSC
approach is insensitive to the variations of the plant parame-
ters and the load disturbance. Therefore, the parameters used
in the simulation works can be applied to the experimental
works.

5.3. Continuous actuations by the PZT actuator

For examining the motion behavior of the sliding table

Fig. 13. Simulation results of step responses for forward and backward com-
mands, and external disturbance: (a) displacement, velocity, and acceleration
of the sliding table; (b) control voltage U, U, and Ueq .
actuated by the PZT impact force, the continuous pulse
voltage waveforms with gradually increasing amplitudes
were applied to the PZT actuator under the conditions that
the VCM was driven by a constant voltage of 2 V and a
preload Fn = 12 N was set by the friction adjusting mech-
anism. Fig. 14(a) shows the recorded displacements of the
sliding table actuated by the continuous voltage waveforms
with the amplitudes of 0–12 V and the sampling period 0.1 s.
It can be seen that the sliding table could move continuously
with increasing motion steps up to the maximum recorded
displacement of 200 ␮m. Referring to the enlarged motion
behavior shown in Fig. 14(b), when the amplitudes of pulse
waveforms were increased from 7 to 8 V with the increas-
ing rate of 0.13 V per period, the step-like motions with dis-
placements of 1.84 ␮m were observed. When the amplitudes
of pulse waveform were as small as 0.13–0.52 V, the mo-
tion behavior of the sliding table is as shown in Fig. 14(c).
Though the step-like motions were not clearly observed, the
motion behavior with displacement 10 nm was recorded. This
was due to the resolution limitation of the measuring system.
According to the above experimental results, it was demon-
strated that the combined piezo-VCM actuator was capable of
positioning a sliding table with ultra-precision accuracy and
 Y.-T. Liu et al. / Precision Engineering 29 (2005) 411–422
Fig. 14. The recorded continuous motion behaviors obtained by PZT impact
force: (a) displacement and applied voltages; (b) micrometer motions of the
sliding table; (c) nanometer motions of the sliding table.
large operational range even though the target was subjected
to a heavy preload.
5.4. Position control by the coupled hybrid actuators
The experimental results mentioned above were focused
on the positioning performances obtained individually by the
VCM actuator or the PZT actuator. In fact, the positioning
421
Fig. 15. Experimental results of position control: (a) displacement and volt-
age commands of the piezo-VCM actuators; (b) U, and equivalent control
Ueq .
device featuring the advantages of high-precision and large
travel-range by coupling two actuators together is the main
topic of this paper. The experiment of automatic control using
two coupled actuators was carried out in accordance with the
implemented controller as shown in Fig. 5.
The control performances of bilateral driving processes
are demonstrated through Fig. 15. Fig. 15(a) shows the
recorded displacement of the table and the control commands
for PZT actuator and VCM, and Fig. 15(b) shows the de-
tail commands of IVSC. Initially, there was a gap between
the sliding table and the hammer, and the target positions
were given by 450 ␮m at t = 0 s and 200 ␮m at t = 2 s mea-
sured from the reference origin. Referring to the displacement
shown in Fig. 15(a), in the forward rough position control
with the target position of 450 ␮m, the hammer was actuated
only by the right side VCM based on IVSC algorithm. As
a result, it took 0.081 s for carrying the hammer to contact
with the sliding table, and 0.453 s for controlling the slid-
ing table to reach the position error within 10 ␮m. At this
moment, the control process was shifted to the forward pre-
cision positioning control based on the IFC coupled with a
constant thrust force of 2.2 N given by the VCM. Due to
the operation of PZT impact force, it took 0.800 s for ac-
tuating the sliding table moving from the rough position of
440 ␮m to the precise target position of 449.99–450.01 ␮m.
The enlarged drawing shown in Fig. 15(a) is the recorded
422 Y.-T. Liu et al. / Precision Engineering 29 (2005) 411–422
displacement obtained by the actuations of PZT actuator.
The forward positioning control ended with the position-
ing accuracy within 10 nm, and its total control time was
1.253 s.
The backward position control started at t = 2 s and was
conducted by the left side combined actuator for actuating
the table moving from the position of 450–200 ␮m. Sim-
ilar to the control process in the forward control, it took
0.490 s for obtaining the rough positioning accuracy of 10 ␮m
by the operation of the left side VCM based on the same
IVSC derived for the forward positioning control, and 0.897 s
for obtaining the fine positioning accuracy of 10 nm by the
impact force of PZT actuator. The total control time was
1.387 s. The average sampling periods for the VCM and
PZT control systems were 1 and 10 ms, respectively. Accord-
ing to these results, the performance of the position control
utilizing the combined piezo-VCM was effectively demon-
strated.
6. Conclusion
This paper demonstrated the control performance of a
1-DOF positioning device utilizing a pair of combined
piezo-VCM actuators. An experiment setup was config-
ured for carrying out the fundamental experiments, and
a control algorithm was implemented for examining the
positioning performance. Main results were obtained as
follows:
(1) The plant parameters of VCM were obtained by using
the recursive-least-square method, and a dual-controller
with switching function was implemented for the hybrid
actuators.
(2) The dual-controller including the IVSC for the VCM and
the IFC for the PZT actuator demonstrated the control
performances featuring with large operation range and
high-precision positioning ability.
(3) The sliding table was successfully positioned with rough
positioning accuracy of 10 ␮m due to the VCM, and fine
positioning accuracy of 10 nm due to the PZT actuator
within the operation range of 450 ␮m.
(4) It was confirmed that the sliding table subjected to a
heavy load could be actuated with 10 nm order of step
motion by utilizing the impact force of PZT actuator.
(5) It is shown that proposed positioning device featuring
the performance of high-precision, and large operational
range has attractive practical applications in the field of
precision industry.
Acknowledgement
The authors are grateful to the National Science Council
of the Republic of China for the support under Contract No.
NSC-91-2212-E-327-006.
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