This article derives design guidelines for integrating strain gauges into the electrodes of piezoelectric bending actuators. The proposed sensor can estimate the actuator tip displacement in response to an applied voltage and an external applied tip force. The actuator load force is also estimated with an accuracy of 8% full scale by approximating the actuator response with a linear model. The applications of this work include micro-grippers and pneumatic valves, which both require the measurement of deflection and load force. At present, this is achieved by external sensors. However, this work shows that these functions can be integrated into the actuator electrodes.

本文导出了将应变仪集成到压电弯曲致动器的电极中的设计准则。所提出的传感器可以响应于施加的电压和外部施加的尖端力来估计致动器尖端位移。通过使用线性模型近似执行器响应，还可以以8％满量程的精度估算执行器负载力。这项工作的应用包括微型夹具和气动阀，它们都需要测量挠度和负载力。目前，这是通过外部传感器实现的。但是，这项工作表明这些功能可以集成到执行器电极中。