A flexure hinge-based compliant stage driven by stack-type piezoelectric elements has high precision motion but small operational range due to the characteristics of the piezoelectric element. Since the common flexure hinges can be broken by excessive deflection when the displacement is amplified by a high amplification ratio, a flexure hinge mechanism for large deflection is required. A cartwheel-type flexure hinge has an advantage of larger deflection compared with the common flexure hinges. This study presents a rotation stage with cartwheel-type flexure hinges driven by a stack-type piezoelectric element. The characteristics and the performance of the rotation stage are described by the terms of principal resonance frequency, amplification ratio of rotational displacement, maximum rotational displacement and block moment, in which the terms are analyzed by geometric parameters of the rotation stage. The analyzed results will be used as the guideline of the design of the rotation stage.
