New Flexible Patch Provides Haptic Feedback for HMI Applications
The e-skin provides haptic feedback for both users and robots via tiny vibrating magnets, flexible sensors and wireless transmitters.
Researchers from the City University of Hong Kong, Dalian University of Technology, Tsinghua University and the University of Electronic Science and Technology of China have developed a human-machine interface (HMI) that provides haptic feedback for both the human and robot. Humans have been controlling robots remotely for years but can only get so much feedback using cameras and sensors. The HMI systems and equipment tend to be bulky, limiting their use for in-field applications.
To that end, the researchers designed a flexible electronic skin patch that humans can apply to the skin to garner more information, including movement and stress factors, such as twisting and bending. The patch is equipped with an embedded microcontroller, sensors and wireless transmitters to send and receive data. It also packs tiny magnets that vibrate to produce haptic feedback information based on the data the MCU receives. Users place patches in several key locations on the body, such as hands, forearms and elbows to "feel" what the robot is doing as its being operated remotely.
The robot is outfitted with the same patches located at the same key positions to provide that information to the controller. For example, the operator could determine the weight of an object a robotic arm is holding without the need for visual feedback. Integrating the e-skin onto fingers would allow users to sense an object's hardness as its being handled, such as the difference between a tomato and a golf ball. The e-skin could be used to control robots in virtual environments that are toxic to humans or assist in remote surgery where pressure and tension are critical factors in operations.