Dual-stage track-following servo design for hard disk drives

Discrete time, 25 KTPI track-following servos were designed for magnetic hard disk drive dual stage actuators using the /spl mu/-synthesis methodology. The design methodology was tested on two microactuator models. The first is a model of a piezoelectrically actuated suspension, under development by Hutchinson Technology Incorporated. The second is a model of an electrostatically actuated MEMS microactuator, under development by the IBM Almaden Research Center. Low order controllers were successfully designed for both models, which achieved the prescribed robustness and performance requirements.