New drives and control techniques for high performance piezoelectric actuation. Piezoelectric actuators are made from a ceramic material that expands in response to an applied voltage. Although these actuators develop the greatest forces and most precise motion of any actuator, a number of performance limitations exist. This proposal aims to overcome these limitations and greatly increase the performance of piezoelectric actuators.
Improved piezoelectric actuators will result in a parallel i ....New drives and control techniques for high performance piezoelectric actuation. Piezoelectric actuators are made from a ceramic material that expands in response to an applied voltage. Although these actuators develop the greatest forces and most precise motion of any actuator, a number of performance limitations exist. This proposal aims to overcome these limitations and greatly increase the performance of piezoelectric actuators.
Improved piezoelectric actuators will result in a parallel improvement of analytic and process machines throughout the scientific and industrial community. Examples include: improved atomic scale microscopes, finer tolerance steel rolling mills, more accurate micro-surgical tools, and automated manipulation of sperm and egg cells in IVF therapy.Read moreRead less
Advanced Control of Dual-Stage Hard Disk Drives. The project is of significant scientific merit, resulting in solutions to open problems in control of dual-stage hard disk drive systems. This will contribute to the maintenance of Australia's international research profile, help maintain its internal research vitality and also enhance the advanced engineering base of the country. An important benefit of this research is the direct application of developed ideas to the next generation data storage ....Advanced Control of Dual-Stage Hard Disk Drives. The project is of significant scientific merit, resulting in solutions to open problems in control of dual-stage hard disk drive systems. This will contribute to the maintenance of Australia's international research profile, help maintain its internal research vitality and also enhance the advanced engineering base of the country. An important benefit of this research is the direct application of developed ideas to the next generation data storage systems. The completion of this project will directly benefit Australia's developing high-tech industries.Read moreRead less
Analysis, Optimization, and Control of Scanning Atomic Force Microscope Micro-Cantilever Probes. Atomic Force Microscopes (AFM's) are widely used for the examination of samples smaller than can be observed with an optical microscope. A tiny 'finger', only a few atoms wide at its sharpest point, is used to 'feel' the surface of a sample. This project aims to increase the resolution of AFM images by actively controlling the sensor probe dynamics.
Better quality AFM images would allow scientists ....Analysis, Optimization, and Control of Scanning Atomic Force Microscope Micro-Cantilever Probes. Atomic Force Microscopes (AFM's) are widely used for the examination of samples smaller than can be observed with an optical microscope. A tiny 'finger', only a few atoms wide at its sharpest point, is used to 'feel' the surface of a sample. This project aims to increase the resolution of AFM images by actively controlling the sensor probe dynamics.
Better quality AFM images would allow scientists to further investigate the atomic and molecular structure of such samples as: metals, polymers, cells, and proteins.
This research will contribute to the design of an Australian made Scanning Probe Microscope. Development of local expertise will provide a valuable resource for Australian scientific and industrial research.
Read moreRead less
Robust Control of Electrostatic Microactuators. This proposal seeks to address a number of fundamental problems associated with electrostatic microactuators that form an integral part of microelectromechanical systems (MEMS). Performance of these microactuators is limited due to the presence of a specific form of nonlinearity in their dynamics. In this research advanced and innovative feedback controllers will be developed to improve operational performance of such microactuators. The global ME ....Robust Control of Electrostatic Microactuators. This proposal seeks to address a number of fundamental problems associated with electrostatic microactuators that form an integral part of microelectromechanical systems (MEMS). Performance of these microactuators is limited due to the presence of a specific form of nonlinearity in their dynamics. In this research advanced and innovative feedback controllers will be developed to improve operational performance of such microactuators. The global MEMS market is projected to increase from $10B in 2005 to $40B in 2015. This project will enhance Australia's standing in this important high-tech field.
Read moreRead less