Effect of Tactile Display on Detection of Softness of Objects by Finger of Human
01 Jan 2001-Transactions of the Japan Society of Mechanical Engineers. C (Japan Society of Mechanical Engineers)-Vol. 67, Iss: 658, pp 1926-1933
TL;DR: In this paper, deformation of the finger tissues when a finger is in contact with an object directly, through pin matrix and/or rubber sheet is calculated using finite element (FE) analysis.
Abstract: Response pattern of tactile receptors caused by the deformation of finger tissue when human perpendicularly push objects are needed to be clarified in order to understand the mechanism of tactile perception of softness. In the present study, deformation of the finger tissues when a finger is in contact with an object directly, through pin matrix and/or rubber sheet is calculated using finite element (FE) analysis. Tendency of perception of softness when finger touches an object is also examined using a psychophysical test. Relationship between the deformation of finger tissues, elasticity of the object, and the perception of softness is clarified by comparing results of the FE analysis and the psychophysical test. It is also shown that the rubber sheet on the pin matrix is important to present softness of the object.
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TL;DR: In this article, the authors developed and demonstrated a method for forming spherical structures of a thin polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) membrane encapsulating a liquid, which can enhance the performance of microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) devices by providing deformability and improved dielectric properties.
Abstract: We have developed and demonstrated a method for forming spherical structures of a thin polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) membrane encapsulating a liquid. Liquid encapsulation can enhance the performance of microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) devices by providing deformability and improved dielectric properties. Parylene deposition and wafer bonding are applied to encapsulate liquid into a MEMS device. In parylene deposition, a parylene membrane is directly formed onto a liquid droplet. However, since the parylene membrane is stiff, the membrane is fragile. Although wafer bonding can encapsulate liquid between two substrates, the surface of the fabricated structure is normally flat. We propose a new liquid encapsulation method by dispensing liquid droplets. At first, a 20 μl PDMS droplet is dispensed on ethylene glycol. A 70 μl glycerin droplet is dispensed into a PDMS casting solution layer. The droplet forms a layer on heated ethylene glycol. Glycerin and ethylene glycol are chosen for their high boiling points. Additionally, a glycerin droplet is dispensed on the layer and surrounded by a thin PDMS casting solution film. The film is baked for 1 h at 75 °C. As the result, a structure encapsulating a liquid in a flexible PDMS membrane is obtained. We investigate the effects of the volume, surface tension, and guide thickness on the shape of the formed structures. We also evaluated the effect of the structure diameter on miniaturization. The structure can be adapted for various functions by changing the encapsulated liquid. We fabricated a stiffness-tunable structure by dispensing a magnetorheoligical fluid droplet with a stiffness that can be changed by an external magnetic field. We also confirmed that the proposed structure can produce stiffness differences that are distinguishable by humans.
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