This project aims to design and develop an actuation system based on liquid bearing micro-rotary stage (micro-motor). The liquid bearing is essentially a small volume of fluid confined between the rotor and stator through Teflon surface coatings, which is capable of supporting both static and shock loads with reduced mechanical vibrations. The rotor is actuated by the three-phase electrostatic torque between the rotor and stator electrodes. We will develop analytical and numerical model to analyze and optimize the stationary and transient rotary of the micro-motor. Another major task of this project is to design the capacitive sensing circuitry to measure the angular position, and improve the resolution to 1mdeg, with low power consumption.
Project end date: 08/18/11