A LOW-VOLTAGE TILTABLE MICROPLATFORM USING BENT-BEAM ACTUATION

A tiltable microplatform for adaptive artificial vision applications has been demonstrated that utilizes special bent-beam electrostatic actuators to achieve DC tilt angles larger than 10 o with actuation voltages less than 20V, and a resonance tilt angle of 19 o when driven to resonance at 33 kHz via a combination of 14V DC, plus 5V AC. This bent-beam actuation mechanism has the further advantage that its physical implementation is out of the way of the microplatform itself, making it amenable to applications where light must pass through the platform and substrate (e.g., adaptive vision).

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