Design and Analysis of 3-DOF Micromanipulator Driven by Piezoelectric Actuators

A novel 3-DOF parallel micromanipulator which is driven by piezoelectric actuators has been developed that based on 3–5R parallel mechanism. The micromanipulator consists of a moving platform, a fixed platform, three 5R fixed-length chains and three piezoelectric actuators. In this paper, the first-order influence coefficient matrix of the micromanipulator is given, and then the velocity analysis is given. The dimension of the platform and flexure hinges and the position of flexure are designed, and the safety check of the flexible hinges and the designed mechanism is done with the aid of finite element modeling to provide good stiffness with little bending deformation of the platform. The merits of parallel mechanism and piezoelectric actuators are reflected in this mechanism.