Welcome to today’s post! We’re diving into the world of Miniswys technology. Let’s break down how these innovative motors work.

A Miniswys motor is composed of three main parts sandwiched together. At the center, there’s a piece of metal, typically stainless steel. On the outside are piezoelectric ceramics, a particular material. And that’s it – the basic structure of a Miniswys motor! (see picture on the right).

But how does it work? There are two fundamental principles at play: mechanical resonance and piezoelectricity.

Mechanical resonance is a phenomenon you’re likely familiar with, occurring in various everyday situations. Here are some examples:

• Musical Instruments: in string instruments like a guitar or a violin, the length and stiffness of the strings, along with the position of the musician’s fingers, create a wide range of sound frequencies. Be it a string or a wind instrument, they rely on the resonance of waves.
• Washing Machines: During the drying cycle, a washing machine ramps up its RPM, exciting different frequencies, some of which match the system properties and cause noticeable changes in noise levels.
• Mechanical watches: The balance wheel and hairspring in a mechanical watch are tuned to a specific frequency (3-4 Hz). This makes the system more stable and naturally tends to keep this frequency, which is required for the high time-keeping precision of such devices!

The other critical phenomenon is piezoelectricity. The term “piezo” comes from Ancient Greek, which means “press” or “squeeze.” Piezoelectric materials generate an electric charge when deformed, and vice versa, they deform when they are electrically charged. This is due to their molecular structure and crystal orientation. You encounter piezoelectricity in everyday items, like:

• Lighters: When the user presses on a piezoelectric element, it gets charged and creates a spark that ignites the gas.
• Speakers and buzzers, commonly found in white goods and consumer electronics. They translate an electric signal into sound waves that finally reach our eardrums.
• Quartz oscillators are commonly used in electronics. They are essential for a microcontroller to maintain consistent and repeatable timing. A quartz watch also contains such an oscillator, precisely tuned to have a resonance at 32’768 Hz.

Combining Resonance and Piezoelectricity

At Miniswys, we’ve harnessed these two principles through years of research, collaboration with key partners, and advanced simulation skills. Our technology uses piezoelectric elements to excite multiple resonant modes in the motor, generating tiny movements (in the range of hundreds of nanometers, invisible to the naked eye) at specific locations. When another component (the “slider”) is held in position by friction, it is displaced either left or right by these vibrations, depending on the frequency applied to the motor. The slider will retain its last position when you remove the electrical excitation.

We will dive into the strength of our technology in a later post. Stay tuned!