Compliant Mechanism

To provide a smooth and exact motion, high-precision hardware, bearings, tolerances, and machined parts are often preferred. One may take advantage of the material’s elastic qualities and carefully construct a compliant mechanism for microscopic motions. Making a working component from a single block of material is possible with the help of the compliant mechanisms; this greatly lowers the number of components (to just one!) and gives outstanding precision (since now there is no need for loose coupling between holes and pins).

In the context of the flexural hinges used in high-precision devices, the optimisation concept is used to optimise the stress levels (and hence the fatigue lifespan) of a hinge for a certain amount of deflection. Hysteresis, overload sensitivity, temperature sensitivity, limited range of motion, etc., are all problems that might arise with the compliant guiding systems.