Bruno Dehez
Electrical actuators with high performances are more and more requested in specific fields like aeronautics, automotive, and spatial or medical applications. In these fields, requirements in terms of reliability, encumbrance, and consumption are particularly critical. Opting for electromechanical conversion for these applications is due to the significant progresses achieved in power electronics, and microelectronics. Therefore actuators can be powered as a function of their loading and real-time controlled through complex control strategies. Moreover, specific tools to achieve reliable modeling and simulation help in customizing the design for each specific application. Different principles of electromechanical conversion co-exist: electromagnetic, piezoelectric, etc… Therefore designing high performance actuators requires a multidisciplinary approach, combining all aspects of the problem (consequences of choosing a particular technology, related control approaches …) at each step of the design process (from prototyping to final design).