2021 Faculty Courses School of Engineering Department of Mechanical Engineering Graduate major in Mechanical Engineering
Advanced Course of Actuator Engineering
- Academic unit or major
- Graduate major in Mechanical Engineering
- Instructor(s)
- Koichi Suzumori / Kazuhiro Yoshida
- Class Format
- Lecture
- Media-enhanced courses
- -
- Day of week/Period
(Classrooms) - 1-2 Fri
- Class
- -
- Course Code
- MEC.H434
- Number of credits
- 100
- Course offered
- 2021
- Offered quarter
- 3Q
- Syllabus updated
- Jul 10, 2025
- Language
- English
Syllabus
Course overview and goals
Actuators are significant elements to drive mechanical systems. Due to the multiple requirements and the development of advanced materials and processing technologies, the development and application of advanced actuators are required with high-performance and/or availability in extreme environments. In this course, piezoelectric, electrostatic, fluid power and shape memory alloy actuators with different working principles and soft and micro actuators with different functionalities are taken up and their working principles, performance, control methods and applications are explained. The fundamentals of advanced mechanical engineering are covered.
As key technologies in mechanical engineering, this course aims at building a fundamental of advanced mechanical engineering by offering technological information of various advanced actuators with different working principles and functionalities.
Course description and aims
At the end of this course, students will be able to:
1) Describe working principles and performance of advanced actuators such as piezoelectric, electrostatic, fluid power, shape memory alloy, soft and micro actuators.
2) Describe control methods and applications of advanced actuators.
3) Design advanced mechanical systems with wide variety of specifications selecting adequate actuators.
Keywords
Piezoelectric actuators, Electrostatic actuators, Fluid power actuators, Shape memory alloy actuators, multiple degrees-of-freedom actuators, Microactuators
Competencies
- Specialist skills
- Intercultural skills
- Communication skills
- Critical thinking skills
- Practical and/or problem-solving skills
Class flow
The instructor will explain individual actuator's working principle, performance, control method, applications and features.
Course schedule/Objectives
| Course schedule | Objectives | |
|---|---|---|
| Class 1 | Fundamentals of advanced actuators |
Understand the definition of actuator and the background and significance of development of advanced actuators |
| Class 2 | Electrostatic actuators |
Understand the working principle, performance and control methods of electrostatic actuators |
| Class 3 | Fluid power actuators |
Understand the working principle, performance and control methods of fluid power actuators |
| Class 4 | Shape memory alloy actuators |
Understand the working principle, performance and control methods of shape memory alloy actuators |
| Class 5 | Piezoelectric actuators |
Understand the working principle, performance and control methods of piezoelectric actuators |
| Class 6 | Soft actuators |
Understand the working principle, performance and control methods of soft actuators |
| Class 7 | Microactuators |
Understand the working principle, performance and control methods of microactuators |
Study advice (preparation and review)
To enhance effective learning, students are encouraged to spend approximately 100 minutes preparing for class and another 100 minutes reviewing class content afterwards (including assignments) for each class.
They should do so by referring to textbooks and other course material.
Textbook(s)
None required.
Reference books, course materials, etc.
Course materials are provided during class.
Reference books:
Actuator System Technical Committee of JSME-MDT Ed., Actuator Engineering, Yokendo Co., Ltd., (2004) (in Japanese)
T. Higuchi and M. Ohka Ed., Forefront of R & D of Actuators, NTS Inc., (2011) (in Japanese)
K.Suzumori, Introduction to Actuators, Kodansya, (2014) (in Japanese)
Evaluation methods and criteria
Students' understanding level of the concept and the technical information of advanced actuators will be assessed by reports.
Related courses
- MEC.H433 ： Mechatronics Device and Control
- MEC.H531 ： Robot Control System Design
- MEC.J531 ： Micro and Nano Systems
- MEC.J432 ： Mechanism and Control for Ultra-precision Motion
Prerequisites
None required.