comb drive – TechConnect Briefs

MEMS Strain Sensors with High Linearity and Sensitivity with an Enhanced Strain Transfer Mechanism for Wind Turbine Blades

Moradi M., Sivoththaman S., University of Waterloo, CA

A new physical sensor design for strain measurement for wind turbine blades is presented. While the proposed sensors are highly sensitive, they are based on simple operating principle: application of an input force, which is [...]

Improved Modeling of the Comb Drive Levitation Effect

Li F., Clark J.V., Purdue University, US

Lumped comb drive models found in the literature ignore the electrostatic levitation effect, which decreases their accuracy. The levitation effect occurs when the substrate is within close proximity to the comb drive. This common configuration [...]

Simulation and Characterization of a CMOS Z-axis Microactuator with Electrostatic Comb Drives

Xie H., Erdman L., Jing Q., Fedder G.K., Carnegie Mellon University, US

This paper reports the first design and its simulation and experimental results of a CMOS z-axis microactuator that utilizes the vertical electrostatic forces existing between multi-conductor comb fingers. The measured maximum displacement of the z-axis [...]

Phase-Lead Compensator to Improve the Transient Performance of Comb Actuators

Chen Y., Shroff Y., Oldham W.G., University of California, US

The transient performance of electrostatic actuators is important in high-frequency switching operation of MEMS devices [1]. Optimization of the transient behavior of a simple actuator without introduction of controller network or modification of actuator shape [...]