A diagram showing the operation of a slip-stick piezoelectric actuator, providing coarse and fine positioning modes. Coarse positioning provides long range but low precision, while fine positioning provides high precision and short range. The slip-stick principle: Slow actuation of the piezo element leads to fine positioning. A combination of rapid contraction and slow extension can make the actuator move in coarse steps <i>Δx</i> because the force on the base becomes larger than the static friction force between the base and base plate. Reversing the direction is done by using slow contractions instead.
<a href="//commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/User:Inductiveload" title="User:Inductiveload">Inductiveload</a>
CC BY 2.5
Own work by uploader, based on <a href="//commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Slip-stick_piezo_actuator.jpg" title="File:Slip-stick piezo actuator.jpg">File:Slip-stick_piezo_actuator.jpg</a> by Kristian Molhave,