Piezo Controllers/Mechanisms: How To Select The Right Piezo Controller/Driver

When selecting a motion controller / driver for a piezo nanopositioning system, a number of questions need to be answered first.  Here’s a check list and an example that can help make the best choice. You can also just contact a PI engineer for support. Before getting started, information needs to be gathered on how the system is going to be used and what performance is expected. These can be broken down into drive signal related information and mechanical information.

Required Drive Signal Information

• Maximum required stroke / amplitude
• Signal type (sinusoidal, triangular, trapezoidal, steps, …)
• Frequency / duty cycle of the drive signal
• Rise / fall time of steps
• Operation time (Continuous 24/7, a few minutes or seconds at a time, …)

Required Mechanical Information

• Number of axes, travel range, stiffness, resolution, external forces (preload)
• Dynamic requirements: step & settle time, operating frequency (ensure it can be met by mechanical system)
• Closed / open loop operation, sensor technology
• ID-chip option (automatically retrieve the servo parameters from the stage, all digital controllers)
• Thermal requirements: heat generation (in case of continuous high frequency operation)

Once that information is available, follow the steps in our example below.