Position control of a cylinder system using a piezoactuator-driven pump

This technical note experimentally demonstrate the applicability of the piezoactuator-driven hydraulic pump (piezo pump in short) to the position control of a cylinder system. The piezo pump is operated by the dynamic motion of a diaphragm directly attached to the piezoactuator. The governing equation of the flow motion of the piezo pump is derived and an appropriate size of the piezo pump is designed and manufactured. The pressure drop and flow rate of the piezo pump are experimentally evaluated at various voltages. The piezo pump is then incorporated with a single-rod cylinder system. A sliding mode controller is then designed to achieve an accurate position control of the cylinder and practically realized. Position control performances for step and sinusoidal trajectories are evaluated and presented in time domain.