Development of an Electrostatic Beat Module for Various Tactile Sensations in Touch Screen Devices

Abstract

One of the most dominant factors in developing tactile modules is the ability to generate abundant vibrotactile sensation. This paper presents a new vibrotactile module which can stimulate two mechanoreceptors at the same time without any mechanical vibration motors. To realize that, we first design an electro-tactile beat module (an ETB module) consisting of a lower part, a connection part and an upper part. The two electrodes were designed in an interdigitated pattern and were applied to the upper part. By applying two voltage inputs with slightly different frequencies to two electrodes in the proposed ETB module, respectively, we can create beat-patterned vibration. Furthermore, we can create normal vibration with the proposed ETB module by applying same frequency to the two electrodes. Experiments were conducted to validate the haptic performance of the proposed prototype. The results show that the proposed ETB module can create not only beat-patterned vibration but also normal vibration. The results also show that it can generate strong enough vibration to stimulate mechanoreceptors in wide frequency ranges.

Experimental Evaluation on the Effect of Electrode Configuration in Electrostatic Actuators for Increasing Vibrotactile Feedback Intensity

“…Frequency beating can be used in electrostatic actuators to simultaneously activate multiple mechanoreceptors on the skin which creates a multitude of unique sensations. An electrostatic beating actuator with no mechanical vibrotactile actuators was presented and characterized in a study by Joo et al [15]. This study exemplifies one of the many ways electrostatic actuators can be utilized.…”

Electromechanical Actuators for Haptic Feedback with Fingertip Contact

“…Most research studies on utilizing electrostatic actuators to provide haptic feedback focus on soft dielectric elastomers. Yong-Bok et al [67] tried to excite two glass panels with input electric beats and created beat-patterned vibration to realize tactile sensing. There are also some film-type actuators with flexible and transparent cellulose acetate (CA) films showing promise for wearable device application [68][69][70].…”

Development of a Polymer-Based MEG-Compatible Vibrotactile Stimulator for Studying Neuromagnetic Somatosensory Responses

“…To create high-voltage sine waves, we created a variable, high-voltage simulator consisting of a circuit that generated two high-voltage sine signals with different frequencies [61]. The input frequency was variable, ranging from 70 to 220 Hz, and the actuation voltage amplitude remained between 0 and 800 V. External triggers from the PC were used to control the vibrotactile stimulation sequences.…”