A literature review on modeling and control design for electrostatic microactuators with fringing and squeezed film damping effects

A literature review concerning the modeling and control design aspects of electrostatic micro-actuators is presented in this article. The modeling issues of electrostatic micro actuators with fringing and squeezed film damping effects are presented followed by control strategies that have already been applied in such systems. As a special use, the analytic model and suboptimal robust control of a micro Cantilever Beam (μCB) with fringing and squeezed thin film damping effects is presented. The suspended clamped-free μCB can move via the application of an external electrically induced force. The nonlinear model of the μCB is linearized in multiple operating points with respect to the beam´s tip-end displacement. A robust H_∞-controller relying on the LMI-theory is designed for the set of the resulting multiple operating models. Particular attention is paid in order to examine the stability issue within the intervals of the operating points. Simulation results investigate the efficacy of the suggested modeling and control techniques.