Smart Microelectromechanical Systems (MEMS) Actuators

微执行器广泛应用于不同工程学科的许多重要微器件/系统中。例如，惯性系统中的微型陀螺仪；微波/射频系统中的微型可调谐电子器件(开关、可调谐电容器、可调谐电感)；光学系统中的微型可调谐光子器件(扫描器、可调滤光器、衰减器、可调谐激光器)；生物/医疗系统中的微型器件(微泵)。目前，越来越多的新型微驱动器被开发出来，以满足特定的要求，但这些微驱动器中的大多数都没有集成的驱动电路。必须使用复杂的台式表征设备来驱动和确定这些微执行器的运动。这是一个很大的问题，阻碍了微执行器被终端用户广泛使用。这个问题的解决方案以前从未被彻底调查过。由于微执行器的发展将不可避免地从实验室研究转向工业应用，集成的闭环控制微执行器的开发是非常必要和及时的。在这个项目中，将开发将传统微执行器与驱动电子设备相结合的所谓的“智能”微执行器，以解决目前微执行器的局限性。两个集成的子系统，即电子驱动器和无线传输系统，将在本项目中提出的几项新技术之后进行研究。经典集成电路与基于MEMS的电力电子学相结合的技术将为微执行器的可编程高压/大功率驱动器提供一种新的解决方案。将利用双通道射频传输系统来构建微执行器的无线控制系统。将寻求一种将这两个子系统结合在一起的整体方法，以实现一个集成的、智能的微执行器系统。

Microactuators are widely used in many important micro devices/systems in different engineering disciplines. Examples include micro gyroscopes in inertial systems; micro tunable electronic devices (switches, tunable capacitors, tunable inductors) in microwave/ radio frequency systems; micro tunable photonic devices (scanners, tunable filters, attenuators, tunable lasers) in optical systems; micro devices (micropump) in biological/ medical systems. Currently more and more novel microactuators are being developed to meet specific requirements, but the majority of these microactuators are without integrated driving circuits. Complex bench top characterisation equipment has to be used to drive and determine the movement of these microactuators. This is a big problem that disadvantages microactuators from being widely used by end-users. A solution to this problem has never been thoroughly investigated previously. As microactutaor development will inevitably be shifted from laboratory research into industrial applications, the development of integrated close-loop controlled microactuators is very necessary and timely. In this project, so called 'smart' microactuators that integrate conventional microactuators with driving electronics will be developed to address the limitations of present microactuators. Two integrated sub-systems, namely electronic drivers and wireless transmission systems, will be investigated following several new techniques proposed in this project. The technique of the combination of classical integrated circuits with MEMS based power electronics will provide a novel solution for programmable high voltage/ high power drivers for the microactuators. Dual-channel radio frequency transmission systems will be utilised to construct wireless control systems for the microactuators. A holistic approach of combining the two sub-systems will be pursued to arrive at an integrated, smart microactuator system.