Toward Low-Cost Highly Portable Tactile Displays with Shape Memory Alloys

This paper presents a new concept of low-cost, high-resolution, lightweight, compact and highly portable tactile display. The prototype consists of an array of 8 × 8 upward/downward independent moveable pins based on shape memory alloy (SMA) technology. Each tactile actuator consists of an antagonis...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: R. Velázquez, E. E. Pissaloux, M. Hafez, J. Szewczyk
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Wiley 2007-01-01
Series:Applied Bionics and Biomechanics
Online Access:http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/11762320701470517
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Summary:This paper presents a new concept of low-cost, high-resolution, lightweight, compact and highly portable tactile display. The prototype consists of an array of 8 × 8 upward/downward independent moveable pins based on shape memory alloy (SMA) technology. Each tactile actuator consists of an antagonist arranged pair of miniature NiTi SMA helical springs capable of developing a 300 mN pull force at 1.5 Hz bandwidth by using simple forced-air convection. The proposed concept allows the development of 200 g weight tactile instruments of compact dimensions which can be easily carried by a visually disabled user. A detailed technical description of the SMA active element, tactile actuator and tactile display is presented and discussed. Preliminary perceptual results confirm the effectiveness of the display on information transmission.
ISSN:1176-2322
1754-2103