Design of a linear-rotary ultrasonic motor for optical focusing inspired by the bionic motion principles of the earthworms

Multi-motor configuration of multi-DOF (degree of freedom) optical system is a major source of redundant structure, putting a limitation on the simple and miniaturized design. Thus, a novel two-DOF ultrasonic motor (USM) is proposed to provide a feasible method of application in the lens autofocus of the optical system. The proposed USM operates by one longitudinal mode and two orthogonal bending modes, which is inspired by the bionic motion principle of the earthworms. The frequency degeneration among the three working modes is performed, and the working principle of the USM is verified via the FEM simulation. A prototype of the two-DOF USM is fabricated, and its mechanical output characteristics are tested. The experimental results indicate that the prototype achieves the maximum rotary and linear speeds of 3319.6 rpm and 57.6 mm/s, respectively. Furthermore, we demonstrate the result of a simple focusing experiment using the prototype and obtain a series of clear pictures, which verifies the feasibility of application in the optical focusing system.