Characterization of bimorph piezoelectric actuator by controlling voltage signal for robotic assembly

Piezoelectric actuator is one of the most versatile types of smart actuators, extensively used in different industrial applications like robotics, MEMS, micro assembly, biological cell handling, self-assembly and optical component handling in photonics. By applying the potential to a piezoelectric actuator, it can produce micro level deflection with large force generation, very fast response and long-term actuation as compared to other actuators. The design and analysis of the bimorph piezoelectric cantilever using proportional-integral (PI) controller are carried out where the bimorph piezoelectric actuator is used as an active actuator for providing the dexterous behavior during robotic assembly. Characterization of bimorph piezoelectric actuator by controlling voltage signal is carried out which provides the steady state behavior and by conducting experiments it is verified that the actuator produces steady state behavior of deflection for handling the object. A prototype of micro gripper is also developed which shows the potential of handling the small light weight objects for robotic assembly.