A design of cell-based pin-array tactile display

Skin deformation has been previously shown as vital for lump detection during the direct manipulation of an object. A deformation-based tactile feedback system is developed and presented that senses and displays this tactile information for palpation in tele-surgical applications. A biologically-inspired tactile sensor modelled from the human fingertip is used to obtain the skin deformation during interaction. It does this by measuring the displacement of the sensor’s artificial intermediate epidermal ridges using a simple, computationally-efficient algorithm. The design of a previously-published tactile shape display is then recreated and improved for relaying this sensed information on to a human user’s fingertip. This tactile display uses remote actuation to reduce the mass of the display, avoiding the issue of adding a large mass to a tele-operation interface. The tactors within the developed display exhibit 2.5 mm displacement, with a 2.5 mm spacing, 12 Hz bandwidth and a stiffness of 5.0 N/mm. A linear relationship is found between sensor deformation and tactor displacement and the spatial performance of the system is proven by successfully detecting lumps within artificial muscle tissue. This new deformation-based tactile system offers an intuitive sense of touch with minimal processing.KeywordsTactile SensorTactile FeedbackSensor MembraneTactile DisplayHuman FingerThese keywords were added by machine and not by the authors. This process is experimental and the keywords may be updated as the learning algorithm improves.

Tactile displays have been proposed as a human-computer interface. Nowadays, it is utilised in hundreds of applications and a standard means of information presentation. Shape information display became essential to many surgical tasks (finding hidden anatomical features and locating tumours). There is a strong need for shape tactile display devices particularly for specialists who ought to feel the tissue shape and hardness amid laparoscopic surgeries. This paper describes the design and implementation of adaptive position controller for a tactile shape display device. The proposed display comprises of an cluster of 3×3 upward/downward free mobile pins based on SMA actuators. Each actuator is competent of creating a 5 mm uprooting as greatest. Due to the complex hysteresis and non-linear response of SMA actuators, a fuzzy logic auto-tuner algorithm is constructed to create the PI controller gains adaptive. The suggested controller is implemented to control the shape display tactile system. The proposed controller present prevalent response over existing controllers in the survey from point of no steady state error, no overshoot, no chattering and minimized hysteresis.

Integrating tactile and force feedback for highly dynamic tasks: Technological, experimental and epistemological aspects

We describe here a wearable, wireless, compact, and lightweight tactile display, able to mechanically stimulate the fingertip of users, so as to simulate contact with soft bodies in virtual environments. The device was based on dielectric elastomer actuators, as high-performance electromechanically active polymers. The actuator was arranged at the user’s fingertip, integrated within a plastic case, which also hosted a compact high-voltage circuitry. A custom-made wireless control unit was arranged on the forearm and connected to the display via low-voltage leads. We present the structure of the device and a characterization of it, in terms of electromechanical response and stress relaxation. Furthermore, we present results of a psychophysical test aimed at assessing the ability of the system to generate different levels of force that can be perceived by users.

This paper presents a small and lightweight tactile display system and describes its capabilities with respect to spatial and temporal tactile feedback. Each tactile display module is comprised of a 4times4 piezoelectric ultrasonic actuator array with a spatial resolution of 1.5 mm and a temporal resolution of 20 Hz. The objective of this research is to build a small and lightweight tactile display system such that the system, including the display modules and complete controller parts, will be wearable by a user. It was found that the developed tactile display module can display both spatial and temporal information with less power consumption.

This paper presents a compact method for improving haptic rendering in virtual environments using Level Of Detail (LOD) with force feedback. We have introduced a velocity driven LOD, a new concept in using LOD in haptics. The aim of this approach differs from using LOD techniques in graphics. Our method simplifies the model according to the speed of the user's fingertip. The users fly quickly through the scene and get a rough overview of it. As they slow down, they obtain more and more details. We have enhanced this basic idea by smooth switching between two successive LODs and by mechanisms leading to a more natural perception of dynamically changing surfaces.

A tactile display device is effective in the virtual reality and remote control systems. In the present paper, a matrix-type tactile display device is mounted on a computer mouse so that a human subject can feel virtual textures and defects by manipulating the mouse and keeping his finger on the tactile display. In order to establish a design method for the tactile display device, the arthors developed a matrix-type experimental tactile display device having a 4×6 array of stimulus pins using bimorph piezoelectric actuators. In the tactile display device, 1.2, 1.9, 2.5 mm were utilized as the distances between adjacent stimulus pins. Using this tactile display device mounted on a mouse, we performed a series of psychophysical experiments with five male subjects in their twenties. It is found that distance between adjacent stimulus pins should be equal to the human two point threshold (1∼2 mm) and that the present display device can display virtual figures which are more than double area of the mouse cursor.

Evaluation of Premium Ultrasound Systems With Sonographers: How Comparative Usability Testing Can Reveal Human Factors Issues Prior to Errors in the Exam Room1

The steer by wire (SBW) steering system is equipped with a steering wheel motor to provide force feedback to the driver, allowing the driver to perceive the driving conditions and vehicle steering conditions. To achieve a lightweight, low energy consumption, and high stability of the SBW steering system, and considering the performance advantages of magnetorheological fluid (MRF), this paper proposes a new tactile perception device (TPD) that provides force feedback to the driver and is installed coaxially with the steering wheel, replacing the steering wheel motor. The TPD generates force feedback by adjusting the viscosity and yield stress of the MRF in response to a controlled input current, thus altering the resistance felt at the steering wheel. To determine the relationship between the TPD steering resistance and control current, this paper establishes a TPD theoretical analysis model based on the Bingham plasticity model, including the distribution of magnetic induction intensity inside the TPD, TPD power consumption, and the TPD steering resistance model. Considering the installation and layout of TPDs in actual vehicles, a TPD experimental verification platform is established to verify the current magnetic field steering resistance model experimentally. The results showed that as the current increased, the torque also increased, ranging from 0 to 12 Nm, with power consumption varying from 0 to 30 W. Additionally, a long-duration test with a constant 5A current applied for 120 min confirmed the mechanical stability of the TPD, with no significant thermal drift or degradation in performance observed. To further verify model accuracy and dynamic response, a control algorithm for precise current modulation was developed and tested through co-simulations in Pre-Scan and MATLAB/Simulink. The system was also validated through Hardware in the Loop (HIL) simulations, demonstrating its capability to adapt force feedback in real time based on varying driving speeds and conditions.

In 1997 Sony revolutionized the gaming industry by introducing a simple but effective vibrotactile feedback in its DualShock controller for PlayStation. By 2013, more than 400M units have been sold. Nowadays, the game interface Wii Remote motion controller provides a similar feature, but wirelessly, and can be considered the most popular portable haptic interface, with over 100M sales. However, its force feedback is still limited to vibrations, reducing the possibility of simulating any rich contact interaction with virtual and remote environments. Towards a more realistic feeling of interacting with virtual objects, researchers focused on glove-type haptic displays such as the Rutgers Master II and the CyberGrasp, which provide force sensations to all the fingers of the hand simultaneously. However, although they provide a compelling force feedback, these displays are complex and very expensive the CyberGrasp, for instance, costs more than 60,000 US dollars! Thus, it becomes crucial to find a trade-off between a realistic feeling of touch and cost/portability of the system. In this regard, we found tactile technologies very promising. Tactile devices are haptic interfaces able to provide tactile force feedback only (they do not provide any kind of kinesthetic force). This property makes possible to dramatically simplify their form factor and provide a compelling and realistic feeling of touching virtual objects [Pacchierotti et al. 2014].

Stimulated by regulations and standards as well as commercial imperatives, medical device manufacturers are striving to make medical devices safer by decreasing the potential for harmful use errors. Accordingly, manufacturers are observing and interviewing intended users about their interactions with devices en route to developing user interface requirements; applying human factors engineering (HFE) principles when designing user interfaces; and conducting formative and summative usability tests to improve and validate their devices’ interactive quality. This has represented significant work for manufacturers, particularly the majority who started with little HFE knowledge and experience. Today, the “awakening” to HFE in medical device development is essentially over—an established manufacturer who is just now discovering HFE has been out of touch. After all, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and AAMI conducted their first joint conference on HFE in 1995 when they previewed HFE expectations related to recent changes in quality system regulation (QSR). So, it has been 17 years since HFE entered the medical industry’s zeitgeist. HFE specialists working in the medical industry used to focus on making devices more usable (i.e., user friendly). Since the QSR change, use safety has become the primary focus, resulting in user interfaces that are less vulnerable to harmful use errors. It is rather obvious how HFE affects the safety of some medical devices. In the design of a surgical instrument, for example, HFE’s aim would be to reduce the chance of cutting anything other than the intended target. This goal could be accomplished by including a blade guard and a mechanical interlock that requires more than one deliberate action to enable cutting.

Paper presents an upgrade of a Phantom Premium 1.5 haptic device for use within a functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) environment. A mechanical extension attached to the Phantom allows the haptic device to operate at a safe distance away from a high-density magnetic field of an fMRI scanner. The extended haptic system was subjected to a series of tests to confirm electromagnetic compatibility with the fMRI environment, for which key results are presented. With the extended fMRI compatible haptic platform a human brain activation during controlled upper limb movements can be studied. A virtual environment reaching task was programmed to study brain motor control functions. At the end of the paper a preliminary results of an ongoing neurophysiological study are presented.

Most surgical simulators leverage virtual or bench models to simulate reality. This study proposes and validates a method for workspace configuration of a surgical simulator which utilizes a haptic device for interaction with a virtual model and a bench model to provide additional tactile feedback based on planned surgical manoeuvers. Numerical analyses were completed to determine the workspace and position of a haptic device, relative to the bench model, used in the surgical simulator, and the determined configuration was validated using device limitations and user data from surgical and nonsurgical users. For the validation, surgeons performed an identical surgery on a cadaver prior to using the simulator, and their trajectories were then compared to the determined workspace for the haptic device. The configuration of the simulator was determined appropriate through workspace analysis and the collected user trajectories. Statistical analyses suggest differences in trajectories between the participating surgeons which were not affected by the imposed haptic workspace. This study, therefore, demonstrates a method to optimally position a haptic device with respect to a bench model while meeting the manoeuverability needs of a surgical procedure. The validation method identified workspace position and user trajectory towards ideal configuration of a mixed reality simulator.

This paper presents the development of a compact tactile display and its integration in teleoperation. The system's operation is based on the display of surface shape to an area of the fingertip through a 4 × 4 array of tactors moving perpendicularly to the skin surface. The tactors are spring loaded and are actuated remotely by dc motors through a flexible tendon transmission. This novel implementation of conventional actuation principles achieves a compact design with superior performance compared to devices of a similar footprint, demonstrating an excellent combination of tactor spatiotemporal resolution, force, and amplitude. The display's ergonomic design and high performance make it suitable for integration on haptic devices for tactile feedback in VR and in Teleoperation. This paper presents the design, control, and performance of the tactile display and of the transmission system. It also demonstrates its integration on an Omega7 force feedback device for the teleoperation of an LWR KUKA manipulator. An experiment is presented where users teleoperated the stylus of the robot in a 3D contour following task with and without tactile feedback. In this experiment, force feedback from the slave is fused with model-based local tactile feedback. Subjects' performances indicate an improvement in teleoperation when both tactile and force feedback are present.

This paper presents a new concept of tactile display based on lateral motion of the contact pins (tactors) and its preliminary evaluation on tactile rendering. Unlike traditional tactile devices where tactors are arranged in an array and move upwards/downwards, a single row of tactors moves laterally on a rail to display tactile information as in a 2D matrix. The advantage of this concept is that a row of N actuators can display some information that has been traditionally done with a matrix of N x N, thus, reducing significantly the number of actuators, simplifying their electronic drive and allowing the development of low-cost, lightweight, compact and highly-portable tactile displays. Actuation approach, tactile display design and prototype as well as perceptual results are presented and discussed.