Development of a nail-deformation haptics device fabricated adopting ultra-thin PZT-MEMS technology

Abstract

We describe the fabrication and evaluation of a nail-deformation haptics actuator having a flexible haptics film. The novelty of the developed actuator is the generation of a vibration that directly deforms the nail. The flexible piezo-MEMS film is fabricated adopting ultra-thin lead-zirconate-titanate MEMS and lamination technology. The flexible piezo-MEMS film has flexibility (thickness of 65 µm) and low weight (mass of 55 mg). The device can thus be attached on a nail without discomfort. A nail-deformation haptics actuator was fabricated by attaching this flexible piezo-MEMS film on an artificial nail. When a DC voltage of 40 V was applied to the film, there was distortion of −36.5 µε in the cylindrical direction of the nail and −12.1 µε in the circumferential direction. Furthermore, when an AC voltage (40 Vpp, 20 Voffset) was applied at a frequency of 50–300 Hz, strain that deformed the nail was transmitted without attenuation.

Lever Mechanism for Diaphragm-Type Vibrators to Enhance Vibrotactile Intensity

“…As shown in Fig. 4A and B, the vibrotactile display consists of our developed film vibrator [19] of 10-µm thickness (Fig. 2C) fixed with epoxy adhesive (Cemedine, CA-193) onto the vibrator jig modeled with acrylic resin (Keyence, AR-M2) from a 3D printer (Keyence, Aglista-3200).…”

“…Thin film actuators that leverage the inverse piezoelectric effect are promising owing to their form factors. We recently reported a few micrometer-thick piezoelectric thin-film vibrators that use microelectromechanical systems [17]- [19]. This enables attaching and arranging arrays of multiple vibrators to curved surfaces, such as a human body.…”