Bio-inspired piezoelectric stick–slip actuation: Synergistic bridge-type and leveraged amplification mechanism via rowing-motion mimicry

This paper presents the development of a new bionic piezoelectric stick-slip actuator (PSSA). This actuator is designed to simulate the human rowing motion. By synergizing a lever amplification structure with a bridge amplification mechanism, the design not only mimics the rowing motion, where the lever amplification structure acts like an oar and the bridge amplification mechanism resembles the force exerted by a person operating the oar, but also suppresses the problem of backward displacement in traditional PSSAs. Finite element analysis and experimental results demonstrate the feasibility of the design, with a peak velocity of 17.48 mm/s and a maximum load capacity of 55 g. Comparative experiments have shown that the rowing-motion piezoelectric actuation mode outperforms the traditional PSSA mode, with a 16.8% increase in peak velocity and a 120% increase in load capacity. The innovative design has significant implications for the development of high-performance actuators.