<title>Inertial drives for micro- and nanorobots: analytical study</title>

Abstract

The need for high precision robots dedicated to the assembly of microsystems has led to the design of new kinds of actuators able to reach very high positional accuracy over large distances. Among these, inertial sliders have received considerably interest in the last years. They have the advantage of being based on a simple principle that leads to a simple mechanical design. However, because they are based on the nonlinearity of friction, it is not easy to predict their stepsize repeatability. In order to understand the most important parameters affecting the precision of inertial drives, a theoretical study of a 1 degree of freedom inertial slider has been established. Analytical formulas describing the influence of different parameters, such as static and dynamic friction and mass distribution, have been developed. The effect of applied functions (sawtooth and parabolic), have also been studied. The theoretical cut off frequency has been found for each of the different waveforms, allowing us to predict the maximal and minimal working frequencies for the system. Thus, for each curve form, the repeatability of inertial sliders can be evaluated taking into account the uncertainties in the friction coefficients. The best suited waveforms for given constraints can therefore be selected. Simulations carried out from this have been successfully compared to experimental results.