Digital control of low-cost piezoelectric actuators for household appliances

Piezoelectric materials are widely used as sensors and actuators in many applications. They allow efficient digital control of mechanical systems, but suffer from nonlinearity and hysteresis. This paper presents a new digital open-loop control of piezoelectric bender for real-time applications in domestic appliances, for which strong specifications are good accuracy and low cost. The control algorithm, implemented in a microcontroller, solves the problems of nonlinearity and hysteresis. The paper presents experimental results of the prototype that has been realized in the Indesit Company laboratories for future applications on domestic appliances.