Recent Developments and Applications of Precision Positioning Technology in Taiwan

Abstract

Positioning technology is an interdisciplinary field of engineering that supports the development of industrial manufacturing. Well-developed positioning technology also demonstrates a certain degree of product competitiveness. It typically comprises four main components: actuator, sensor, controller, and transmission element. This review briefly introduces research related to positioning technology conducted in Taiwan, focusing on studies published mainly after 2009. The papers surveyed are categorized according to the four main components, which are discussed separately in Sections 2 through 5. Section 2 presents various types of actuators, including piezoelectric, electromagnetic, electrostatic, shape memory alloy, fluidic, and microelectromechanical-system-based actuators. Section 3 covers displacement sensors. In addition to contact-type sensors, noncontact sensors such as eddy current sensor, optical sensor, encoder, and laser interferometry system are described. Section 4 discusses controllers, introducing both classical control-based strategies and modern control schemes, such as sliding mode control, fuzzy control, repetitive control, iterative learning control, and others. Section 5 focuses on transmission elements, including flexure hinge, ball screw, linear guideway, ball bearing, fluidic bearing, magnetic bearing, and other related components. Applications of positioning technology in various fields are addressed in Section 6. Finally, based on the surveyed papers, a brief summary and concluding remarks are provided in Section 7. This review offers an overview of positioning technology and highlights the research capabilities related to this field in Taiwan.