ABSTRACT
After twenty-five years of intensive research and development of solid-state actuators, the focus has gradually shifted to applications. Piezoelectric shutters (Minolta Camera); automatic focusing mechanisms (Canon) in cameras, dot matrix printers (NEC), and inkjet printers (Epson); and piezoelectric part-feeders (Sanki) have been commercialized and mass produced on a scale of several tens of thousands of pieces per month. Throughout this period of commercialization, especially over the last decade, new actuator designs and methods of drive and control have been developed to meet the requirements of the latest applications. At a somewhat slower pace advances in device reliability and strength have likewise occurred, although some considerable work is yet to be done in further extending the lifetime of devices and ensuring consistent performance over that period. An overview of these recent trends in development followed by a projected view of future trends and design concepts will be presented in this chapter.
