Advances in Precise Positioning Using the Electrostatic Glass Motor

This paper reports the continuation of the authors' work in the field of linear and rotary submicrometric positioning using electrostatic glass motors. Electrostatic glass motors, a recent development where a glass rotor, once polarized using a static electrostatic field, is synchronously following a moving electrostatic field, have been described previously. The potential application to precise positioning was proven feasible and promising. The present report describes a fully operational rotary prototype, featuring remarkable performance. It will be shown that sub-arc-second positioning is possible in open-loop operation, over an infinite operation range, and over a very broad speed range. After a brief recapitulation of the propulsion principle, the realized system will be presented and characterized, its performance experimentally determined, and discussed. Finally, potential industrial applications of the electrostatic glass motor will be proposed.