Abstract
Abstract
The research investigated a decoupled vibratory feeding scheme driven by a piezoelectric actuator. In the decoupled design, the action of the horizontal and vertical vibration would be separately controlled to achieve a desired track trajectory and consequently the feed of the part. A computer control method was used to develop voltage input waveforms to control these actuators to produce decoupled movements that cause parts to move forward relative to the track and overcome backsliding and other inefficient feeding motions of conventional operation. To provide a commercial result from research, the authors proposed an economic application of decoupled feeding in an industrial environment, in which a regular PZT bimorph bender is used to drive a linear vibratory feeder in micro-industry. The bimorph actuator is economic and easy to install; however, it needs to be properly controlled to obtain the desired actuation. In the present work, a simple but effective control algorithm was designed to suppress undesired responses of the bimorph actuator, i.e. the disturbance from the harmonic vibration and hysteresis effect. The control algorithm was then downloaded into an ECM for experimental operation. The vibratory feeding effect was then studied to validate the application of decoupled piezoelectric actuation.