This paper provides numerical and experimental investigations of a ring-shaped piezoelectric 5-DOF robot that performs planar and angular motions of spherical payload. The robot consists of a piezoelectric ring glued on a special stainless-steel ring with three spikes oriented in the radial direction of the ring. The spherical payload is placed on top of the piezoelectric ring and is moved or rotated when a particular excitation regime is used. An alumina oxide ball is glued at the end of each spike of the steel ring and is used as contacting element. The spikes are used to transfer vibrations of the piezoelectric ring to contacting elements and to induce the planar motion of the payload. Additionally, three alumina oxide balls are glued on the top surface of the piezoelectric ring and are used to generate rotational motion of the spherical payload by impacting it. Finally, the top electrode of the piezoceramic ring is divided into six equal sections and is used to control the direction of angular and planar motion of the payload. Numerical modeling of the robot showed that vibration modes suitable for angular and planar motions are obtained at a frequency of 28.25 kHz and 41.86 kHz, respectively. Experimental investigation showed that the maximum angular velocity of the payload is 30.12 RPM while the maximum linear motion of the robot is 29.34 mm/s when an excitation voltage of 200 Vp-p was applied and a payload of 25.1 g was used.
Keywords: 5-DOF motion; angular-planar motion; piezoelectric robot.