Electric motor with positional sensing

1) An electric motor with positional sensing comprising:

• a) At least one group of piezoelectric actuators, the at least one group of piezoelectric actuators comprising at least one piezoelectric actuator, all of the piezoelectric actuators electrically connected to a power supply;
• b) A group of actuator magnets, the group of actuator magnets comprising at least one actuator magnet, each of the at least one piezoelectric actuators mechanically affixed to the group of actuator magnets;
• c) A group of response magnets, the group of response magnets physically opposed to the first plurality of piezoelectric elements separated by a variable gap having a size, such that when one or more of the plurality of piezoelectric actuators are energized by the power supply, the size of the variable gap changes;
• d) A motor assembly including a mobile assembly and a static assembly, the mobile assembly mechanically affixed to either the group of actuator magnets or the group of response magnets, the static assembly mechanically affixed to whichever of the group of actuator magnets or the group of response magnets the mobile assembly is not mechanically affixed, such that when the size of the variable gap changes, a magnetic force is exerted on the mobile assembly, causing the mobile assembly to move relative to the static assembly;
• e) A counting device, which counts a number of times that one or more of the actuator magnets passes by one or more of the response magnets in turn from a known starting position, such that a relative position of the mobile assembly relative to the known starting position can be determined by using a ratio of an angle swept by a single actuator magnet or a single response magnet to a total diameter of the static assembly, the counting device being able to count the number of times whether the mobile assembly moves relative to the static assembly due to the plurality of piezoelectric actuators being energized by the power supply or due to an external load which imparts an external torque onto one or both of the static assembly or the mobile assembly.