Design of Discretely Tunable Resonant Actuators Using Additive Inertial Units

Abstract

Resonance is known to reduce the input energy requirements of various actuator systems. The favorable effects of resonance, however, are limited to a narrow frequency range. To overcome this limitation, we describe a general framework for using discrete units of inertia that can be activated in a binary sense to move a resonant frequency across a desired frequency range. We also enumerate the generalized physical cases in which actuators can energetically benefit from resonance. We develop closed-form optimal results for the idealized case of two binary additive inertial units and extend this to a general optimization scheme for higher numbers of units that introduce parasitic friction and added stiffness. We illustrate the concept of binary tuning with a representative linear translational system powered by a voice coil motor (VCM). The experimental results show good agreement with the intended theoretical design and show the general utility of the binary additive inertia approach.