An Integrated Parallel Micromanipulator with Flexure Hinges for Optical Fiber Alignment

A novel six degree-of-freedom (DOF) parallel micromanipulator with flexure hinges driven by piezoelectric actuators is presented for optical fiber alignment. The micromanipulator is designed based on integration of mechanism, driver and measurement. The 6-SPS mechanism is used to develop the parallel robot, the mechanical parameters of the structure are optimized, and the working space and stiffness analysis is given. Then the modularization of driver and sensor and the controller are integrated together with our own defined internal bus. Finally, the pose of the parallel robot is measured in open loop control and close loop control condition, and the error compensation is executed. Experimental results indicate that the liner precision of the system is 10 nm and the rotation precision of the system is 0.0001deg. The robot has high positioning precision and high reliability, and it can be used expediently in optical fiber alignment system for the high compact structure.