Robust tracking control of a piezodriven monolithic flexure-hinge stage

This study presents the controller design and tests of a new piezodriven two degree-of freedom (DOF) monolithic stage for precision motion. The computer-controlled system is developed, designed and employed for better displacement error compensation by proportional-integral-derivative (PID) controller based on Internal Model Control (IMC), Iterative Learning Control (ILC) and Disturbance Observer (DO). Experimental results show that stage positioning is precisely controlled (error ≈ 1.42%) for tracking sinusoidal waveforms by IMC and P-type ILC with repeatable disturbance. With additional DO, experiment tests perform error ≈ 0.5% with non-repeatable disturbance up to 16% of the maximum traveling length in roughly 5 iterations. This is close to the hardware reproducibility level. Experimental results show the piezo-stage controlled system can be potentially used for nano technology applications for precision engineering in industrial systems.