Electrostatic Suspension in 3-DOF by Using a Variable Capacitor

A control system of electrostatic actuators using by variable capacitors has been proposed as one method of avoiding the use of high-speed and high-voltage amplifiers. This control system is applied to electrostatic suspension in this paper. An experimental apparatus is fabricated for demonstrating the feasibility of electrostatic suspension. The experimental results show 3-DOF electrostatic suspension is achieved with the proposed control system using variable capacitors.