Details
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Article number | 31 |
| Journal | Applied Sciences (Switzerland) |
| Volume | 10 |
| Issue number | 1 |
| Publication status | Published - 19 Dec 2019 |
Abstract
Micro underwater vehicles (MUVs) have been highlighted recently for underwater explorations because of their high maneuverability, low price, great flexibility, etc. The thrusters of most conventional MUVs are driven by electromagnetic motors, which need big mechanical transmission parts and are prone to being interrupted by the variance of ambient electromagnetic fields. In this paper, a novel dual-rotor ultrasonic motor with double output shafts, compact size, and no electromagnetic interference is presented, characterized, and applied for actuating underwater robots. This motor was composed of a spindle-shaped stator, pre-pressure modulation unit, and dual rotors, which can output two simultaneous rotations to increase the propulsion force of the MUV. The pre-pressure modulation unit utilized a torsion spring to adjust the preload at the contact faces between the stator and rotor. The working principle of the ultrasonic motor was developed and the vibration mode of the stator was analyzed by the finite element method. Experimental results show that the no-load rotary speed and stalling torque of the prototype ultrasonic motor were 110 r/min and 3 mN m, respectively, with 150 V peak-to-peak driving voltage at resonance. One underwater robot model equipped with the proposed ultrasonic motor-powered thruster could move at 33 mm/s immersed in water. The dual-rotor ultrasonic motor proposed here provides another alternative for driving MUVs and is appropriate for developing specific MUVs when the electromagnetic interference issue needs to be considered.
Keywords
- Dual-rotor, Piezoelectric actuator, Propeller, Torsional spring, Underwater robot
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Materials Science(all)
- General Materials Science
- Physics and Astronomy(all)
- Instrumentation
- Engineering(all)
- General Engineering
- Chemical Engineering(all)
- Process Chemistry and Technology
- Computer Science(all)
- Computer Science Applications
- Chemical Engineering(all)
- Fluid Flow and Transfer Processes
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In: Applied Sciences (Switzerland), Vol. 10, No. 1, 31, 19.12.2019.
Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › Research › peer review
}
TY - JOUR
T1 - A Novel Dual-Rotor Ultrasonic Motor for Underwater Propulsion
AU - Lu, Xiaolong
AU - Wang, Zhiwen
AU - Shen, Hui
AU - Zhao, Kangdong
AU - Pan, Tianyue
AU - Kong, Dexu
AU - Twiefel, Jens
N1 - Funding Information: This work was financially supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 51975278), Natural Science Foundation of Jiangsu Province (No. BK20181292), Research Fund of State Key Laboratory of Mechanics and Control of Mechanical Structures (Nanjing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics) (Grant No. MCMS-I-0318Y01), Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities (No. NS2019009 and NJ20150002), and the Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities (kfjj20190108).
PY - 2019/12/19
Y1 - 2019/12/19
N2 - Micro underwater vehicles (MUVs) have been highlighted recently for underwater explorations because of their high maneuverability, low price, great flexibility, etc. The thrusters of most conventional MUVs are driven by electromagnetic motors, which need big mechanical transmission parts and are prone to being interrupted by the variance of ambient electromagnetic fields. In this paper, a novel dual-rotor ultrasonic motor with double output shafts, compact size, and no electromagnetic interference is presented, characterized, and applied for actuating underwater robots. This motor was composed of a spindle-shaped stator, pre-pressure modulation unit, and dual rotors, which can output two simultaneous rotations to increase the propulsion force of the MUV. The pre-pressure modulation unit utilized a torsion spring to adjust the preload at the contact faces between the stator and rotor. The working principle of the ultrasonic motor was developed and the vibration mode of the stator was analyzed by the finite element method. Experimental results show that the no-load rotary speed and stalling torque of the prototype ultrasonic motor were 110 r/min and 3 mN m, respectively, with 150 V peak-to-peak driving voltage at resonance. One underwater robot model equipped with the proposed ultrasonic motor-powered thruster could move at 33 mm/s immersed in water. The dual-rotor ultrasonic motor proposed here provides another alternative for driving MUVs and is appropriate for developing specific MUVs when the electromagnetic interference issue needs to be considered.
AB - Micro underwater vehicles (MUVs) have been highlighted recently for underwater explorations because of their high maneuverability, low price, great flexibility, etc. The thrusters of most conventional MUVs are driven by electromagnetic motors, which need big mechanical transmission parts and are prone to being interrupted by the variance of ambient electromagnetic fields. In this paper, a novel dual-rotor ultrasonic motor with double output shafts, compact size, and no electromagnetic interference is presented, characterized, and applied for actuating underwater robots. This motor was composed of a spindle-shaped stator, pre-pressure modulation unit, and dual rotors, which can output two simultaneous rotations to increase the propulsion force of the MUV. The pre-pressure modulation unit utilized a torsion spring to adjust the preload at the contact faces between the stator and rotor. The working principle of the ultrasonic motor was developed and the vibration mode of the stator was analyzed by the finite element method. Experimental results show that the no-load rotary speed and stalling torque of the prototype ultrasonic motor were 110 r/min and 3 mN m, respectively, with 150 V peak-to-peak driving voltage at resonance. One underwater robot model equipped with the proposed ultrasonic motor-powered thruster could move at 33 mm/s immersed in water. The dual-rotor ultrasonic motor proposed here provides another alternative for driving MUVs and is appropriate for developing specific MUVs when the electromagnetic interference issue needs to be considered.
KW - Dual-rotor
KW - Piezoelectric actuator
KW - Propeller
KW - Torsional spring
KW - Underwater robot
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85078913559&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.3390/app10010031
DO - 10.3390/app10010031
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85078913559
VL - 10
JO - Applied Sciences (Switzerland)
JF - Applied Sciences (Switzerland)
SN - 2076-3417
IS - 1
M1 - 31
ER -