scholarly journals Tactile display of softness on fingertip

2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Gabriele Frediani ◽  
Federico Carpi

AbstractMulti-sensory human–machine interfaces are currently challenged by the lack of effective, comfortable and affordable actuation technologies for wearable tactile displays of softness in virtual- or augmented-reality environments. They should provide fingertips with tactile feedback mimicking the tactual feeling perceived while touching soft objects, for applications like virtual reality-based training, tele-rehabilitation, tele-manipulation, tele-presence, etc. Displaying a virtual softness on a fingertip requires the application of quasi-static (non-vibratory) forces via a deformable surface, to control both the contact area and the indentation depth of the skin. The state of the art does not offer wearable devices that can combine simple structure, low weight, low size and electrically safe operation. As a result, wearable softness displays are still missing for real-life uses. Here, we present a technology based on fingertip-mounted small deformable chambers, which weight about 3 g and are pneumatically driven by a compact and cost-effective unit. Weighting less than 400 g, the driving unit is easily portable and can be digitally controlled to stimulate up to three fingertips independently. Psychophysical tests proved ability to generate useful perceptions, with a Just Noticeable Difference characterised by a Weber constant of 0.15. The system was made of off-the-shelf materials and components, without any special manufacturing process, and is fully disclosed, providing schematics and lists of components. This was aimed at making it easily and freely usable, so as to turn tactile displays of softness on fingertips into a technology ‘at fingertips’.

2021 ◽  
Vol 33 (5) ◽  
pp. 1104-1116
Author(s):  
Yoshihiro Tanaka ◽  
Shogo Shiraki ◽  
Kazuki Katayama ◽  
Kouta Minamizawa ◽  
Domenico Prattichizzo ◽  
...  

Tactile sensations are crucial for achieving precise operations. A haptic connection between a human operator and a robot has the potential to promote smooth human-robot collaboration (HRC). In this study, we assemble a bilaterally shared haptic system for grasping operations, such as both hands of humans using a bottle cap-opening task. A robot arm controls the grasping force according to the tactile information from the human that opens the cap with a finger-attached acceleration sensor. Then, the grasping force of the robot arm is fed back to the human using a wearable squeezing display. Three experiments are conducted: measurement of the just noticeable difference in the tactile display, a collaborative task with different bottles under two conditions, with and without tactile feedback, including psychological evaluations using a questionnaire, and a collaborative task under an explicit strategy. The results obtained showed that the tactile feedback provided the confidence that the cooperative robot was adjusting its action and improved the stability of the task with the explicit strategy. The results indicate the effectiveness of the tactile feedback and the requirement for an explicit strategy of operators, providing insight into the design of an HRC with bilaterally shared haptic perception.


Author(s):  
Yasushi Ikei ◽  
Shuichi Fukuda

Abstract The authors have developed tactile displays which have vibrating pins to convey the surface texture sensation of object surfaces to the user’s fingertip. The tactile sensation intensity scaling was performed to obtain a sensation scale of the display by means of the JND (just noticeable difference) method. One dimensional curves on the scale were displayed to investigate the human sensitivity to an intensity change rate. A tactile texture presentation method based on the image of an object surface is introduced. Two kinds of experiment were performed to discuss the feature of the method. Texture discrimination is the first one, in which the effect of texture element size to the correct separation was discussed. Then the sensations produced by the display and those by real objects were compared regarding several samples that had a major feature of vertical lines and of not containing low frequencies. The results are summarized, which is followed by the future research work.


2012 ◽  
Vol 21 (4) ◽  
pp. 435-451 ◽  
Author(s):  
Laura Santos-Carreras ◽  
Kaspar Leuenberger ◽  
Evren Samur ◽  
Roger Gassert ◽  
Hannes Bleuler

Robotic surgery provides many benefits such as reduced invasiveness and increased dexterity. This comes at the cost of no direct contact between surgeon and patient. This physical separation prevents surgeons from performing direct haptic exploration of tissues and organs, imposing exclusive reliance on visual cues. Current technology is not yet able to both measure and reproduce a realistic and complete sense of touch (interaction force, temperature, roughness, etc.). In this paper, we put forward a concept based on multimodal feedback consisting of the integration of different kinds of visual and tactile cues with force feedback that can potentially improve both the surgeon's performance and the patient's safety. We present a cost-effective tactile display simulating a pulsating artery that has been integrated into a haptic workstation to combine both tactile and force-feedback information. Furthermore, we investigate the effect of different feedback types, including tactile and/or visual cues, on the performance of subjects carrying out two typical palpation tasks: (1) exploring a tissue to find a hidden artery and (2) identifying the orientation of a hidden artery. The results show that adding tactile feedback significantly reduces task completion time. Moreover, for high difficulty levels, subjects perform better with the feedback condition combining tactile and visual cues. As a matter of fact, the majority of the subjects in the study preferred this combined feedback because redundant feedback reassures subjects in their actions. Based on this work, we can infer that multimodal haptic feedback improves subjects' performance and confidence during exploratory procedures.


1995 ◽  
Vol 4 (4) ◽  
pp. 387-402 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dimitrios A. Kontarinis ◽  
Robert D. Howe

This paper investigates the use of tactile displays for conveying task-related vibrations in teleoperation and virtual environments. Vibration displays can be implemented with inexpensive, open loop devices that can be added to many existing systems to improve performance. We describe the design of our prototype vibration sensing and display system, and experimentally demonstrate the utility of this type of tactile feedback. We also delineate the kinds of tasks where high-frequency vibratory feedback is important. In inspection and exploration tasks the detection of vibrations can be the fundamental goal of the task, while in some manipulation tasks vibrations can enhance performance by reducing reaction times or permitting minimization of ferees. Design guidelines for implementation of vibration displays, based on simple mechanical models, are also presented.


Sensors ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 21 (12) ◽  
pp. 4034
Author(s):  
Arie Haenel ◽  
Yoram Haddad ◽  
Maryline Laurent ◽  
Zonghua Zhang

The Internet of Things world is in need of practical solutions for its security. Existing security mechanisms for IoT are mostly not implemented due to complexity, budget, and energy-saving issues. This is especially true for IoT devices that are battery powered, and they should be cost effective to be deployed extensively in the field. In this work, we propose a new cross-layer approach combining existing authentication protocols and existing Physical Layer Radio Frequency Fingerprinting technologies to provide hybrid authentication mechanisms that are practically proved efficient in the field. Even though several Radio Frequency Fingerprinting methods have been proposed so far, as a support for multi-factor authentication or even on their own, practical solutions are still a challenge. The accuracy results achieved with even the best systems using expensive equipment are still not sufficient on real-life systems. Our approach proposes a hybrid protocol that can save energy and computation time on the IoT devices side, proportionally to the accuracy of the Radio Frequency Fingerprinting used, which has a measurable benefit while keeping an acceptable security level. We implemented a full system operating in real time and achieved an accuracy of 99.8% for the additional cost of energy, leading to a decrease of only ~20% in battery life.


Author(s):  
Paul E. Jenkins

Abstract Purpose This study examined economic costs associated with untreated eating disorders (EDs) characterised by regular binge eating in the absence of low weight. Both direct and indirect costs were assessed, reporting a limited societal perspective of economic impact as some costs were not included. Methods One hundred and twenty six adults seeking treatment for recurrent binge eating were asked to report impairment associated with an ED. Costs were calculated using 2017 prices, including an examination of variables associated with costs. Results Estimated societal costs for the year preceding assessment were £3268.47 (€3758.54) per person. In multivariate analyses, no reliable baseline associates of cost were identified. Conclusion The economic burden of EDs characterised by regular binge eating is significant, and underscores the need for efficacious and cost-effective treatments. Individuals with binge-eating disorders report work impairment and healthcare use that may cost the United Kingdom economy upwards of £3.5 billion (€4bn) per annum. Further studies should consider academic impairment and the economic impact of EDs on families. Level of evidence III: evidence obtained from well-designed cohort or case–control analytic studies.


Author(s):  
Ian Ashcroft ◽  
Melissa Burton ◽  
David Farnsworth

<p>The tall building world is seeing a trend pushing building heights and slenderness ratios to levels previously unseen. The design of these buildings for both strength and serviceability is typically governed by the dynamic response of the building to wind. Comfort of building occupants during relatively low return period wind events is a key challenge, and engineers are increasingly turning to damping technologies to limit building accelerations rather than adding stiffness or mass. Large tuned mass dampers (TMDs) are a commonly used solution.</p><p>This paper suggests that integrating viscous dampers within a tall building’s structure can deliver a cost- effective alternative to TMDs, delivering high performing buildings with additional benefits in terms of robustness and space efficiency.</p><p>Two case studies are presented. Firstly, measured data from a tower in New York with viscous dampers integrated into the structure is provided, comparing design stage predictions to real-life performance. Furthermore, a case study for a super-slender tower is described, demonstrating the potential for enhanced performance and significant cost and space savings using integrated damping.</p>


Author(s):  
M Sobrino-García

Background: The prevalence of hypersensitivity reactions to radiological contrast media (RCM) is increasing due to the greater performance of diagnostic and therapeutic tests that require RCMs. Objective: We carried out a year-long real-life observational study to prospectively evaluate the patients referred to the Allergy Service from Primary Care, Emergency Room, and other Services with suspected moderate to severe RCM hypersensitivity. Methods: To study the costs of RCM hypersensitivity evaluation, we systematically recorded direct and indirect costs. Results: Sixty-nine patients with previous reactions to RCM were evaluated in the Allergy Service from June 1st, 2017, to May 31st, 2018. Total direct health care costs were € 10715.84, with a mean cost per patient of € 155.30 ± 77.08. Specifically, direct non-health costs reached € 1605.42 (mean € 23.27 ± 41.14), and indirect costs were € 6490.85 (mean € 94.07 ± 110.61). In summary, the total cost was € 18812.11, which means a mean cost of € 272.64 ± 164.77. Conclusions: Our study reflects that the costs of an elective evaluation of hypersensitivity to RCM are low. This fact reaffirms that correct and safe management of these patients could be cost-effective, so our efforts should be directed to implement the necessary logistics.


Author(s):  
Kjeld Thomsen ◽  
Christian Riis Petersen

<p>The present paper describes developments in the design of the most common types of movable bridges – Bascule bridges and Swing Bridges. The selection of design concepts is influenced by span, foundation conditions as well as environmental issues. Application of modern hydraulic systems and innovative bearing types for swing bridges facilitate the creation of outstanding designs. Recently built moveable bridges in Denmark exemplifies the trend and how application of modern technology and creativity can lead to outstanding solutions. There are many governing parameters such as the span, free opening height and loading conditions. Equally important issues such as surroundings, landscape, foundation conditions, requirement to low weight, achievable tolerances and from a mechanical point of view, the operation time. Risk assessment, mechanical- and electrical systems and the requirement to operation time and maintenance cost, will have influence on the selection of machinery and the architectural and structural design. For each of the moveable bridges described, it is shown how innovative application of modern bearing concepts and hydraulic systems can lead to elegant and cost-effective solutions.</p>


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