Patent ID: 8453512

Claim:
A shaker comprising: a programmable control circuit; a plate; at least one base assembly; and a plurality of strut assemblies connected between the plate and the at least one base assembly, wherein each strut assembly comprises: an electromagnetic actuator for extending and contracting the strut assembly along a linear stroke length based on a control signal from the programmable control circuit; a non-contact position sensor for sensing a stroke position of the strut assembly along the linear stroke length, wherein an output of the non-contact position sensor is input to the programmable control circuit; an upper, bendable flexure comprising a first end portion that is non-pivotably connected to the strut assembly and a second end portion that is non-pivotably connected to the plate, and wherein the upper, bendable flexure further comprise a thick cylindrical portion and a thin essentially cylindrical stem portion that is coaxial with the thick cylindrical portion, wherein the thin cylindrical stem portion is bendable due to extension of the strut assembly connected to the upper, bendable flexure; a lower, bendable flexure comprising a first end portion that is non-pivotably connected to the strut assembly and a second end portion that is non-pivotably connected to the at least one base assembly, and wherein the lower, bendable flexure further comprise a thick cylindrical portion and a thin essentially cylindrical stem portion that is coaxial with the lower thick cylindrical portion, wherein the lower thin cylindrical stem portion is bendable due to extension of the strut assembly connected to the lower, bendable flexure; wherein the programmable control circuit has an output connected to each of the electromagnetic actuators of the plurality of strut assemblies for individually controlling extension and contraction of the plurality of strut assemblies along the respective linear stroke length based on the outputs from the non-contact position sensors of the plurality of strut assemblies so that the plurality of strut assemblies individually follow a desired motion path with six degrees of freedom, wherein the programmable control circuit has a control bandwidth for the strut assemblies that is 1000 Hz or greater.