Comparison of linear voice coil and reluctance actuators for high-precision applications

This paper concerns the comparison of three linear reluctance actuators and four voice coil actuators for high-precision applications. The short-stroke actuators with reasonably low variation of the force are optimized on actuator mass and power dissipation. For actuators with a significantly high force variation, the configuration is modified with the objective to improve the actuator properties for high-precision applications. Finally, the comparison is made on performance regarding, force, mass, losses and stiffness.